[Extremeboy]

Can you take a screenshot/picture of what you are seeing so I can visually see what you're talking about.

Thanks.

[4skag]

http://h10025.www1.h...s/c00372799.jpg
think this will work

[Extremeboy]

From that page, perhaps you want to call HP and see what suggestions they have: http://h10025.www1.h...s&product=91012

[4skag]

they say i might possibly have a bad motherboard but don't know for sure
computer is over 5 years old
any way to know for sure?

[Extremeboy]

Do you still have warranty on this comptuer?

[4skag]

no i don't
compaq is saying that it,s just over 5 years old and therefore just out of the warranty period on the motherboard
is there any way to check to make sure it is the board?

[4skag]

are you still there?

[Extremeboy]

Sorry, for the delay.

Will look into your query of whether it could be a motherboard issue as HP described, since you don't have the warranty you're in quite a sticky situation. Initial thought was that it could of been a fail restore or borked CD.

Will get back to you asap.

[4skag]

ok good to know you're still here

[4skag]

hello. haven't heard from you
did you find anything out or is it a lost cause?

[Extremeboy]

Hi again.

Not much that I found regarding testing the motherboard if indeed it is, but at the moment I can only say that to resolve this you would back up your data if you have any that you wish to keep and do a clean-install of it using your Recovery Disks. Artellos, a Tech staff here suggested that if doing a parallel install doesn't work then this would be the best option. Can also be done with the Windows Disk if you still have it available.

With Regards,
Extremeboy

[4skag]

how do you do a parallel install?

[Extremeboy]

Hello.

Sorry for the delay. Just saw you online and looked and seems I didn't reply yet.

Regarding parallel install, here's one that I have found:

Parallel Installation of Windows XP

Boot to the Windows XP installation cd by pressing a key when the "Press any key to boot from cd" prompt appears at the top of the screen.

• At the "Welcome to Setup" screen, press Enter to set up Windows XP.
  
• Accept the License Agreement by pressing F8
  
• With your current installation selected in the box, press Esc
  
• Select C: Partition1 [NTFS] in the box and press Enter
  
• To continue setup using this partition, press C
  
• Now you should see formatting options...choose the last one, Leave the current file system intact (no changes), and press Enter
  
• To use a different folder, press Esc
  
• Name the folder WINDOWS0 (just type a 0 (zero)) and press Enter

The Windows installation should begin. This will install Windows to a new folder, leaving your data intact. Any programs installed on the old directory will have to be reinstalled to the new one. Device drivers will also have to be installed for all the hardware to work as it should.

The data will be located in the Documents and Settings folder (C:\Documents and Settings) under your old user account name...so when you set up the new installation, give yourself a slightly different user account name.