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How do I reboot my Eee Pc? Because when I start it up it goes to a screen that it’s never gone to before and doesn’t allow me to do anything on it.

Without knowing exactly what you are seeing on the screen, we’re going to have to try a little troubleshooting. First off, if you are still covered by a warranty, you should contact Asus Support first to get help, as most things you can try to get rid of your boot up problems will probably void your warranty.

Probable Causes

I’ve heard of this problem originating with the kernel that ships with 11.1 and that the latest version (2.6.28.1) should fix it. It could also be an issue with the physical RAM - have you upgraded recently? Do you move the laptop around (okay, you probably do, it is a laptop after all)? Try the following fixes to get the computer to boot up properly.

Power Down

Several Eee users have had successful reboots by following this power down procedure: Take the battery off and unplug the machine from the power supply. Press and hold the Power button for 30 seconds. Put the plug back in and press the Power button for 5 seconds, leaving the battery out. See if it will now boot into the regular mode. Some models of the Eee PC have a hard reset button on the bottom that you can activate by using an unfolded paperclip - without knowing your model, I’m not sure if this will work for you.

RAM Issue

Many people have found that if they upgrade to 2 GB of RAM, they get a black screen. If they go back and put in the original 1GB of RAM, the problem seems to be solved. It is also possible that the RAM sticks have become unseated inside the machine. If you are comfortable opening up the computer, unseat and then reseat your RAM - a loose connection can cause this and is easily solved.

Restore Factory Settings

You can easily restore most models to their factory settings. This method will wipe all of the data off of the computer, so if you don’t have it backed up properly, you will need to save the data first. If you can’t access the data, you can download Puppy Linux using another computer and put it on a USB drive. You will then put this device into your computer, reboot and press ESC while your computer starts. This should allow you to save your data and you can go on to do a restore.

Restart your computer and press and hold F9. You should see a BIOS menu with the options: Normal Boot, Perform Disk Scan and Restore Factory Settings. Select Restore Factory Settings and press Enter. This will format the user partition and restore the system to its original state.

Hopefully, your problem has a simple solution to get your back into normal mode on your Eee PC. If you need further help, please let us know.

Today when I turned on the laptop, the only message that appeared on the screen is: Intel (R) Boot agent version 4.0.13; PXE-E61: Media test failure check cable; PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel PXE ROM. Does that mean that the laptop is “dead”? Can I recover some of the information off the hard drive such as photos, Internet connections, etc?

This error message happens when the computer is trying to boot from the network first instead of the hard drive. The PXE portion of it means the pre-boot execution environment. It could be something as simple as a loose cable connection or as complex as a bad hard drive. Some troubleshooting should help you figure out the problem.

Check Boot Order

The first thing you should check is your CD ROM drive - is there anything in it? If there is, remove it and try booting up again. Can you get into BIOS? Depending on the computer, you would press F10 or F1 or F2 as the computer starts to get into your BIOS screen. If you can get into BIOS, choose Advanced from the options menu and go down to Boot Order. Press the option to reset to default. Now see if you can find the hard drive in the BIOS and press Enter. If there is an exclamation point, then it is disabled. Press Shift +1 to enable it. Now go back and see if the system is reset to boot from the hard drive first.  If there is no hard drive detected, then go on to the next step.

Check the Connections

If your system can’t find the hard drive, you could just have a loose connection. There are cables that hold the hard drive to the computer and if one comes loose, you can get this error. If you aren’t comfortable opening the laptop and checking around, find someone who is tech savvy to help you. Sometimes just reseating the hard drive will solve your problem and allow your machine to boot.

Hard Drive Issues

If none of the above solutions work for you, then there is a chance that you do have a problem with the hard drive. All may not be lost however - depending on the nature of the problem, you can pull the hard drive out of the laptop and hook it up to an external hard drive enclosure (found at computer stores and on the Internet for about $30) to pull the data and put it on another machine. For more information on pulling info on hard drives, see this Filetonic article.

Hopefully, your problem is easily solved and you can access your data easily. Even if it is a bad hard drive, chances are you will be able to pull some information and access it through another computer.

My PC crashed this morning. I carried out a restore in Safe Mode. It says Window XP has been restored, but it is not working, I have tried everything!

