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When I turn on my computer, all I can get to is the BIOS and the screen is blank. Help?

Take your Hard Drive to a Technician

It’s possible that your hard drive is fried. If your computer is still covered under warranty, you might want to consider taking it in to the dealer for repairs. To make sure that it is the hard drive that is failing, you can consult your computer user’s manual to find the manufacturer, then visit their website and look for a diagnostic tool check the health of the hard disk. Most of the major hard drive manufacturers offer diagnostic utilities that could help you narrow down the possibilities though since the computer won’t boot, this may not be an option.

Boot to Safe Mode

To get your computer up and running you can attempt to boot into Safe Mode. This way, hopefully, you can get access to your system with only minimal programs running, reducing the chances that you will run into problems. Turn your computer off, then turn it on again and start pressing F8. When you see the Advanced Menu screen, use the arrows on your keyboard to choose Safe Mode and confirm your operating system. The next time you boot your computer it will revert to Normal Mode, so there is no need to undo these steps.

Troubleshoot the Power Source and Cord

Another common cause of this kind of problem is a faulty power cord or battery. You can start by troubleshooting the power cord and outlet by plugging something else into the plug and swapping the power cord. You can also remove the battery and try the cord directly to remove the chances of a faulty battery interfering.

Reseat or Replace the CMOS Battery

Inside your computer there is another power source called the CMOS battery that is plugged directly into the motherboard. This battery allows the computer to keep time and other internal processes even when there is no other power source. CMOS batteries have an average life span of about 5 years, so it is also possible that you need to replace it. You can consult your computer’s user’s manual and check how to find and remove the CMOS battery. In some cases, removing the battery and then re-inserting it is enough to give it a new life, so you might want to try this before replacing it.

I hope these ideas are helpful, if you are still stuck, write again and let us know your computer model, operating system, and the results of what you have tried so far and we’ll go from there.

I deleted too much out of an old Gateway laptop Windows 98 and now it won’t boot up - it says operating system not found.

Damage to the Hard Disk

This is going to be one of those troubleshooting answers, as it could be caused by one of many things. Something may have happened to the partition that contains the master boot record or there could be damage to the hard disk. Even though it is an old Gateway, they may have a utility that you can use to perform a more detailed scan of the disk. If this is the problem, you may have to replace the hard disk.

Reset the BIOS

I’m not sure about your particular Gateway, but you may be able to reset the CMOS on the motherboard. You may have a CMOS battery that looks like a flat watch battery on the board. If you can remove it, take it off, let it sit for a time - I usually recommend overnight - and then put it back. This has cleared the CMOS and should reset the BIOS back to default settings. If you have a battery that is soldered or integrated into the unit, then you probably need to get some help, as the fix for that isn’t as easy.

Fix the MBR

When you start your computer, the BIOS looks for the master boot record (MBR). If there is a problem with the MBR, then you will get the operating system not found message. For Windows 98, you are going to need a Windows 98 floppy to boot from. Once you have that, boot from the floppy (you may have to reset the BIOS to boot from there first) and type in fdisk /mbr. This will rewrite the master boot record on your machine. Don’t use this method if you have a dual boot system as it can cause a lot of problems.

Depending on how much that old Gateway is worth to you, you may just want to pull the data off the hard drive and reinstall a new operating system, or just do away with it altogether. You can find detailed directions in this Filetonic article about installing a new operating system.