PC Will Not Boot
From EZWatch Wiki
One of the more common errors that many PC's encounter is the inability to boot up and load Windows. This is common because it is a symptom of a wide variety of problems; both software and/or hardware failures could be responsible for such behavior. Fixes for this can be very quick and simple, or lengthy and time consuming depending upon where the cause lies. This guide will aid you in determining that cause and offer insight as to the best way to resolve this issue.
Step 1 - The first step to determining the cause and resolving it is to power your system down entirely. Unplug the power cord from the back of the computer, then press the power button on the front a couple times. This will discharge any remaining electricity on the motherboard and ensure that everything in memory is completely cleared. One this is done, plug power in and try to boot once more.
Step 2 - Listen for the fans inside of the PC to spin up. If the fans do not spin up then your problem is likely to be the computer's hardware (Possibly a disconnected cable on the motherboard, but it could also be a faulty Power Supply or Motherboard). Contact your PC manufacturer for additional support. If you received your PC from EZ Watch Pro please see the Contact Us page.
Step 3 - To eliminate the possibility that the EZ Watch Pro capture card may be causing this issue, power your system down entirely. Once the system is fully powered down, unplug the power cable from the computer. Open up your machine and remove the EZ Watch Pro Video Capture Card from the machine. Once that has been completed, go ahead and replace the power cable and try to turn the unit back on. If your PC successfully boots and loads windows with the card removed, then there may have been a failure on the card itself. Contact EZ Watch Pro support (See our Contact Us page) to speak to a technician for further support. If removing the card does not solve the issue, power the unit down and unplug it again, then replace the card within the machine.
Step 4 - Watch the screen carefully while it boots. The first screen that should appear is the BIOS screen; this screen can consist of a page of scrolling text, or on some computer a graphical image that appears immediately. If the screen is black during the entire boot-up sequence then something is interfering with your video card. If this is the case, try replacing your video card or contacting your PC Manufacturer for more specific support.
Step 5 - If the BIOS screen comes up but you get an error afterwards, the error will likely tell you where it's stopping. Here are some more common errors :
Keyboard Error or No Keyboard Present - Many PC's will not boot up unless a keyboard is detected during startup. If your keyboard has become unplugged or has failed then you may get this error. Verify that your keyboard is plugged in tightly, or try using another keyboard to get past this error. This error can be turned off inside the BIOS on most motherboards.
Invalid Boot Disk Replace and Press Enter - If your computer has a floppy disk drive it may be trying to boot to that. Remove any floppy disks from the drive, remove any CD's from the drive and try again. If this error persists then power down your system, open the case, and verify the power and data cables on the back of your hard drive are plugged in tightly. You can also verify that your hard drive is detected by the BIOS; enter the BIOS setup to see if the drive is detected. If the drive is present but you cannot boot, your Windows installation is corrupt and Windows will need to be re-installed.
Blue Screen while loading Windows - One or more files within Windows is corrupt or causing a conflict. Restart the system. While your PC is starting up, before it loads windows, start tapping the F8 key on your keyboard. If you've done it correctly you will see a menu appear on the screen before windows starts. You can try loading the 'Last Known Good Configuration' and see if the blue screen error disappears, or you can try booting into safe mode. If you can successfully load windows, try to do a system restore to a previous date to resolve the issue. If you cannot successfully load windows, then you will need to reinstall the windows operating system.
Computers are extremely complicated machines, and as such it's possible that you may encounter error messages or symptoms not documented here. If you are unable to boot up your PC and load the Windows Operating System and the above instructions did not assist, please contact your PC manufacturer for additional support. If you purchased your PC-DVR from EZ Watch Pro, please Contact Us for additional troubleshooting or support.
