Black screen after bios update.. help!!

woodyfly · July 15th, 2004, 06:29 PM

After i reformatted my computer i downloaded drivers. I installed BIOS update for A7N8X-LA motherboard. I restarted my computer and during boot up my screen went black until windows loaded. It kept on locking up right after windows loaded up or was EXTREMELY slow. everytime i rebooted i couldnt not see anything until windows loads up... i restarted , pressed f8 and randomly got into safe mode. I had no idea what i should do so i just went to check on my device manager.. under display i noticed there was an extra video card so i uninstalled it leaving the graphic card i should be using (geforce 4 mx440 integrated).. so i restarted and now my screen is completely black. ive tried guessing into safe mode but no luck.. or ive hit safe mode and the screen is still black during safe mode or i havent hit safe mode yet... which ive tried about 25 times now. i tried going into bios, press f5, then f10 to reset my bios to default but no good...

im ready to reformat if i need to... which is what im trying to do but i cannot see anything on my screen

the computer is a hp pavilion a330n ---- windows xp home
my computer specs/motherboard specs can be found here http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/p...cc=us&dlc=en&;

help will be GREATLY appreciated

John Prophet · July 15th, 2004, 07:42 PM

so do you have a restore disc or an xp home disc?

if you have an xp home disc you can boot off the cd...then hit "enter" on the first screen as if you are doing a fresh install.....then it will see that you already have windows installed so it will ask if you want to repair that install and you choose (R) to repair it.

that usually fixes a ton of issues.

----

then you need to make sure you have the motherboard drivers and vid card drivers etc..like th eone on the HP page that says "original chipset driver" etc

noseBleeD · July 15th, 2004, 07:51 PM

Also to follow up JP, who always beats me, Get into BIOS and make sure cdrom sequence first.

For future reference
You may have lost the hidden partition that contained the restore volume when you reformatted your drive as you described at beginning of your post.

Recovering the System without using Windows

Keep Coming Back ... )
ps. JP, I read your post from this thread. OUTSTANDING!

John Prophet · July 15th, 2004, 08:02 PM

which post?

edit, oh that one..thanks. There was a post like that before...like a year ago..lots of people responded..those posts are good for learning tips and the way other folks do things.

woodyfly · July 15th, 2004, 08:45 PM

i tried doing the system recovery but it seems it didnt work somehow. i think it froze when the setup started because my keyboard was not responding. Im going to try using windows xp cd but i need help.. since i cannot see what im doing i need a sequence on what to do (like when u first put in the cd press enter, press tab tab enter, blah blah) or if some1 is nice enough you can post pictures

John Prophet · July 15th, 2004, 08:52 PM

if nothing is showing at ALL...then it aint a windows issue, lol...sounds like a bios issue

try resetting the bios using the reset jumper...it should be beside the bios battery

----

so you have onboard video or a card? if its a card try to take it out of the slot and put it back in the slot good

pickel · July 15th, 2004, 08:54 PM

John...question...can you use an XP Pro disc to repair an XP home system ?????

woodyfly · July 15th, 2004, 08:57 PM

hmm... supposedly im in the win xp set up now.. but my keyboard isnt responding good. i press num/caps/scroll lock and it makes a beeping sound and it lights up after 5 seconds

John Prophet · July 15th, 2004, 09:00 PM

Quote:

John...question...can you use an XP Pro disc to repair an XP home system ?????

nope....I tried it and it wont recognize that there is an install there in the first place

woodyfly · July 15th, 2004, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Prophet

if nothing is showing at ALL...then it aint a windows issue, lol...sounds like a bios issue

try resetting the bios using the reset jumper...it should be beside the bios battery

? Im kinda new at this hardware stuff.. yes i think its a bios issue since it happened right after i downloaded a bios update and i cannot see anything at all.

try resetting the bios using the reset jumper...it should be beside the bios battery

what is the reset jumper? whats the bios battery? is the bios battery the quarter looking thing?