# [SOLVED] PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor



## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

I'm not sure what all info to post, but this is regarding my HP notebook running Windows 7. It won't boot up- when I turn it on, the cursor just flashes on a blank screen. Nothing else happens. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Hello mickapoo and welcome back to TSF!

I am truly sorry there was no answer to your post back in 06.

I would like you to try to boot to Safe Mode.

Press F8 immediately following the HP logo screen.
Select Safe Mode from the advanced Boot options menu.

Was that successful?


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*



mickapoo said:


> ... the cursor just flashes on a blank screen.


This happens when the MBR (Master Boot Record) is damaged/corrupt. Let's have a look at the MBR:

You will need a USB drive/flashdrive and a new blank writable CD.
Step 1: *Please do the following on a working computer:*

Download *GETxPUD.exe* to the Desktop.
Run *GETxPUD.exe*
A new folder will appear on the desktop.
Open the *GETxPUD* folder and click on *get&burn.bat*
The program will download *xpud_0.9.2.iso*, and when finished will open *BurnCDCC* ready to burn the image.
_Please be patient: This could take awhile - download file size 63MB._
Click on *Start* and follow the prompts to burn the image to a CD.
*You will use this CD to boot the ailing computer from.*


Step 2: *Boot the ailing computer with the xPUD CD.*


_(You may have to configure the Boot Menu or BIOS Setup Menu to boot first from the optical/CD/DVD drive.)_
A *Welcome to xPUD* screen will appear.
Click on *File*.
Expand the *mnt* icon on the left _(click on the little arrow beside the icon)_.
sda1, sda2 etc. ...usually correspond to your HDD partitions
sdb1, sdc1 is likely to correspond to a USB flashdrive, external USB hard drive etc.

Click on the folder that represents your USB drive (sdb1 ?).
Click *Tool* on the top menu, and choose *Open Terminal*.
Type the following at the hash prompt:

*dd if=/dev/sda of=mbr.bin bs=512 count=1*


*Note: Leave a space between the following:*
*dd* ... the executable application used to create the backup
*if=/dev/sda* ... the device the backup is created from (the hard drive when only one HDD exists)
*of=mbr.bin* ... the backup file to create - note the lack of a path - it will be created in the directory currently open in the Terminal
*bs=512* ... the number of bytes in the backup
*count=1* ... says to backup just 1 sector
*It is extremely important that the if and of statements are correctly entered.*


Press the <ENTER> key.
After it has finished a file will be located on your USB drive named *mbr.bin*.
Go to *Home* > *Power Off* > *Turn Off* and remove the flashdrive as the system shuts down.

Step 3: *On the working computer:*

Insert the USB drive, and navigate to the file *mbr.bin*
Zip-up the *mbr.bin* file:
Right-click on the file and choose *Send to ..* > *Compressed (zipped) Folder*.
A zipped folder will appear in the same location as the mbr.bin file.

Please *attach* the zipped file to your next reply.
This will allow the MasterBootRecord of your hard drive to be checked to see whether or not it is infected &/or damaged.


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## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

When I booted up from the CD, it never got to the "Welcome xPUD" screen. A screen first came up with a list of languages on the right, and it counted down the seconds to boot up, then when it got down to one second the screen went black and a bunch of errors came up, something about "failed to... broken bios is suspected"- sorry, it flashed up quickly and I could not catch it all. Then it went back to the blinking cursor.

Also, booting up in safe mode did not work, and neither did a system restore (I tried restoring it to an earlier date). 

Thank you for your help!


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*



mickapoo said:


> ... booting up in safe mode did not work, and neither did a system restore (I tried restoring it to an earlier date).


Please explain in detail:

When you tap F8 on startup, are you presented with the "Advanced Boot Options" menu?
Did you get the chance to try loading Windows in Safe Mode?
What happened?

How exactly did you manage to go about performing a "system restore"?


