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Thread: Blank screen blinking cursor when booting XP cd

  1. #1
    Member FCser's Avatar
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    Blank screen blinking cursor when booting XP cd

    Ok, so the problem I have is like this...
    I'll start with the hardware

    Intel d945psn motherboard
    Intel Pentium D 820 2.8 ghz cpu
    EVGA GeForce 7950 GT KO 512 MB DDR3 PCI-e
    1 GB Kingston DDR2 ram 533mhz 1 stick
    Antec TruePower 650 Watt
    80GB Seagate SATA drive
    NEC dvdrw

    Put all of this stuff together I have a freshly formatted HD
    going to boot off XP Pro disc and install windows.
    I get to the point where it says "Press any key to boot from CD"
    *press key*
    Then I get the blank screen with blinking cursor...
    When I try to boot off a linux live cd like knoppix I get to the point where it says "Uncompressing kernel... loading..." and then it just hangs with a blinking cursor.

    I can boot off ubcd just fine.
    I ran a memtest and the memory is passing,
    hd tests ok,

    Tried a different PCI-e video card, same thing happened,
    Updated bios to 0097 the latest version, no help,
    flashed bios, cleared cmos,
    Tried different hard drives,
    tried a different cd-rom (took a bit longer to boot up)
    tried a different windows disc

    tried different memory,(same exact brand / type / size)
    tried different memory slots,
    tried different sata & ide cables,

    none of these things helped
    I got the motherboard replaced via intel tech support, they recommended replacing mobo but that didnt solve the problem either

    Formatted drive with dban,
    tried some 'debug' format that you do off of a windows 98 boot disk.

    only other thing i can think of is the cpu is having issues...

    Anyone have some experience with an issue like this before?

  2. #2
    Extreme Member! BipolarBill's Avatar
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    Since UBCD works, I have to assume that the other two CDs are either damaged or poor copies. Is the XP CD genuine?
    MS MCP, MCSE

  3. #3
    Member FCser's Avatar
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    yup

    I have a genuine XP pro disc, genuine xp home, both in good condition, they boot on this computer(which works fine, even with the dvd-rw from the problem computer) I wish it was the cd's

  4. #4
    Extreme Member! BipolarBill's Avatar
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    Can you try swapping CD drives from the working PC to this new one? At least we can rule out a bad drive.
    MS MCP, MCSE

  5. #5
    Member FCser's Avatar
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    from first post:
    "tried a different cd-rom (took a bit longer to boot up)"

    So I have tried a dif cd-rom and IDE cables...

    I also just went and exchanged my Memory for 2 512 MB Kingston 533 mhz sticks because the 1GB stick is not listed on intel's compatibile memory list

    http://support.intel.com/design/moth...nternalmem.htm
    so now the ram i have is

    Kingston
    KVR533D2N4/512 512 MB 533 4-4-4 Non-ECC SSx8 0514 Hynix
    HY5PS12821F-C4
    Another possibility is that there is some problem with the CPU that is the only thing i have not swapped out yet...

    But the computer POSTS just fine, think there could still be cpu issues?

    hmmm... I also tried booting a drive that had a windows install on it to see if it would pick up the new mobo cpu / hardware. I know this is not recommended cause windows has to be reactivated and could have driver issues.. But anyway
    it did the same thing, when my computer gets to the point where it is going to start windows it goes to the blank screen with blinking cursor...

  6. #6
    Mod w/ an attitude Sterling_Aug's Avatar
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    You may want to make a BartPE disk and boot to it.

    It is similar to UBCD, but can include many more Windows XP utilities and programs.

    http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/


    If the computer boots with BartPE, then the mobo and CPU can be ruled out as a problem.

    It sounds like the video card/drivers or network card/drivers may be the problem.

  7. #7
    Member FCser's Avatar
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    I have tried BartPE and it does the same thing, blank screen with blinking cursor.

    Thanks for the suggestion

  8. #8
    Member FCser's Avatar
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    Resolved

    Replaced CPU and now everything is working great

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