Understanding which strategy to take when troubleshooting a failed Windows XP recovery starts with an understanding of what is going on. To do that, you need to ask yourself the following questions. Did I install any new hardware or software prior to the crash? Is it possible that while surfing the Internet I picked up some form of malware? Am I running an anti-virus application such as AVG that did not allow the recovery installation to occur?

If you can recognize what might have happened, then you can begin to troubleshoot the problem. Not knowing exactly what isn’t working on the computer makes it more difficult to diagnose the problem and the repair. Is the Internet not working? Can you get into Windows at all? Are certain programs not running properly? Think about the answers to all of the questions and try to resolve the problem with one or more of the suggested solutions.

Troubleshooting Failed Windows XP Recovery: Allotted Disk Space

It is possible that your computer did not have the necessary disk space in order to properly restore Windows XP. If this is the case, then undoing the restoration of XP, increasing the allotted disk space, and redoing the restoration should work to solve the problem. If it is possible for you to do so either in “Safe Mode” or normal mode, complete these steps.

First, you need to undo the restoration. To do so, follow these directions:

• Navigate to “Start.”
• Select “Programs.”
• Select “Accessories.”
• Select “System Tools.”
• Select “System Restore.”
• Select “Undo my last restoration.”

Now, you need to increase the allotted disk space. To do so, follow these directions:

• Navigate to “Start.”
• Select “Control Panel.”
• Select “Performance and Maintenance.”
• Select “System.”
• Select “System Properties.”
• Increase the indicator for “allotted disk space” and select “ok.”

Now, you can complete a new effort to restore your Windows XP.

Troubleshooting Failed Windows XP Recovery: Reactivation of Windows XP

If the system restore point occurred prior to the time that Windows XP was activated, the OS will not be able to recognize that it has already occurred. This will necessitate you doing one of two things- using the directions above to undo the recovery and to redo it with a later date or to follow these steps to activate XP:

• Boot up in “Safe Mode”
• Navigate to \%systemroot%\system32folder
• Rename “wpa.dbl” to apa.noact”
• Rename “wpa.bak” to “wpa.dbl”
• Reboot to normal mode.

Troubleshooting Failed Windows XP Recovery: Installation Disk

Although this might be a long shot, if you have an installation disk for your computer, use it to repair your operating system. Simply insert it, turn on the power and follow the prompts.

Troubleshooting Failed Windows XP Recovery: Hardware/Software Issues

If you believe that the installation of a specific piece of hardware or a particular software application created the problem. Uninstall it at the first opportunity and see how things function afterward.

My computer was recently wiped and since having it back for just one day the computer switches on but restarts itself before it fully loads. My friend says I need to start it in Safe Mode to find the problem. What do you think?

Turn Off the Auto Reboot Setting

The first thing that you can do is turn off your computer’s automatic restart setting. Windows operating systems are often set to automatically reboot if the computer encounters a problem that it can’t recover from. The idea is that the reboot will allow the computer to resolve the problem. However, if the computer isn’t able to get around the error, then it will continually restart. This is a bit of a catch-22 though as your computer won’t fully load in order for you to perform the necessary steps to turn it off. So, first boot into Safe Mode and then turn off Automatic Restart.

Boot into Safe Mode

Since your computer is stalling and rebooting before it even finishes loading, you will probably need to boot into Safe Mode to make the necessary repairs. Safe Mode allows your computer to start up running only vital programs, reducing the chances of encountering the problem. The next time you boot your computer it will return to Normal Mode. To boot into Safe Mode:

1. Turn the computer off and wait for 30 seconds
2. Power the computer back up - as soon as it starts to boot, begin pressing F8

            **If you get a keyboard error, turn the computer off and try again

1. The Windows Advanced Options menu will open
2. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to highlight Safe Mode
3. Press Enter
4. Your computer will boot into Safe Mode

Turn Off Automatic Restart

Here’s how to turn this feature off:

1. Right click the My Computer icon
2. Choose Properties
3. Click the tab called Advanced
4. Under the Startup and Recovery section, choose Settings
5. A Startup and Recovery box will open
6. Find the listing called Automatic Restart and check to clear the box and disable the setting
7. Click OK, and OK again
8. Reboot your computer for the changes to take effect

Update your Software

There are a few things to try now to solve the problem. It might be caused by a software problem, like a Windows update that didn’t install properly. Use Windows Updates to get the latest software releases for your system. When Windows is properly updated it is less likely to encounter incompatibility issues.