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## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Nothing happens when I tap F8 repeatedly upon start up. The cursor just continues to blink. I do not recall exactly how they got me to that screen, I think it was either F10 or esc, but tech support at Microsoft got me to the screen that had an option for system restore (as well as a few other options, I cannot recall exactly), and it had me select the date to which I wanted it restored. We tried this two times but it did not work. 

Thank you.


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*



mickapoo said:


> Nothing happens when I tap F8 repeatedly upon start up. The cursor just continues to blink.


Did you start tapping F8 early enough ... *well before* you get to the "blank black screen with the blinking cursor"!

Start tapping F8 as soon as you press the power button, and keep repeatedly tapping F8.
What happens? What do you see on screen after pressing the ON button?



mickapoo said:


> ... tech support at Microsoft got me to the screen that had an option for system restore (as well as a few other options, I cannot recall exactly) ...


That sounds a lot like the "System Recovery Options" menu.

Does this look familiar?









Source: An Overview of System Recovery Options for Windows 7 | 7 Tutorials


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## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*



AustrAlien said:


> Did you start tapping F8 early enough ... *well before* you get to the "blank black screen with the blinking cursor"!
> 
> Start tapping F8 as soon as you press the power button, and keep repeatedly tapping F8.
> What happens? What do you see on screen after pressing the ON button?


Yes, I did follow that procedure. After pressing the ON button, the HP logo pops up in the center and it says "press esc for boot options" in the lower left. This lasts about 1 second and then the blinking cursor appears.



> That sounds a lot like the "System Recovery Options" menu.


Yes, that is what it was.


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Thank you. It certainly appears from your description of what happens that the MBR is corrupt and hence when control is passed from BIOS to the hard drive all you see is a "blank black screen with a blinking cursor". That is a very common problem.

*What was happening on the system or what were you doing* ... that may have precipitated this problem? Knowing how the situation came about may determine how best to proceed.

I am still not sure how you arrived at the "System Recovery Options" menu with the other tech support, but guess it was by using the options presented after pressing F10. In any case it is good to know that option is available .... if we can figure out how to get there again if necessary.


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## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

This started last night when I was working. I cannot remember exactly what I was doing but I may have been working in Photoshop. I noticed all of my programs started closing one at a time- first my Firefox tab closed, then OUtlook, then finally Photoshop closed and the "shutting down..." message came up on the screen, the normal message I would see as if I was manually shutting it down. I did not install any new software nor was I visiting any websites when this happened.

Yes, I think you are correct, I believe it was f10 that got me to the system recovery screen. 

Thanks again for your help.


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Thank you for the full description. I have my suspicions about what may have happened to cause the problem.



mickapoo said:


> ... tech support at Microsoft ...


I am surprised that tech support at Microsoft did not attempt to use the *Command Prompt* from the "System Recovery Options" menu! Did they not attempt to get you to run commands from there to "bootrec /fixmbr" and "bootrec /fixboot" to repair the problem ??? *Please confirm* that the only thing they had you do from that menu was to attempt using Windows *System Restore* twice.

The "usual" method of fixing the problem would be to run a couple of commands from the *Command Prompt* at the "System Recovery Options" menu .... and presumably we could do that. However, rather than blindly using the commands, I would much prefer to have a look at the MBR (including the partition table) myself and make a determination of what the problem is, what may have caused it and the best/most appropriate, quickest/easiest method to fix it. With that objective, I will provide instruction to create another bootable CD (since xPUD had problems) and if you can successfully boot with it, then get a look at the MBR (the first 512 bytes of the hard drive).

Let me know if you have concerns about this approach.


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## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*



AustrAlien said:


> Did they not attempt to get you to run commands from there to "bootrec /fixmbr" and "bootrec /fixboot" to repair the problem ??? *Please confirm* that the only thing they had you do from that menu was to attempt using Windows *System Restore* twice.


No, they had me run no commands. The only thing they had me do from that menu was to try using System Restore. 

I have no concerns with the solution you suggested. I too would like to know what actually caused this problem!

Thank you again for your help.


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Thanks.

Let's try another bootable Linux CD/flashdrive and see if we can get it to successfully boot on your HP laptop.

