Black screen with blinking CD icon next to Mouse pointer.

[breakshark]

Hello,
I have a problem with my gateway DX4860 desktop. I restored my computer successfully but I still got the blinking cd icon next to my mouse pointer. After I restarted my computer I got Windows 7 with a clock and "2 min" under it and then it went to a black screen with blinking cd icon. I don't understand what is going on. I can get into task manager and type in explorer.exe but that doesn't do anything. I also tried the Regedit fix, but that didnt do anything too. I need help on how to fix this. My CD Rom won't even open for some reason. Maybe that is why I'm getting the blinking CD icon but if my CD rom wont open, how can I fix my computer? Startup repair asks me to download vista. Please reply soon.

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

Run a hard drive test in DOS...HIRENS CD etc, it sounds like a failing hard drive...

All the best Brett

 

[hedwar2011]

Hello,
I have a problem with my gateway DX4860 desktop. I restored my computer successfully but I still got the blinking cd icon next to my mouse pointer. After I restarted my computer I got Windows 7 with a clock and "2 min" under it and then it went to a black screen with blinking cd icon. I don't understand what is going on. I can get into task manager and type in explorer.exe but that doesn't do anything. I also tried the Regedit fix, but that didnt do anything too. I need help on how to fix this. My CD Rom won't even open for some reason. Maybe that is why I'm getting the blinking CD icon but if my CD rom wont open, how can I fix my computer? Startup repair asks me to download vista. Please reply soon.

You mentioned that you "restored" your computer, did you reinstall using a CD, or the hidden recovery partition that is usually found on newer computers?

Did you delete the primary partition during the install or did you leave it intact and install Windows over the top of it self?

With you getting the black screen and the blinking CD, it would appear that something is still trying to pull from the CD drive (hence the icon and the drive being "locked" per say").

Are you able to turn the computer off, wait 30 seconds, and then when you turn the computer back on, eject the CD from the drive while the computer is POSTing (the gateway screen)?

Will it boot up completely with the CD out of the drive?

 

[breakshark]

Hi

Run a hard drive test in DOS...HIRENS CD etc, it sounds like a failing hard drive...

All the best Brett

How do you run a hard drive test if I have a black screen or locked CD drive?

 

[breakshark]

You mentioned that you "restored" your computer, did you reinstall using a CD, or the hidden recovery partition that is usually found on newer computers?

Did you delete the primary partition during the install or did you leave it intact and install Windows over the top of it self?

With you getting the black screen and the blinking CD, it would appear that something is still trying to pull from the CD drive (hence the icon and the drive being "locked" per say").

Are you able to turn the computer off, wait 30 seconds, and then when you turn the computer back on, eject the CD from the drive while the computer is POSTing (the gateway screen)?

Will it boot up completely with the CD out of the drive?

When I open up task manager, I can open up stuff like internet explorer or my computer but everytime I press my CD drive on My Computer, it just freezes.

 

[Brett928S2]

How do you run a hard drive test if I have a black screen or locked CD drive?

Hi

You run it in DOS (before you get anywhere near windows) and you have not got a black screen at that stage...

All the best Brett

 

[hedwar2011]

When I open up task manager, I can open up stuff like internet explorer or my computer but everytime I press my CD drive on My Computer, it just freezes.

Can you provide us the steps you took to reinstall Windows? It sounds like it didn't reinstall correctly.

 

[breakshark]

Hi

You run it in DOS (before you get anywhere near windows) and you have not got a black screen at that stage...

All the best Brett

Okay, I started the computer in Safe Mode with cmd prompt and I typed in chkdsk, and now it says "c:\windows\system32>

 

[breakshark]

Can you provide us the steps you took to reinstall Windows? It sounds like it didn't reinstall correctly.

Mm, I don't think I installed windows yet. That may be the problem but how can I install it when my CD rom wont open. I restored my computer before but this never happened. It went smoothly. Gateway Recovery Management, not from a cd.

 

[Brett928S2]

Okay, I started the computer in Safe Mode with cmd prompt and I typed in chkdsk, and now it says "c:\windows\system32>

Hi

Arrrrrggggg... I didn't say anything about safe mode...you do this BEFORE you get near safemode...

Download Hirens CD , write it to CD (on another machine) and BOOT FROM THE CD !

Then run the FULL hard drive test...

All the best Brett

 

[pbravo]

I would start by using a paperclip to perform an emergency optical disk eject. Look for a small hole on the DVD/CD drive door and insert the (straightened-out) end of a paperclip in it. You will only be able to insert it so far. Then, firmly push harder until the door opens a bit; enough for you to open it all the way and remove whatever disk may be inside.

If issues persist beyond that, you may need to delete everything on the hard drive and then perform a fresh install of windows. Of course, in doing so, you will lose all of the data on your computer, unless you do the following:

1) remove the hard drive
2) insert it into a docking station and connect it to another computer (via USB)
3) copy the data you want to save from the docked hard drive onto the computer you just connected it to (in step 2)

After you have backed up your data, you would have to get an Operating System (OS) disk containing whatever OS came with your computer (ex: Vista, Win 7, etc.). Some PC manufacturers will mail you the OS Recovery disk. Or, you could find ways to download one from the web via bit-torrent, keeping in mind that you will use your own Product Key to legitimately activate it. You would then boot to the disk, follow the instructions on how to delete the partition that your OS is installed on, and then install the OS on a clean partition.

This is kind-of like killing the patient (and then replacing them) to cure the disease, but it sounds like you may have a corrupt OS and recovery data.

 

[breakshark]

Thank you guys for helping out but I actually solved the problem on my own which is weird.
The problem was my CD drive. It was just messing up everything for some reason.
All I had to do was actually open it by putting a paper clip in the hole. I'm just going to buy a new cd drive and install it when I have time. Thank you guys for your help. I appreciate it.