I have an Emachines W3107. Everything was running fine except the add-on graphics card (which used to work but stopped several months ago), so we decided to reformat and start with a clean drive in the hopes that it might fix the problem. We have an authentic Windows XP install disc with code (an OEM that we bought about a year ago) that has been successfully used on this computer once before.
So, after changing the boot order in the BIOS to boot from CD, the computer says it is booting from the CD, then after a brief setup message (Setup is inspecting your computer...etc.), it goes to a black screen and nothing else happens. I tried a proven XP Recovery Console boot CD with identical results.
Killdisk boot CD ran fine, so we decided to wipe the drive (single pass, all zeros). After clearing the drive, the same thing happens with the XP CD.
The BIOS is clearly detecting the CD-ROM drive and the hard drive, though we even tried swapping out the CD-ROM drive for a different model with the same end result... a black screen.
Removed all unnecessary items (secondary drive, graphics card, usb connected devices, etc.)
Seatools for DOS runs fine from the boot CD as well (the HDD is a Seagate) and found no problems with the drive.
I reset the CMOS settings by removing and reinstalling the battery, this didn't help either.
Since Killdisk and Seatools worked just fine, it seems like the only problems occur with the Windows XP install disk and the Recovery Console disk.
Any ideas on how to fix this? I don't understand why it will boot from any other boot CD except for the two Windows XP related discs (install and recovery console).
So, after changing the boot order in the BIOS to boot from CD, the computer says it is booting from the CD, then after a brief setup message (Setup is inspecting your computer...etc.), it goes to a black screen and nothing else happens. I tried a proven XP Recovery Console boot CD with identical results.
Killdisk boot CD ran fine, so we decided to wipe the drive (single pass, all zeros). After clearing the drive, the same thing happens with the XP CD.
The BIOS is clearly detecting the CD-ROM drive and the hard drive, though we even tried swapping out the CD-ROM drive for a different model with the same end result... a black screen.
Removed all unnecessary items (secondary drive, graphics card, usb connected devices, etc.)
Seatools for DOS runs fine from the boot CD as well (the HDD is a Seagate) and found no problems with the drive.
I reset the CMOS settings by removing and reinstalling the battery, this didn't help either.
Since Killdisk and Seatools worked just fine, it seems like the only problems occur with the Windows XP install disk and the Recovery Console disk.
Any ideas on how to fix this? I don't understand why it will boot from any other boot CD except for the two Windows XP related discs (install and recovery console).