*On a working computer*, please download the latest version of PartedMagic:

PartedMagic Downloads (download the .iso file under the heading _"*Most people will only need this file:*"_)
Write _(in the appropriate manner)_ the downloaded .iso file to either CD or USB/flashdrive:

Creating the LiveCD with InfraRecorder
Creating the LiveUSB
*Boot the problematic computer* from the PartedMagic CD or flashdrive:

With *Default settings (Runs from RAM)* selected, press <ENTER>.
_Be patient while PartedMagic loads into memory, and then displays its Desktop. _
Success? Let me know if you can successfully boot to the Desktop of PartedMagic, and whether you are using a bootable CD or a flashdrive.


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## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Ok, I feel at least like I am making some headway, thank you for your help! I was successfully able to boot up using PartedMagic and am now on the PartedMagic desktop. I used a bootable CD.


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Excellent!

At the Desktop, open a *terminal* by clicking on the monitor icon (the black screen titled LXTerminal) at the bottom left of the Desktop screen.

Type *fdisk -l* at the prompt and press <ENTER>.
_*Note:* There is a space between "fdisk" and "-l". (that is a lower case L as in Llama and not a ONE)_
Drag your mouse over the output to select it all.
Right-click somewhere in the area selected > *Copy*
_(In the next step, you will paste this in a reply.)_
Open *Firefox* (hopefully you will have an internet connection already) and go to *www.techsupportforum.com/forums* and find your topic and paste the output of *fdisk -l *in your reply.

Let me know if you have any problems.


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## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Here is the output:


```
Disk /dev/sda: 640.1 GB, 640135028736 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 77825 cylinders, total 1250263728 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x69e282f4

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *          60          60           0    0  Empty
/dev/sda2   *        2048      409599      203776    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3          409600  1220947967   610269184    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda4      1220947968  1250050047    14551040    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
[email protected]:~#
```
Thank you again!


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Thank you: Interesting!

```
Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *          60          60           0    0  Empty
```
*The first partition is invalid and is also set with a boot flag*: That explains the problem and the symptoms you are seeing. We can fix that: Let's first get a copy of the MBR ...

At the PartedMagic Desktop, open a *terminal* window:

Locate the black screen/monitor icon (ROXTerm) along the bar at the bottom of the Desktop screen (third icon from the left-side edge).
Click on the ROXTerm icon to open a terminal window and at the prompt, type:

*dd if=/dev/sda of=mbr.bin bs=512 count=1*

*Note: Leave a space between the following:*
*dd* ... the executable application used to create the backup
*if=/dev/sda* ... the device the backup is created from (the hard drive when only one HDD exists)
*of=mbr.bin* ... the backup file to create - note the lack of a path - it will be created in the directory currently open in the Terminal
*bs=512* ... the number of bytes in the backup
*count=1* ... says to backup just 1 sector
*It is extremely important that the if and of statements are correctly entered.*


... and press the <ENTER> key.
A file named *mbr.bin* will be saved to the system in the "root" directory.
At the PartedMagic Desktop, double-click the *File Manager* icon (on Desktop):


A new window will open.
In the "root" directory you will see the file that you just created called *mbr.bin*.
Right-click on the *mbr.bin* file > *New* > *Archive*.
Under "Archive Format", choose the format *.zip* from the drop-down menu.
Click *Save*.
You should now see the zipped file, *mbr.bin.zip* in the root directory along with *mbr.bin*.

Please attach the *mbr.bin.zip* file to a reply to this topic.


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

*FYI:* A rather similar topic starting at post #28, except the member already had a Ubuntu CD prepared, so we used that instead of PartedMagic. I anticipate we will repair your partition table in the same manner as in that topic.


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## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

mbr.bin.zip attached, thank you!


