I have a very old Compaq computer. When I start it up the screen goes black. What should I do?

Question

My computer is really old. It's a Compaq with Windows ME. When I turn it on the Compaq screen comes up like it usually does and then after that a black screen comes up with a flashing white line and nothing happens. Well I finally pressed one of the function keys when the Compaq screen was up (I think it was F11) and this blue screen came up. At the top of the screen it said:

ROM PCI / ISA BIOS (2A5IMG09)

CMOS SETUP UTILITY

AWARD SOFTWARE, INC.

Then it gave me some options -

STANDARD CMDS SETUP

BIOS FEATURE SETUP

PMP / PCI CONFIGURATION

INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS

LOAD SETUP DEFAULTS

PASSWORD SETTING

SAVE AND EXIT SETUP

EXIT WITHOUT SAVING

I went into each of these options, but I didn't have a clue what I was supposed to do, so I hit exit and the black screen with the line came up again. *sigh*

I'm really confused. If someone could explain to me in regular people terms what I should do about my computer it would be great b/c I tried reading some other answers on here for people who had similar problems and they were saying things and I had absolutely NO idea what they meant.

Thanks in advance!!

Oh and I forgot to mention. I moved the computer out of my room to my dining room to work on it b/c there was more space there. I thought maybe there was something wrong with the outlets in my bedroom, and thats why it wasn't working, but I tried it at another outlet in my room and that didn't work either. I don't know if that helps, but I thought that I should add that in.

this question is long, so thanks for reading it if you did :-)

I forgot to mention. A lot of people said to press F2 or F8. Nothing happens when I press them!!!! Also I can't buy a new computer, so don't suggest it, please.

Answer 1

If you press F8 during boot it should bring you into safe mode. You were in your BIOS. If you do not know what you are doing in your BIOS then do not mess with them. If F8 does not work then it is probably your hard drive. It may need to be replaced or formatted.

Answer 2

there is a loose cable connection somewhere since you have been shifting the computer from one room to another----please check all the cable connections inside the casing  and behind the casing.

Answer 3

ok #1 do not what so ever go into BIOS just going in can trigger something BAD! ok do you have the recovery cd's that came with your computer? if you do just stick the first one in, and it will go by its self from there. If you don't i would try the new monitor idea, you don't have to get an expensive one. also Windows ME is a little out dated, (just consider saving for XP!!!)  but before you do that have it checked out, who knows? it mite be a bug! or not enough RAM (memory, not hard drive, hard drive is where you save your files, and documents, memory is what the computer uses to keep track of everything you have done with it from the time you started up) and ask them if they think you should go about recovering your PC. I've had 2 compaqs in my life time, and the first one (Windows95) worked almost forever!!(died 2 and 1/2 yrs ago)  (im using another compaq right now!)so look at their website, compaq.com .If you don't have the discs you might be able to get them, but I'm not sure since your computer is so old (no offence) or if don't even know what i'm talking about, http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docum... these are the instructions, for the disc, and at the bottom of the page enter all the info you can about your PC and you might be able to get your discs, don't hurt me if they can't give them to you! (lol) i hope this helps!!!

:D

Answer 4

i dont know if yours can do this but its worth a try do a restart and before the logo comes up keep hitting f 2 this will boot it in safe mode

and if scan disc is highlighted hit enter if not arrow to it then hit enter.  if this works it will take a couple of hours for the scan disc utility to do its job it will find errors and then if possible fix them.  good luck

Answer 5

buy a new computer.

Answer 6

Well if the F8 key really did not work, then it could be either the monitor or the video card going out. Maybe you can just plug in the computer to another monitor?? If that works you have your answer. If it does not work then you probably have a bad video card, which is about 20 bux on ebay.

Answer 7

Maybe a hard drive problem but the real problem is the Operation System (Window Me) is messed up. What can be done is download a simple copy of Linux form the internet the smaller size the better. To see if it will boot from CD. But the age of the computer will make all most not worth the trouble to even fix it. I would compare it to trying to fix a 74 pinto. You would spend to much time and money getting the parts you need. If the hard drive is bad it will not let you install it to harddrive if you don't have enough RAM it will not even boot from CD. Oh yea your RAM maybe to low to even boot Window Me.