Compaq Presario 1200 Freezing at Compaq log screen

[SocceRich20]

Hello,

My uncle just sent me his Compaq Presario 1200 Notebook because he has had some problems with it. For starters, he dropped the notebook case down the stairs. The hard drive has something loose inside, and rattles when lightly shaken. Everything else seems fine. He got a new Hitachi hdd, and said that he got Windows 98 on it, but when it arrived today, it just sits at the initial Compaq Screen. I have the Windows 2000 CD in the drive, and it just sits there for hours. It doesn't give any options for BIOS or anything, just the Compaq log screen. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[pelicanman]

It's normal for perfectly functioning notebook hard drives to "rattle" when shaken. It's how they are constructed.

Try tapping the F-10 key during boot and see if the BIOS pops up. Re-seat the memory modules and check the connectors. If the BIOS continues to not be accessible it may be that a trace on one of the internal boards may be broken.

[John Prophet]

also try hitting the "esc" button which should make that compaq splash screen go away so you can see what messages it is showing.

[Tapiwa]

Except I only get the splash screen once every 20 or so attempts. The rest of the time, the machine does not do a thing.

Can anyone help?