Blinking Underscore Before BIOS

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Hello everyone.

A few weeks ago, we had a problem with our Dell Dimension 8400's graphics card showing a corrupted BIOS screen while booting up. So we replaced our old graphics card with an Asus EN9600GT Magic and attempted to start our computer. We are instantly confronted with a black screen and blinking underscore (before any BIOS screens) that remains indefinitely. Occasionally (two times) we have gotten a regular BIOS screen followed by the Windows XP loading screen and then a black screen with white mouse, but mostly the computer freezes on the blinking underscore. Is there anything we can do to regain normal functionality or is this a hardware problem?

Thanks in advance,
Michael.
 
It may be that Windows XP thinks that you are attempting a new install of Windows. It is designed to work with Memory changed, but gives trouble on everything else.
Often, you can boot to the Windows Disk, then run an install in repair mode by selecting R when given the choice (not repair console).
Tell us more.
 
I don't get an opportunity to boot to a disc or drive because I don't get the BIOS screen, just an immediate blinking underscore.
 
Something is disconnected, or improperly connected. I assume you have checked everything, but it might pay to check them all again. Either memory or hard drive or video graphics are not working properly.
 
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