Scan the Hard Drive in XP

It is also possible that a hardware problem is responsible for the reboot loop. While you are in Safe Mode, run Scan Disk to look for and fix any hard drive issues. In Windows XP:

1. Click the Start button and choose My Computer
2. Choose and highlight your hard drive, probably the C; drive
3. Click File, then choose Properties
4. Choose Tools
5. Click Check Now to begin the scan
6. If you are told to schedule the scan for another time, click Yes then restart the computer to initiate the scan

Scan the Hard Drive in Vista

On Vista:

1. Click the Computer icon
2. Right click the hard drive, probably the C: drive
3. Choose Properties
4. Click Tools
5. Under Error-Checking, choose Check Now
6. The Check Local Disk box will open, check Scan and Attempt Recovery of Bad Sectors
7. Click Start
8. Click Yes to schedule the scan then reboot the computer

The desktop icons have disappeared from my Compaq Presario. I don’t have a disc or restore file. Help!

So System Restore and the System File Checker utility are not options in this case. That’s okay though. We can work through this. First, let’s look at the two most common reasons for a corrupt desktop: Windows Explorer and the Icon Cache File.

Missing Desktop Icons and Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer, or explorer.exe, is the program that gives your computer its pretty interface. This program is responsible for the desktop, the desktop icons, the Start button and menu, the taskbar, and other graphical elements. Occasionally, Windows Explorer stops running and needs to be told to start back up again. When this happens, your Windows desktop stops looking as it should. The taskbar may disappear, the icons may go away, or your entire display may be blank. Other symptoms also manifest such as the taskbar may suddenly stop responding.

To work around a stalled explorer.exe program, you’ll need to relaunch it. It’s kind of tricky because due to its absence, you may not have any buttons to click! The easiest way to get explorer back in action is to use the Control + Alt + Delete key combination which will then prompt you with a menu of choices including “Launch Task Manager.” Open Task Manager and go to the File menu. Choose New Task (Run) and enter: explorer.exe in the text box. Click OK and Windows Explorer should start up and your desktop icons should magically appear.

Missing Desktop Icons and the Icon Cache File

While restarting Windows Explorer works in many cases, if the icons are missing because the icon cache file is corrupt, then you’ll need to tackle the problem from a different angle. The icon cache is usually located in:

Windows XP - C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Local Settings\Application Data\iconcache.db

Windows Vista - %UserProfile%\AppData\Local\iconcache.db

Once you find the iconcache.db file, delete it. Now, open the Task Manager and close down all instances of explorer.exe. Press Control + Alt + Delete and choose the option for rebooting your computer. When your computer reboots, it will automatically create a new icon cache file.

My computer has a blank desktop. What do I need to do for that? Right before it happened a screen said I had a Trojan. Help?

Sounds like we have two problems to tackle: a blank desktop and a Trojan. Since blank desktops make it hard to launch programs due to a lack of icons and the Start button, it’s a bit of a challenge to run your antivirus program or perform basic troubleshooting steps. Fortunately, though it’s a challenge, it’s still doable.

Missing Desktop

First, let’s get that Desktop back so that you can function. A missing Desktop is usually due to a problem with the explorer.exe program, or Windows Explorer as it is more commonly known. Windows Explorer is responsible for the graphical interface of Windows including the Start button, taskbar, and Desktop icons. Often time, it simply needs to be restarted.

The first step is to try restarting it by pressing Control + Alt + Delete at the same time and then choosing Task Manager. Now, go to File > Run (New Task) and enter: explorer.exe

Click OK and see if your Desktop loads as it should. If so, then you can move on to updating your antivirus protection and running a system scan in order to rid the system of the Trojan. If not, then you’ll need to resolve a larger problem such as a corrupt explorer.exe file. There are several steps for dealing with corrupt explorer.exe files such as using System Restore or the System File Checker. These steps are detailed in this Filetonic Corrupt Start Menu article.

Detecting and Removing the Trojan

Once you have your Desktop back, it’s time to move on to tackling that Trojan. Trojans are sneaky little devils - many actually invite more malware onto your computer system! If you already have a reputable computer security product installed on your system, then update it and run a complete system scan. By reputable, I mean a well known, highly respected program and not some freebie found on a popup advertisement. There are too many rogue antivirus and antispyware programs out there to trust randomly downloaded applications. If you don’t have a reputable product, read our antivirus product reviews and pick one that best meets your needs. Several featured are free.