New Computer Won't Boot
Question:When I turn on my computer, I get the gateway logo on my display but everything stops there. No hourglass, no start menu, no operating system at all....just the logo. Its a Gateway model gt5252 with windows XP home. This computer is only a few months old and used for internet surfing mostly. I have AdAware installed and AVG and windows defender. Im worried that my CPU or motherboard might need replacing....what else would cause system failure?
Answer:
I would first start by seeing if you can get into Safe Mode. There may
be something trying to load at startup that is preventing your computer
from starting all the way. When you said you see the Gateway logo I'm
not sure if you mean the one when you first start your computer or if
you have one as a desktop wallpaper and its getting as far as showing
the wallpaper or not even getting to Windows at all.
If you can get into Safe Mode you can check your startup items using msconifg and disable anything that's not needed. You can also choose to start the computer with the Last Known Good Configuration and see what that does.
Another thing to try is a System Restore from within Safe Mode assuming you can get there.
There is a chance that there is some sort of operating system corruption. If you have an actual XP CD then you can load up the Recovery Console and try to run a chkdsk on the drive to check it for errors.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654
If you don't have anything you need to save on your computer you can boot with the recovery/restore CD that should have come with your computer to restore it back to the way it was when you bought it. Anything you have put on the computer since you bought it will be lost if you do this. If you don't have a recovery CD then the recovery files may be located on a different partition of your hard drive and you should have an option to press a certain key at startup to begin the process.
If you can get into Safe Mode you can check your startup items using msconifg and disable anything that's not needed. You can also choose to start the computer with the Last Known Good Configuration and see what that does.
Another thing to try is a System Restore from within Safe Mode assuming you can get there.
There is a chance that there is some sort of operating system corruption. If you have an actual XP CD then you can load up the Recovery Console and try to run a chkdsk on the drive to check it for errors.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654
If you don't have anything you need to save on your computer you can boot with the recovery/restore CD that should have come with your computer to restore it back to the way it was when you bought it. Anything you have put on the computer since you bought it will be lost if you do this. If you don't have a recovery CD then the recovery files may be located on a different partition of your hard drive and you should have an option to press a certain key at startup to begin the process.
