Computer Hope
Microsoft => Microsoft Windows => Windows XP => Topic started by: toiletplunger7 on July 02, 2009, 09:24:23 AM
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Hey everyone, well I have a computer that is running Windows XP pro.
There have been issues with it, the main one has been that when you would start the computer you would get a message on the monitor completely unrelated to the computer. It was like a monitor self-test screen or something. I couldn't even get the start up screen to come up.
But...I worked with it a bit, cleaned it out, checked all the cables ect and got it running again. Now the first problem I came to was that the resolution was 600x400 and color was 4 bit. So the first thing I started working on was just to go into the settings and fix that. Well come to find out, I was not able to change resolution or color quality. I then called a friend that knows more than me about computers and he suggested that I am having a problem reading my video card. (I had put in a new one a year or so ago and had been working fine.) So he said I should try disabling the card and see if it just ran the integrated graphics or something like that.
So, I ended up disabling what I thought was the graphics card, it then told me I ahd to restart to apply the settings, so I did. and since then I have not gotten past the Windows start up screen. The little green bar goes like its loading, then the screen just goes black. It boots into safe mode and I have tried every other option I have of starting it and I just get the same thing.
I really have no clue whats going on with it or what I can do to help. I have a feeling whatever I disabled caused this problem. Im trying to go back through my steps on this computer to be able to tell you just what I disabled. all i can remember was it was something in the monitor settings. like, control panel-display-settings-advanced-monitor tab and it was there i think....
if there is anything that comes to mind for me to try I would appreciate it so much. thanks in advance...
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If you have integrated video on board, then completely remove the video card from the PCI, PCIe or AGP slot so that no resources are linked to the hardware that is disabled in the OS. Unless you have serious corruption this should get you back into windows.
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yes I did try that already actually. It came to mind just after this post, but no...still no luck...
Thanks so much for the reply though.
anyone else have any ideas as to what could fix this?
also, I just put speakers in to see if the start up tune was playing and it is.
So windows is starting up, but I am getting nothing to show on the screen, so this is definitely a problem with the graphics.
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just one more thing I need to add. I just tried another monitor, and same problem. So I am almost positive that this is a problem with the graphics settings. The problem is, when you cant see whats on the screen its hard to work on it, lol.
also a quick question, if I was to use the Windows recovery disc, would I lose any documents or files on the computer? I was planning on doing a complete cleaning of the harddrive after I backed up files, unfortunately I didnt get a chance to back them up before this happened.
But if there is no danger of losing files then I could probably just try that.
thanks again
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have you tried safe mode?
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yeah, I get a long list of files that come up, and thats it when I try to boot into safe mode...would a list of those files be helpful?
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what is the last one listed? In general the last file listed is the one causing issues.
I might also add that sometimes it has taken 10 to 15 minutes for me to get from the text list after it starts scrolling (if memory serves the file at the bottom is "MUP.SYS") until it actually get's into the GUI.
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the last file on the list is "IPVNMON.sys"
Mup.sys is actually just above this one.
Thanks so much for the replies guys. at least Im ruling certain options out if anything, :P
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so yeah, can anyone jsut answer whether I would lose files or documents of any kind on my hard drive if I used the Windows recovery disc?
like pictures, music, MS Word documents, ect.?
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http://www.fileinfo.com/
go to above and you can find out what the files are for , harry
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Sounds like my laptop, except it just froze and I didn't play with anything. When I try Safe Mode, the list ends at agpCPQ.sys and the light signifying computer activity stops blinking.
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If you have a Windows XP CD, boot your computer from it, then press R to go to the Recovery Console.
Once in the Recovery Console, run the following command, typing it EXACTLY as shown, pressing Enter afterward:
chkdsk c: /r
If you do NOT have an XP CD, create a Windows PE disc and do the same thing.
How to create a Windows PE boot disc:
http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,87312.msg585287.html#msg585287
If chkdsk doesn't find a problem with your hard drive or any corrupt files, and your computer still won't boot, then try to boot into Safe Mode again. Note the last file on the list when everything freezes up. Try replacing that with a known good copy using the Recovery Console or Windows PE.
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My laptop has no disk drive. I need a disk copy so I can oput it on my memory stick.
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sonic start your own topic , don't hijack another
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Sorry, will do :-[