Compaq Pressario R3000 problem

[JessicaB]

Hello all. Im having a problem with my bro's laptop. He tried starting it last night and it went immediately to the black screen with white writing that gives you the option to start in safe mode.

We tried this; starting first in safe mode, then in safe mode with command prompts and all we got was a list of file paths scrolling down the same page. We havn't got a clue what has gone wrong or what to do about it. He is using XP as his OS.

Hope you can help. Thanks again. Jess  

[Raptor]

Select Last known working configuration from the menu.

[JessicaB]

OK, done that, it starts on the normal loading screen, flashes a blue screen which was too quick to look at and goes back to the black screen with the same options, then tries starting again. It repeats this process.

[JessicaB]

Any further advice anyone or do you think it will have to go into the shop to get checked out?  :-/

[Raptor]

If the laptop is still under warranty, you will want to make use of that.

What has caused the problem to occur?

[JessicaB]

Yeh I told him that before, Im just worried that if a virus has caused the problem we won't be able to use the warranty. We don't have a clue as to what has caused the problem but my guess is a virus of some sort. Its a mystery  

[merlin_2]

what is attached to this laptop??

[JessicaB]

If you mean is anything plugged into the usb ports, at the moment absolutely nothing is attached at all. Previously he has attached a logitech optical mouse and from time to time a labtec webcam. He also uses a cable to attach the internet.

[merlin_2]

so if i got this right.......upon boot up......it displays a black screen......with all the<dir> files scrolling down the screen..........>turn off the laptop......power switch......now turn it back on.........now what happens.?.......the last you use  it did you chose shutdown or did you hibinate it?

[JessicaB]

At last use, it was turned off as normal by clicking on 'turn off computer' and as far as we know it shut down as normal.

When we start the laptop up we are faced with the black screen which asks if you want to start the computer in safe mode, safe mode with command prompts and to start it at the last good configuration etc.

When I have asked to start the pc both in safe mode and safe mode with command prompts the file paths scroll down the screen and thats it.

When opting to start at last 'good' configuration the initial windows startup begins then it flashes a blue screen, too quickly to read, and then goes back to the initial screen with the safe mode options. It then starts the same process again every 30 seconds.

[merlin_2]

Does seem to point to a hardware problem for it to display a blue screen.?.....do you have  loads of data on it......or have you saved you data to disk......  just one more thing.......disconnect it for the net......and boot it again.......i have my reasons....did someone edit the boot init file>>http://windowsxp.mvps.org/safeboot.htm

[JessicaB]

Most of the data on there is music and photos and there isn't much data on it really.

As I said, its not connected to anything at all at the moment. Its just on its own, the power charger isn't even plugged in.

Every time I reboot I get the same thing, the black screen etc...  

[JessicaB]

Oops sorry, as far as I know he hasn't edited the boot file. I don't think he would have the first clue how to do it to be honest...

[merlin_2]

ok re install the system ......use the recovery disks....ok :)place them in the drive and reboot laptop.

should it do it again .........take it back to the shop....it maybe a corupted image file.<loaded on a hard drive> and the user only has the recovery disks.....

[JessicaB]

He doesn't seem to have any recovery disks! This is what you get with 15 year old boys  :-/

Any other solutions? I guess not, my first thoughts were a reboot to factory settings but I wanted to avoid it if poss. Ive had to do that to my computer in the past and its such a shame to lose everything...