Desktop not showing on startup

Double C

I have a problem with my PC, when I turn it on the blue Windows Loading screen appears but then goes to a plain black screen. The mouse cursor appears but nothing happpens when I click anywhere. Ctrl-alt-del works ok so I can get into the task manager but if I try File->New Task and explorer.exe for example nothing happens. If I leave it alone for however many minutes the screensaver appears.

Also, on the startup its says to press DEL to get the BIOS setup but it doesnt do anything. I have the Windows 7 disc but it doesnt boot off that.

Any help??

Thanks in advance!

Biggins

How old is the machine?
Do/did you have any electric problems lately in the area or at home?
Has the machine received anything unusual lately or has anything odd happen to it?
Could cd's originally be used to boot the pc?

Initially, it sounds like you have BIOS/motherboard problems but answering the above will help define that.

chin_grin

Either boot in to safe mode, or change the devices your machine boots from.

Think it'll be a message when you boot up saying "press f8 to enter configuration" you should see a menu for changing boot sequence. Set it to your cd/dvd drive insert the disk and boot from that. See if you can do a windows repair.

Double C

I got the pc about 3 years ago. Theres been nothing out of the ordinary at all in recent days or weeks, it was grand on saturday then I knocked it off and turned it back on yesterday and it was like this. I didnt notice if it was going to install any updates but thats something I'd normally spot when shutting it down. Windows 7 booted off the cd fine before.

On startup it says press DEL for BIOS setup but it doesnt do anything, just goes straight into the loading Windows screen so cant get into safe mode or get into the boot sequence.

Biggins

I assume you have tried pressing F8 from start up, to get into safe mode.
If that don't work, thats unusual - but not indicative of BIOS problems initially however.

The more worrying part is that the DEL button won't let you into the BIOS.
Can you confirm that this did originally work?

I suspect that there was XP on the machine originally and you have obviously upgraded.
If so, how long from when you upgraded, to the present time when it failed to work right?
(You should note, although some older motherboards initially do allow Win7 to be installed, later upon usage, technical difficulties arise due to functions in Win7 not being compatible with the newer software design system in conjunction with the design of the older motherboards and the physical parts on it. Some "functions" that are on modern motherboards, are not on the older boards.)

Double C

F8 for safe mode isnt working either. DEL would have worked before alright when I had XP on it, I upgraded to Win7 within the last 6 months but I cant remember if I used DEL to get into the BIOS setup since then, probably not tbh. I have a home network setup on the PC and I can access everything on it from the laptop so its no hassle to save the files I need to save and reinstall XP if needs be. Obviousy I'd prefer to keep it as is if theres any way around it!

Biggins

What you could do is format the drive, reinstall XP (take note to see if any problems occur thereafter - continue on if none), partition the hard drive and then install Win7 as a dual-boot system then to the new created section of the drive.

See how you get on from that point and it will also help track down and define whats effecting your machine.
Be it BIOS/motherboard based problem and/or Win7 created problem with your machine.

Double C

OK I'll give that a go I suppose. I just cant understand why it wont boot off the cd on startup, I assume running system repair would probably do the job then

Thanks for the help!

Biggins

Double C wrote: »

OK I'll give that a go I suppose. I just cant understand why it wont boot off the cd on startup, I assume running system repair would probably do the job then

The ability to detect bootable CD/DVD's in the drive are handled by the BIOS so if thats effected still under XP come back to us and report it.

To be on the safe side, just in case, if it was me in your situation and your drive is no longer usable for boot-ups, I would do the following - providing you can boot up using a floppy drive and floppy disk or USB stick (check to see if it works first):

Create a new partition now, copy over the ALL files of your XP disk (is it DOS installable?) to a folder on it - all before any wipe then later on to a separate section where your getting rid of the Win7.
Boot up, move using DOS commands to the folder where XP is, and install XP from there.

DO NOT WIPE a full working starting-up operating system if you have no way of booting up from start-up and starting a set-up operation!
Its better to have one up and running and try and repair it than wiping it, only to discover you can't get one back on it!

Double C

I had a different problem with another pc before and someone reccommended that I use killdisc to format the HD. Would I be right in saying that if i run that it would mean that I'd be able to boot off the Windows XP cd after?

Biggins

Double C wrote: »

I had a different problem with another pc before and someone reccommended that I use killdisc to format the HD. Would I be right in saying that if i run that it would mean that I'd be able to boot off the Windows XP cd after?

If you can't boot up using the Windows cd already, there is no guarantee that after wiping the hard-drive, you will be able to boot-up using the win cd - UNLESS you test first with the win' cd in the drive first BEFORE wiping.

Do you have a floppy drive on the pc by the way?

During a windows installation anyway, you get the option to wipe/format the destination drive so that part of the process is not a problem anyway.