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Thank you. This is what it looks like using MbrScan:

```
MBR Analyzer v1.1.0

File : C:\Documents and Settings\GEOFF\Desktop\mickapoo_TSF\mbr.bin

--------------------------------------------------------------

--OFFSET--  0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-A-B-C-D-E-F-  0123456789ABCDEF

0x00000000  33C08ED0BC007C8EC08ED8BE007CBF00  3À.Ð¼.|.À.Ø¾.|¿.
0x00000010  06B90002FCF3A450681C06CBFBB90400  .¹..üó¤Ph..Ëû¹..
0x00000020  BDBE07807E00007C0B0F850E0183C510  ½¾..~..|......Å.
0x00000030  E2F1CD1888560055C6461105C6461000  âñÍ..V.UÆF..ÆF..
0x00000040  B441BBAA55CD135D720F81FB55AA7509  ´A»ªUÍ.]r..ûUªu.
0x00000050  F7C101007403FE46106660807E100074  ÷Á..t.þF.f`.~..t
0x00000060  2666680000000066FF76086800006800  &fh....f.v.h..h.
0x00000070  7C680100681000B4428A56008BF4CD13  |h..h..´B.V..ôÍ.
0x00000080  9F83C4109EEB14B80102BB007C8A5600  ..Ä..ë.¸..».|.V.
0x00000090  8A76018A4E028A6E03CD136661731CFE  .v..N..n.Í.fas.þ
0x000000A0  4E11750C807E00800F848A00B280EB84  N.u..~......².ë.
0x000000B0  5532E48A5600CD135DEB9E813EFE7D55  U2ä.V.Í.]ë..>þ}U
0x000000C0  AA756EFF7600E88D007517FAB0D1E664  ªun.v.è..u.ú°Ñæd
0x000000D0  E88300B0DFE660E87C00B0FFE664E875  è..°ßæ`è|.°.ædèu
0x000000E0  00FBB800BBCD1A6623C0753B6681FB54  .û¸.»Í.f#Àu;f.ûT
0x000000F0  435041753281F90201722C666807BB00  CPAu2.ù..r,fh.».
0x00000100  00666800020000666808000000665366  .fh....fh....fSf
0x00000110  5366556668000000006668007C000066  SfUfh....fh.|..f
0x00000120  6168000007CD1A5A32F6EA007C0000CD  ah...Í.Z2öê.|..Í
0x00000130  18A0B707EB08A0B607EB03A0B50732E4  ..·.ë..¶.ë..µ.2ä
0x00000140  0500078BF0AC3C007409BB0700B40ECD  ....ð¬<.t.»..´.Í
0x00000150  10EBF2F4EBFD2BC9E464EB002402E0F8  .ëòôëý+Éädë.$.àø
0x00000160  2402C3496E76616C6964207061727469  $.ÃInvalid parti
0x00000170  74696F6E207461626C65004572726F72  tion table.Error
0x00000180  206C6F6164696E67206F706572617469   loading operati
0x00000190  6E672073797374656D004D697373696E  ng system.Missin
0x000001A0  67206F7065726174696E672073797374  g operating syst
0x000001B0  656D000000637B9AF482E26900008000  em...c{.ô.âi....
0x000001C0  3D00000000003C000000000000008020  =.....<........ 
0x000001D0  2100077E25190008000000380600007E  !..~%......8...~
0x000001E0  261907FEFFFF0040060000F0BF4800FE  &..þ[email protected]ð¿H.þ
0x000001F0  FFFF07FEFFFF0030C6480010BC0155AA  ...þ...0ÆH..¼.Uª

---------------------------[ MBR ]----------------------------

MBR_CODE        : 7 MBR Code
MD5             : 1B28BEB45A724348C1028895F3A9E68D
SHA1            : A49FB189C7C4E2D8C42C9058E12C34AED07AD5A9
PARTITIONS      : 3
DISK_SIGNATURE  : F482E269
SIGNATURE_ID    : AA55h

-----------------------[ PARTITION 2 ]------------------------

BOOTABLE        : YES
PARTITION_TYPE  : 0x07 ( NTFS / HPFS)
PARTITION_SIZE  : 199 Mo
STARTING_SECTOR : 2048
ENDING_SECTOR   : 409600
TOTAL_SECTORS   : 407552

-----------------------[ PARTITION 3 ]------------------------

BOOTABLE        : NO
PARTITION_TYPE  : 0x07 ( NTFS / HPFS)
PARTITION_SIZE  : 581 Go
STARTING_SECTOR : 409600
ENDING_SECTOR   : 1220947968
TOTAL_SECTORS   : 1220538368

-----------------------[ PARTITION 4 ]------------------------

BOOTABLE        : NO
PARTITION_TYPE  : 0x07 ( NTFS / HPFS)
PARTITION_SIZE  : 13.88 Go
STARTING_SECTOR : 1220947968
ENDING_SECTOR   : 1250050048
TOTAL_SECTORS   : 29102080
```
You will note that partition 1 is not listed as being present. Otherwise, all appears to be in order.

