Help! PC won't boot up!

Toodlepip

Hi
When I turn on my parents Pc it goes to the bios screen where it says press DEL to enter SETUP; press alt + FZ to enter EZ flash utility but goes no further. If I press either DEL or alt + F2 it will then go to windows but an icon will be flickering like mad....I can stop this by pressing F2 but what can I do to get it to start up normally?
They have had a new keyboard recently...would this affect it? The keyboard I'd say is duff (bought off e bay) some keys dont always seem to work....but they have been using it for past 3 weeks without this problem so maybe it's not that.
any Help! gratefully recieved...

Skyhigh

Is the keyboard a USB keyboard?

Windows unfortunately has a problem sometimes with USB devices, especially USB storage devices when its booting.

You may want to simply try plugging in the old keyboard.

The keyboard issue itself may also be caused by a problem with your USB BIOS compatability, for instance your motherboard may not support the USB connection or may not have the correct drivers installed.


Can you boot into safe mode?
This may avoid any driver/error conflicts.
This is done by pressing the F8 key during the POST phase (when the PCh as a black screen, right at the start of the boot sequence, and will say things such as 'CPU: AMD3200XP - RAM 2GB 2-2-2-3'.

Does the PC make any sequence of beeps when it POSTs?

Really the error could be a huge list of things, as ide from the keyboard.
Ranging from a flat BIOS battery that may just need replacing, to simply setting the BIOS settings again if they've somehow got wiped (such as, for instance from a crash).
Even failed hardware could be the culprit.

Really the only way to work out what it may be is to strip it down to the basics.
As in, plug in the old keyboard, plug in the monitor and mouse, unplug anything else such as the printer, scanner or speakers that may be causing a conflict.
If its still causing the error, then it must be the BIOS or the hardware itself.

After checking the BIOS settings are correct the next stage would then be to swap, replace and strip down the hardware aspect of the machine to try and work out which part may be faulty.


:!:

Toodlepip

:T Thanks very much Skyhigh. Have reverted back to old keyboard and problem solved!

Skyhigh

As I said, it may be that your hardware (most likely motherboard) is not able to support the keyboard.

If you're technologically minded, you can look into flashing your BIOS with the latest version, which may support the USB version.


Otherwise, if you want to use your new keyboard and you are not bothered about it using a USB or standard Serial connection, then you can pick up "USB to Serial" keyboard converters for anywhere between £1 and £5 from shops, online stores or even ebay.
For example:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Computer-keyboard-Mouse-Adapter-USB-TO-PS2-Convertor_W0QQitemZ9717310284QQcategoryZ41993QQtcZphotoQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
or
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-to-PS2-CABLE-Adaptor-for-Keyboard-Mouse_W0QQitemZ9715181301QQcategoryZ16164QQtcZphotoQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

:!:

Toodlepip

Thanks again...I'm certainly not technologically minded!!!!! as I'm sure you have gathered by now :rolleyes: Will go look at those converters now.
Once again thanks for your help.

:beer: