OK, I'll start by saying I think I've got a registry problem.
For a while now, my PC has booted up with an explorer screen showing c:\windows. This was starting to annoy me, so I tried fixing the problem. After trawling various forums and 'help', I decided to check the registry (there was nothing in Startup etc.).
As I was looking for the right registry record, the regedit program crashed (I had neither changed or saved anything at this point). I got the usual 'send problem to microsoft' message and chose NO.
I didn't go back into regedit, but did carry on using the PC for an hour or so without any problems, before shutting it down normally.
This morning, I switched on the PC and nothing happens. It powers up, all the fans come on but I get just a black screen, no cursor, no error message, no beep, no text at all. The monitor works, I've plugged it into this laptop.
I've tried pressing F8 during booting, nothing happens. I've inserted a Windows XP CD, again nothing. I don't have an XP startup floppy (silly me) and I can't get to the recovery console, BIOS, nothing.
I'm stuck. Please help!
For a while now, my PC has booted up with an explorer screen showing c:\windows. This was starting to annoy me, so I tried fixing the problem. After trawling various forums and 'help', I decided to check the registry (there was nothing in Startup etc.).
As I was looking for the right registry record, the regedit program crashed (I had neither changed or saved anything at this point). I got the usual 'send problem to microsoft' message and chose NO.
I didn't go back into regedit, but did carry on using the PC for an hour or so without any problems, before shutting it down normally.
This morning, I switched on the PC and nothing happens. It powers up, all the fans come on but I get just a black screen, no cursor, no error message, no beep, no text at all. The monitor works, I've plugged it into this laptop.
I've tried pressing F8 during booting, nothing happens. I've inserted a Windows XP CD, again nothing. I don't have an XP startup floppy (silly me) and I can't get to the recovery console, BIOS, nothing.
I'm stuck. Please help!