I will manually edit the MBR, removing the invalid first partition and then attach the amended MBR to a post along with instructions for you to write it to the hard drive.


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## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Thank you so, so much. I wait with bated breath!


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

I have amended the partition table to remove the invalid partition and there are now the 3 normal partitions listed. This is what the amended MBR looks like:


```
MBR Analyzer v1.1.0

File : C:\Documents and Settings\GEOFF\Desktop\mickapoo_TSF\mbra.bin

--------------------------------------------------------------

--OFFSET--  0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-A-B-C-D-E-F-  0123456789ABCDEF

0x00000000  33C08ED0BC007C8EC08ED8BE007CBF00  3À.Ð¼.|.À.Ø¾.|¿.
0x00000010  06B90002FCF3A450681C06CBFBB90400  .¹..üó¤Ph..Ëû¹..
0x00000020  BDBE07807E00007C0B0F850E0183C510  ½¾..~..|......Å.
0x00000030  E2F1CD1888560055C6461105C6461000  âñÍ..V.UÆF..ÆF..
0x00000040  B441BBAA55CD135D720F81FB55AA7509  ´A»ªUÍ.]r..ûUªu.
0x00000050  F7C101007403FE46106660807E100074  ÷Á..t.þF.f`.~..t
0x00000060  2666680000000066FF76086800006800  &fh....f.v.h..h.
0x00000070  7C680100681000B4428A56008BF4CD13  |h..h..´B.V..ôÍ.
0x00000080  9F83C4109EEB14B80102BB007C8A5600  ..Ä..ë.¸..».|.V.
0x00000090  8A76018A4E028A6E03CD136661731CFE  .v..N..n.Í.fas.þ
0x000000A0  4E11750C807E00800F848A00B280EB84  N.u..~......².ë.
0x000000B0  5532E48A5600CD135DEB9E813EFE7D55  U2ä.V.Í.]ë..>þ}U
0x000000C0  AA756EFF7600E88D007517FAB0D1E664  ªun.v.è..u.ú°Ñæd
0x000000D0  E88300B0DFE660E87C00B0FFE664E875  è..°ßæ`è|.°.ædèu
0x000000E0  00FBB800BBCD1A6623C0753B6681FB54  .û¸.»Í.f#Àu;f.ûT
0x000000F0  435041753281F90201722C666807BB00  CPAu2.ù..r,fh.».
0x00000100  00666800020000666808000000665366  .fh....fh....fSf
0x00000110  5366556668000000006668007C000066  SfUfh....fh.|..f
0x00000120  6168000007CD1A5A32F6EA007C0000CD  ah...Í.Z2öê.|..Í
0x00000130  18A0B707EB08A0B607EB03A0B50732E4  ..·.ë..¶.ë..µ.2ä
0x00000140  0500078BF0AC3C007409BB0700B40ECD  ....ð¬<.t.»..´.Í
0x00000150  10EBF2F4EBFD2BC9E464EB002402E0F8  .ëòôëý+Éädë.$.àø
0x00000160  2402C3496E76616C6964207061727469  $.ÃInvalid parti
0x00000170  74696F6E207461626C65004572726F72  tion table.Error
0x00000180  206C6F6164696E67206F706572617469   loading operati
0x00000190  6E672073797374656D004D697373696E  ng system.Missin
0x000001A0  67206F7065726174696E672073797374  g operating syst
0x000001B0  656D000000637B9AF482E26900008020  em...c{.ô.âi... 
0x000001C0  2100077E25190008000000380600007E  !..~%......8...~
0x000001D0  261907FEFFFF0040060000F0BF4800FE  &..þ[email protected]ð¿H.þ
0x000001E0  FFFF07FEFFFF0030C6480010BC010000  ...þ...0ÆH..¼...
0x000001F0  000000000000000000000000000055AA  ..............Uª

---------------------------[ MBR ]----------------------------

MBR_CODE        : 7 MBR Code
MD5             : 8524E370CD1A74C4AAF27D97A7AEBF36
SHA1            : 289D129EABA1BA89745F178738FCBEE5BE0DCB11
PARTITIONS      : 3
DISK_SIGNATURE  : F482E269
SIGNATURE_ID    : AA55h

-----------------------[ PARTITION 1 ]------------------------

BOOTABLE        : YES
PARTITION_TYPE  : 0x07 ( NTFS / HPFS)
PARTITION_SIZE  : 199 Mo
STARTING_SECTOR : 2048
ENDING_SECTOR   : 409600
TOTAL_SECTORS   : 407552

-----------------------[ PARTITION 2 ]------------------------

BOOTABLE        : NO
PARTITION_TYPE  : 0x07 ( NTFS / HPFS)
PARTITION_SIZE  : 581 Go
STARTING_SECTOR : 409600
ENDING_SECTOR   : 1220947968
TOTAL_SECTORS   : 1220538368

-----------------------[ PARTITION 3 ]------------------------

BOOTABLE        : NO
PARTITION_TYPE  : 0x07 ( NTFS / HPFS)
PARTITION_SIZE  : 13.88 Go
STARTING_SECTOR : 1220947968
ENDING_SECTOR   : 1250050048
TOTAL_SECTORS   : 29102080
```