Double C

No Ive no floppy drive internally but I do have an external usb one if thats any use. The problem I had with the other PC was that I was getting BOOTMGR is missing on startup, I wasnt able to boot off any cd then, but when I ran the KillDisk program to format the drive I was able to boot off the cd fine.

Ive tried to boot off a few different cds now and none of them work.

mp22

Had a similar prob with a vista pc last week,I found that a svchost was using nearly all my processor power (qual core),i killed the svchost, desktop appeared hasn't happened since.It might be worth a look at the running processes just in case.

Biggins

Double C wrote: »

No Ive no floppy drive internally but I do have an external usb one if thats any use.

It is possible for some motherboards to allow USB sticks and software ion them, to boot up a pc.
It boils down to the facility being allowed thru your BIOS set-up.

Double C wrote: »

The problem I had with the other PC was that I was getting BOOTMGR is missing on startup...

What operation system is giving that result?
XP - Vista?
See HERE - Vista version, for example for windows repair through a GUI (graphic user interface) and a DOS (Disk Operating System) repair ability.

XP version:

If you have a Windows XP or Windows 2000 CD lying around, you can use it to automatically re-create your boot.ini file to point to the correct partitions.

1. Insert your Windows 2000 or XP CD in the drive, and proceed to boot from it.
2. When prompted to "Press 'R' to enter Recovery Console," do so.
3. Once in the recovery console you may be asked for the Administrator password for security purposes. If you know it, enter it and hit <enter>. If you don't, use a Windows 2000 CD to bypass the prompt.
4. Enter this in the console:

bootcfg /rebuild
exit

5. The bootcfg command will search your hard drive for valid, available Windows NT-XP installations, and proceed to add each to boot.ini. You will be prompted to name each entry (give it any name you like) and provide load options (give it "/fastdetect" without the quotes).
6. The exit command will quit the Recovery Console.
7. Remove the 2000/XP CD from the drive and reboot.

Boot.ini has been recreated and should do the trick.

Also have a look here: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/a/bootmgr-is-missing.htm

Double C wrote: »

...The problem I had with the other PC was that I was getting BOOTMGR is missing on startup, I wasnt able to boot off any cd then, but when I ran the KillDisk program to format the drive I was able to boot off the cd fine.

Ive tried to boot off a few different cds now and none of them work.

This a bit confusing. You WERE(?) able to boot using this one disk alone but now you can't?
Is this right?

Double C

Biggins wrote: »

It is possible for some motherboards to allow USB sticks and software ion them, to boot up a pc.
It boils down to the facility being allowed thru your BIOS set-up.



What operation system is giving that result?
XP - Vista?
See HERE - Vista version, for example for windows repair through a GUI (graphic user interface) and a DOS (Disk Operating System) repair ability.

XP version:





This a bit confusing. You WERE(?) able to boot using this one disk alone but now you can't?
Is this right?

mp22, the processor usage is low, its barely goes over 2%. There is only a handful of processes actually running atm, like 6 in total.

Biggins, the BOOTMGR problem was happening with XP on a much older machine, the KillDisk program worked perfectly though and that PC is working fine now. When I was trying to fix the other PC I tried the same disc in the PC thats broken now and it seemed to be working fine, its only now that the same disc wont work

Biggins

Double C wrote: »

...When I was trying to fix the other PC I tried the same disc in the PC thats broken now and it seemed to be working fine, its only now that the same disc wont work

So your back to the original problem.
You can't boot-up from any cd/dvd in the drive.
Have you tried to boot-up (if the bios will allow) from USB stick?

You might want to look at the following:

http://www.topshareware.com/usb-boot-disk-windows-xp/downloads/1.htm

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=4900

http://www.bootdisk.com/

Double C

Thanks again Biggins. I haven't had the chance to try this over the last few days but I gave it a go tonite and no luck. Boot up doesnt work at all from a usb key and I also tried the KillDisk program but it doesnt boot off that cd either. Would it be jumping the gun a bit looking into getting a newer motherboard that support Win7 better?

Biggins

Double C wrote: »

Thanks again Biggins. I haven't had the chance to try this over the last few days but I gave it a go tonite and no luck. Boot up doesnt work at all from a usb key and I also tried the KillDisk program but it doesnt boot off that cd either. Would it be jumping the gun a bit looking into getting a newer motherboard that support Win7 better?

Its a case of weighing up the cost of the motherboard with a decent processor and attaching the original old other parts including cd-drives, etc versus a new machine that is more reliable, new guarantee, etc...

If you can get a cheap board and processor, then only you are in the best position in real time, to decide there and then.

Double C

I just tried going into the task manager there and trying File and New Task and I could run Internet Explorer from there. Not Firefox curiously enough but anyhow. Im on the PC in question now. Obviously the windows explorer isnt working but I'm gonna try and run the links you gave me above directly now and see what happens.