My computer locks up and won't boot. What do I do?

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The article you just commented on has my recommendation - in this case sounds like a hardware issue. You'll probably need to take it in to a PC repair shop.

hello, i've read the article above, but i hope i get a more specific answer for the problem im facing.

my com has some serious booting problems. at times i have to restart my computer from 4 to more than 10 times to see the winxp logo appear. when this constant hanging happens, it even hangs while im inside the BIOS setup menu.
sometimes i get either one of the following warnings while booting (and hangs after that):

1. wrong cmos settings (i have no idea how to correct this)

2. dram timing too tight (i've set the DRAM frequency from auto to 400 recently, but it doesn't really solve the problem 'tho i don't see this warning anymore)

here's my com specs which i think relevant:

pentium 3.2 Ghz
1 gig DDR400 RAM
50 gig master harddisk (15 gig left)
10 gig slave harddisk (3 gig left)
256 MB ATI radeon 9600 graphics card

all the above are just bought less than 3 months ago except my 2 harddisks, i transferred them from my old pc.

i suspect this is a hardware problem, but i don't know which one, pls help thanks, im very frustrated abt it already.

btw, i realise my computer isn't running as fast as expected. in fact some of my friends said it runs much slower and less smoother than theirs with lower specs. even though i have my antivirus software and winxp updated, and not have more installed programs than them. one of the obvious problems is computer loading very long when i attempt to open or even rightclick media files > 50 meg. sounds like a read/write problem to me, which again voices down to possible hardware problems.

forgot to mention: when it hangs, no beeps, sths a white screen appears or a black screen with uneven dash characters appearing, most of the time blank or hangs in BIOS setup menu. usually power lights are loading like normal, however when com hangs with all cdrom and power LEDs lit up together, i can't even off or restart my computer by pressing the buttons on the casing.

Certainly sounds like hardware, I agree. Exactly what, I'm not sure. First step might be to run memtest86 ( http://ask-leo.com/d-memtest ) checking memory. Other than that. Because it could be so many different things, I'd start swapping hardware. My initial reaction is the motherboard or maybe the powersupply, but really it could be anything at this point.

Hi,

first thing: my operating system is windows 95 not XP as reffered to in the article

So here is my problem:

Once I start my computer and I get "Windows 95 starting" all right, I get a big screen with Java written on it and a this moment the computer freezes.
Now if I press escape I will have the "windows 95 starting" message again but nothing will happen (not F8, nothing)
The bizzarre thing though is that I always have a little dash "_" clicking but nothing happens.

I tried with several boot disks: Dos6.22, windows 95a, windows 95b. None of them worked and I never had a C:\ prompt or an A:\ prompt although I heard the floppy drive read the disk.

I also tried F8 which works when the message "windows 95 starting" appears BEFORE the Java Screen.
Problem is:once I press enter (any entry), F5 or any combination (shift F5) my computer freezes.

Additional note on safe mode:

when I select safe mode I get the Java Screen and the computer will not "react" any more.
By pressing "escape" I have access again to the Windows 95 startup menu but the keyboard will not respond ALTHOUGH there will always be a flashing dash "_".
In addition there will be a message: "Windows is bypassing your startup files" .

I guess that's all I've got to say...

Thanks for your help...

one more detail:when I press on the "on" button to shut down my computer savagely (that's the ony way I found) it emits several beeps which I THINK (not quite sure) may be this: 1 long, 3 short Conventional/Extended memory failure

Thanks again for your help...

Paul: if you can't even boot DOS from a floppy, it certainly sounds like you have a hardware failure, and I'd persue diagnosing that.

I have a network (obydomain) When I log on to the domain the acoount works perfectly fine but after restarting the computer, when I try to log on the domain with the same user accout I get this message that account is disabled n can't go futher. I checked my account on the server its workign fine n I can log on to other computers with the same username. Please help me in this case.
Thanks & Regards,
Ivon

Hi,
When I take a break from using my pc I always put it on standby mode. But then when I moved the mouse again to put it to work my pc doesn't boot properly. So I end up unplugging the power cord and plugged it again. And then I shut down my pc at the end of the day but when I turned it back on the next day it boots but the mouse doesnt work. So im back unplugging the power cord and plugged it again. Pls. help me. Thank you so much

9 times out of 10 problems with standby are related to the BIOS on the machine. Check with the manufacturer to see if there is an updated BIOS for your laptop. I'm also assuming you're running Windows XP ... earlier versions of Windows (95, 98, Me) were less than reliable on standby issues.

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