Compaq C300 won't boot

howste · December 24th, 2008, 01:04 AM

My daughter's Compaq Presario C300 (C303NR) decided it no longer wants to boot up. Most of the time the fan will come on for a few seconds then it will shut off. Sometimes it will start to boot and get partway through the Windows XP startup, then go blank and shut off.

With the power cord plugged in, the battery charge light (lightning bolt) is on. However, after a partial boot, the charge light goes into a flickering mode until I unplug it, wait a while, then plug it back in.

Sometimes after a failed boot attempt it will give me an error - "0251: System CMOS checksum bad".

When I go into the BIOS settings, the date and time have been reset. The computer won't stay on long enough to let me change any settings.

I've tried reseating the RAM, pulling out the battery, and reseating the hard drive but these haven't helped. I haven't opened up the case beyond the access covers for the RAM and hard drive.

Any ideas?

Steve R Jones · December 24th, 2008, 04:34 AM

The most common issue with lappy's is the AC jack attached to the mobo gets broken. Try jiggling the cord to see if you get different results.

howste · December 24th, 2008, 08:42 AM

Thanks Steve, I'll give it a try...

howste · December 26th, 2008, 11:39 PM

I've opened the case, and the AC jack is attached to the mobo with wires and a connector. The AC connector doesn't seem to be it.

I did clean a whole boatload of dust out from next to the heatsink, but that didn't seem to help either. It still does the same thing.

Any more ideas?

Steve R Jones · December 27th, 2008, 09:18 AM

The "0251: System CMOS checksum bad" appears to be a bad CMOS battery error...

bellanca guy · January 3rd, 2009, 01:38 PM

has anyone got a solution to this problem?

howste · January 3rd, 2009, 04:45 PM

I haven't found a solution yet. I've seen a few other websites where people have had similar problems but I haven't seen a solution yet...

bellav · January 6th, 2009, 01:26 PM

I am having the exact same problem with my compaq c300 as well. It will power on for a few seconds then it turns off and the power light turns to a flashing light. After I unplug the outlet for a few minutes it then goes to a stable light and powers on for a few seconds then shuts off again. I have received a few error messages, such as faulty CMOS and it has started beeping 2x before shutting off. I've managed to open it in safe mode a few times but haven't been able to make any changes before the computer decides to turn off. I've changed the electrical plug, we bought a few extras and it didn't make any difference.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

azblk · January 6th, 2009, 02:44 PM

I have the exact same problem on c300 notebook. It is the dc jack that is the problem. If you wiggle it a bit you will get it to work for a while but you have to replace the jack to fix this.

Steve R Jones · January 6th, 2009, 03:02 PM

I vote you guys pull your funds together - and one of ya call HP Support

Has anyone tried a different AC adaptor and or new battery?