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## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Thank you! I'll wait for your instructions, don't know exactly what to do with that... Thanks again!


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Won't be long now ....


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

The amended MBR (mbra.bin zipped) is attached.

Download *mbra.zip*. By default it will be downloaded into the *Downloads* folder in the *root* directory of PartedMagic.

Right-click on mbra.zip > *Edit* > *Copy to* > *Location*

Select *root* in the left column of the new window as the location for the copy, and click *OK*.
Close that window.
On the PartedMagic Desktop, double-click on *File Manager* to open a new window showing the contents of the *root* directory and you should see the *mbra.zip* file there.

Right-click on mbra.zip > *Open* > *Archive Manager* > *Archive Default* and UNcheck the option "*Create Subfolder*".

Right-click on mbra.zip > *Open* > *Archive Manager* > *Extract*.
You should now see the *mbra.bin* file in the *root* directory.
_If you do NOT see the mbra.bin file in the *root* directory, STOP and ask/let me know if you are having a problem._

The next job will be to write mbr.bin to the hard drive, and I will be back with instructions to do that shortly.


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

*Important note:* The file *mbra.bin* MUST be in the *root* directory before continuing:

If you do not see the mbra.bin file in the *root* directory, then do NOT proceed. *STOP and ask/let me know*.
================

From the PartedMagic Desktop, open a terminal window and at the prompt type:

*dd if=mbra.bin of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1*



*Note: Leave a space between the following:*
*dd*
*if=mbra.bin*
*of=/dev/sda*
*bs=512*
*count=1*
*It is extremely important that the if and of statements are correctly entered.*

... and press the <ENTER> key.

A successful write will result in output similar to the following:

```
[email protected]:~# dd if=mbra.bin of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
512 bytes (512 B) copied, 0.00314681 s, 163 kB/s
[email protected]:~#
```

_If you see anything significantly different, let me know._

If the file was successfully written to the hard drive, shut down PartedMagic and remove the CD.

