So...my supervisor is a jerk and fires people for referring computers to him if we can't figure out something stupid. Then I had a horrible tech guy on the phone with me tell me that girls shouldn't work on computers. This is an HP Pavilion zx5000. So now im being stubborn and I have to figure out what is going on.

So heres what it does.  When you try to start Microsoft Windows XP, the computer may appear to stop responding (hang) with an empty, black screen immediately after the POST is complete and before the Windows XP logo typically appears on the screen. If you hit F1 (does not go to BIOS), or if you manually select the harddrive by hitting esc, it boots up normally.

Things I have already checked:

No viruses, I did a complete reinstall and put in a new harddrive. Checked for MBR viruses nothing found.
Checked boot order, it doesn't matter the order, it doesn't automatically boot from CD if CDROM is first choice, nor does it boot from HD if that is first choice.
Checked Bios, flashed the original just in case, flashed a new version
I reset the MBR.

Nothing seems to be working...what am i missing?  

first off.. its an HP!

okay now that i got that out of the way.

Okay if i am reading this right, if you let XP boot up without touchign anything it hangs. HOwever if you hit ESC and then select the hard drive it boots.

I would think its a hardware issue. Its not a MBR related issue. SInce you reinstalled and the problem still persists.

Going into safemode wont help, cause this is before windows has to start. I would say you got a driver conflict in XP or your hard drive is dying.

Those are two possible suggestions.. I doubt its a driver confict, if its hanging before XP logo comes up, which in that case its a hardware issue with the computer, could be the hard drive, or teh controller.

in my experiences building comps for friends and family bad ram can cause an awful lot of weird and difficult to diagnose problems. i'm not saying this is it, but just somthing to keep in mind.

well if its bad ram, its possible but because it boots when she hits ESC i wouldnt think its a ram issue. Try downloading Knoppix and running it off the cd and see if there are any issues.

What about the BIOS battery?  Maybe it's dead.

hard drive controller on your motherboard is on the way out, order a new board from HP and swap it

Ram was fine, did a couple intensive harddrive tests and it didnt pick up anything so I'm definitely leaning toward the motherboard.   Now I'm going to have to figure out what this joker who was an ass to me wants before he'll cover it in the warranty. I can't just order HP replacement parts either cause I only have Dell Certs.  :x  Totally getting the rest of my certs cause this is getting annoying.

Have you tried resetting the bios to factory specs?  Might work if something has been screwed up in them.  If you can't get to the bios screen, check for a reset jumper on the motherboard.  Not sure if HP's have one, don't really like working on them...

Quote from: flyingbeagle71Have you tried resetting the bios to factory specs? .

+1

Especially if you have already verified that the drive is cabled and jumpered properly. If you checked, check again  

And when you did the clean install, I am assuming you made sure you installed XP onto an active partition on the disk.  

Quote from: PhaedrusAnd when you did the clean install, I am assuming you made sure you installed XP onto an active partition on the disk.

Good one Phaedrus, I did this the other day while setting up a machine for the kids.

you would get a "NTLDR is missing" message

Have you tried putting that HD in ANOTHER system and seeing if it boots?

Pastrami, check this:

http://www.compphix.com/xpbootprocess.html

It explains the Windows XP boot process. I think your problem is BEFORE Windows takes over the startup process. XP will work just fine if you manually choose it.

"It begins when the computer performs the POST (power-on self test), followed by the POST for each adapter card that has a BIOS, for example, your video card. The BIOS then reads the MBR (Master Boot Record) which is in the first sector of the first hard disk and transfers control to the code in the MBR which is created by the XP Setup."

I think your problem is likely hardware, since your XP installation is fine. If you are able to use and access the BIOS and the BIOS recognizes the drive, thats good! But the BIOS isn't reading the MBR for one reason or another.

Sent this POS back to the a$$hole in Minnesota for warranty repair. Motherboard is dead, i dont even get a self test beep. I dont wanna deal with it, its got a warranty and its clearly a hardware issue.

How did it go from being able to load windows manually to not even booting? You sure fixed it pretty well  

I'm just picking.  :kiss: don't let it get the best of you

Thank God you sent that POS back.  I was really starting to think that it was going to drive you insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice sig AJ  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

Quote from: PhaedrusHow did it go from being able to load windows manually to not even booting? You sure fixed it pretty well  

I'm just picking.  :kiss: don't let it get the best of you

It still boots manually, I called HP support for a second opinion and they said it was most likely the mobo. The harddrive does boot on another system. I never got a self test beep on it. I just got sick of it so I just sent it back..I worked on it way too long.

keep the pos and send a real pc please

Thank you, Phae!!!

Hrm...a little late, but in case it's still bothering you:

It's likely a hardware problem with the optical drive.  It's going to try to boot from that first, unless you manually tell it to boot from the hard drive.  It's probably running into some trouble when it pokes the controller...or (although I assume you checked) there's a bad disk in the drive (i.e., it's trying to boot from a disk that's not really bootable).

Then again...I'm a software guy, not a hardware guy.  :dunno: