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Windows XP boots up to black screen with white cursor

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Whitness

Technical User
May 9, 2009
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Sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place. I have a Toshiba Satellite with Windows XP Home Edition, 2002. I don't have much on it and only use it for the internet really. For some reason it started getting stuck on a black screen with a white cursor when I turn it on. I AM able to Ctrl Alt Delete, and from there if I choose the main (and only) user, log it off then relog back on with that user it works fine, but is there anyway to fix it where it can boot up normally again? I turned the laptop off, unplugged it and pulled the battery out and put it back in and it powered up normally one time, I thought it might be a fluke so I powered it down and rebooted again, and got the black screen again. Any ideas?
 
Run the Toshiba Diagnostic software on that drive, it sounds like the BIOS is giving over to the HDD but the HDD is not ready (spin up time)...

when you then <CTRL><ALT>+<DEL>, the drive has spun up and you can continue to log on normally...

There might be also a setting in the BIOS which controls this...

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
 
Get into the BIOS and reset to default settings, or, if it's like Ben says, set it to boot from CD first then the HDD, that should give it time to spin up.

Tony

Users helping Users...
 
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