Start the computer and boot to the hard drive as normal.
_*Note:* If you have had to configure the system to boot from the CD, then you may need to enter the BIOS Setup Menu and change the boot order setting so that the system will boot from the hard drive._
Does Windows load successfully?


----------



## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

It first said that it had to check the disk and said something about CHKDSK. Then after that finished it said, "installing windows"... I freaked out and tried to close that but it would not allow me, saying something about it would make it unstable. After that a desktop appeared but it looks completely new. All of my icons are gone. I'm really scared, did I lose everything?


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Hmmm ... that was not expected! I wonder what is going on.

You say that chkdsk ran. Let's see if we can get a look at the log it made (hopefully it created a log?).

*A log of the disk check is recorded* _only if the scheduled re-start is used, and only for drives on the same HDD as the Operating System._
To open *Event Viewer* and view the log:

Go to *Start* > and type *eventvwr* and press the <ENTER> key.
The Event Viewer window will open.
In the left pane, expand "Windows Logs" and then click on *Application*.
In the right pane, at the top, click on the column heading *Source* _to sort the list alphabetically._
Look in the *Source* column for "*Wininit*", with an entry corresponding to the date and time of the disk check.
Click on that Wininit entry to select it.
On the top main menu, click *Action* > *Copy* > *Copy Details as Text*.
Paste the log text into your next reply.


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## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

Log Name: Application
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Wininit
Date: 10/26/2012 7:47:36 AM
Event ID: 1001
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: 37L4247F27-25
Description:


Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.


One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency. You
may cancel the disk check, but it is strongly recommended
that you continue.
Windows will now check the disk. 

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
420608 file records processed. 

File verification completed.
1003 large file records processed. 

0 bad file records processed. 

0 EA records processed. 

133 reparse records processed. 

CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
568320 index entries processed. 

Index verification completed.
0 unindexed files scanned. 

0 unindexed files recovered. 

CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)...
420608 file SDs/SIDs processed. 

Cleaning up 871 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 871 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 871 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
73857 data files processed. 

CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
34200688 USN bytes processed. 

Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the
master file table (MFT) bitmap.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

610269183 KB total disk space.
106378008 KB in 344507 files.
213384 KB in 73858 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
539695 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
503138096 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
152567295 total allocation units on disk.
125784524 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
00 6b 06 00 44 62 06 00 52 98 0b 00 00 00 00 00 .k..Db..R.......
e3 8d 00 00 85 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Wininit" Guid="{206f6dea-d3c5-4d10-bc72-989f03c8b84b}" EventSourceName="Wininit" />
<EventID Qualifiers="16384">1001</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>4</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2012-10-26T14:47:36.000000000Z" />
<EventRecordID>5</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="0" ThreadID="0" />
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>37L4247F27-25</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.


One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency. You
may cancel the disk check, but it is strongly recommended
that you continue.
Windows will now check the disk. 

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
420608 file records processed. 

File verification completed.
1003 large file records processed. 

0 bad file records processed. 

0 EA records processed. 

133 reparse records processed. 

CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
568320 index entries processed. 

Index verification completed.
0 unindexed files scanned. 

0 unindexed files recovered. 

CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)...
420608 file SDs/SIDs processed. 

Cleaning up 871 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 871 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 871 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
73857 data files processed. 

CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
34200688 USN bytes processed. 

Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the
master file table (MFT) bitmap.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

610269183 KB total disk space.
106378008 KB in 344507 files.
213384 KB in 73858 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
539695 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
503138096 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
152567295 total allocation units on disk.
125784524 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
00 6b 06 00 44 62 06 00 52 98 0b 00 00 00 00 00 .k..Db..R.......
e3 8d 00 00 85 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.
</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>


----------



## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

The chkdsk log looks good. There is nothing there to be concerned about.

It is late here now and I must get some sleep.

If things are not as they should be, I suggest that you do not do anything or make any changes or write anything to the hard drive until we have a better idea of what is going on. Have a good look around and let me know what you see and how things are working and try to give me a full picture of the situation. I will look in on you first thing in the morning.

