I have a computer with windows xp loaded that will not boot up. When
powered on it passed the post test but will not boot to windows and
will not enter safe mode. It does attempt to boot windows but whent he
display shoulde be listing the primary master disk, instead of
displaying pri.master disk it replaces the r in pri with a red smiley
face. Any suggestions? i can't get to the dos prompt either. Thanks
for your sugestions.
It sounds more like hardware failure to me than a virus. It isn't unheard of
to have a boot virus but very rare nowadays and your operating system isn't
even getting booted. Time to do some hardware troubleshooting. If this is
an OEM machine (HP, Dell, etc.) contact their tech support. If this is a
home-built/generic, contact the motherboard mftr.'s tech support.
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot
A good way to see if something is hardware or software is to boot with a
rescue system like a Linux Live CD (Knoppix or Ubuntu) or Bart's PE. If the
problem occurs in the different operating system, you know for sure it
isn't Windows.
Standard disclaimer: I can't see and test your computer myself, so these are
just suggestions based on many years of being a professional computer tech;
suggestions based on what you've written. You should not take my
suggestions as a definitive diagnosis. Testing hardware failures often
involves swapping out suspected parts with known-good parts. If you can't
do the testing yourself and/or are uncomfortable opening your computer,
take the machine to a professional computer repair shop (not your local
equivalent of BigComputerStore/GeekSquad). If possible, have all your data
backed up before you take the machine into a shop.
Malke