I really don't know what might have gone wrong in the first instance. From your description, it seemed that Windows Updates may have initiated a shut-down of the system and something then went terribly wrong. I can't be sure of that though. At this stage I really have no idea of what might have happened in the first instance and what we may now find when booted into Windows. I'll have to leave it to you to tell me how things are now. I certainly was not expecting a problem when you booted back into Windows, and nothing we did should have created a problem or done any damage.

Catch up with you in the (my) morning. Good night.


----------



## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

I don't know, everything seems to be gone. The desktop is blank except for the recycle bin. I do see my personal folders in "windows.old" though, so that is some relief, even though all of my programs are gone. Also, I cannot connect to the internet, contacted both my internet provider & Linksys, as the wireless network was not even showing up. They suggested that maybe the wireless adapter driver needs to be installed, but I'm not sure how to go about this as I"m not sure what type of adapter I have so I don't know what driver to d/l from HP (they list several on their site under my model number).

So I'm guessing at this point I've lost everything and just have to basically start over? Thanks for all the time you spent trying to help me


----------



## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

What are the full model details of the HP laptop?

You will most probably need to look at the under-side of the laptop to get the full model details.
I assume that "windows.old" is the name of a folder:

What is the location of this folder?
What exactly do you see in this folder?
Any further findings on the current situation?


----------



## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

The model is HP g7-1050us. I was able to get the wireless adapter driver installed so at least I'm able to get online now. 

The windows.old is indeed a directory, located directly in the a root of my hard drive. All of my personal files and folders are there so all is not lost. No programs, just folders and files that I had created.

So I take it there is no way to get my programs back, or restore it to what it once was? Too late for that since Windows has been reinstalled? 


Thank you!


----------



## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

You are quite right: It's too late to do anything about it now. Apparently, what is called a "non-destructive" (where-by your personal files are saved to a folder, *windows.old*) system recovery was scheduled to take place upon re-boot and ... after running chkdsk .... it proceeded.

Is it possible that you (or someone else?) could have tried/setup a recovery from the factory-installed recovery partition to take place?

It's another reminder (for me!) to ensure everything is backed up adequately before suggesting *any* course of action. I certainly was not anticipating what happened.


----------



## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

It must have been what Microsoft was trying to do but it failed when I was on the phone with them for hours. 

I know this is a different subject, but I'm trying to get everything back like it was originally. One thing in particular is stumping me. When I go to my power options, and then select "control what closing the lid does" (or something similar, can't recall verbatim), the option to sleep is not there, only to hibernate or do nothing. Do I need to activate the sleep option first from some other menu? 

Thank you!


----------



## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*



mickapoo said:


> It must have been what Microsoft was trying to do but it failed when I was on the phone with them for hours.


That would explain it.

*Re: your current issue*
I am not overly familiar with laptops: I will request some assistance for you.


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

It's usually an issue with Multimedia settings. 
Go to the "Power Options" control panel
Under active power plan, select Change Plan Settings. 
Then click on Change advanced power settings.
Then under Multimedia Settings / When sharing media select Allow the computer to sleep for the On battery and Plugged in.

Media center likes to disable sleep so that media can be shared.


----------



## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*



Wrench97 said:


> It's usually an issue with Multimedia settings.
> Go to the "Power Options" control panel
> Under active power plan, select Change Plan Settings.
> Then click on Change advanced power settings.
> ...


Thanks for the reply, but I followed your instructions, rebooted, and still the option to "sleep" is not there next to "when I close the lid".


----------



## mickapoo (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: PC won't boot up- just blinking cursor*

I just updated my graphics card driver and now the option to "Sleep" is there. 

Thanks again for all of the help!


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Thanks for letting us know the resolution, I would have never guessed at that for a solution


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## AustrAlien (Jun 10, 2009)

Wrench97 said:


> Thanks for letting us know the resolution, I would have never guessed at that for a solution


Yes, thanks for the update. I would never have guessed that solution either: It's a weird one!

Take care.


----------

