can this computer be saved????

sadiesadie
edited January 2005 in Hardware
hi...my name is sadie and i'm new here....i've read most every thread dealing with boot problems here and so far no one has had my problem, so here goes....
i have an old ibm aptiva with an amd k6 which suddenly one day simply would not do anything when i turned it on but flash a very short line of text (which goes by too fast for me to even read) and then the ibm screen comes up and just sits there....for hours....for days even....i can't get it to do anything other than that....tried booting from a boot disk and nothing....tried going into doss and and it won't let me.....just sits there proudly displaying that stupid ibm screen.....i have some stuff on that hard drive i'd like to salvage if at all possible, but i'm clueless as to what the problem might be or what to do about it.....a friend of mine who works with computers a lot told me it's probably either my hard drive or my mother board but he doesn't know which....any help anyone can give me will be greatly appreciated....i'm too old for this stuff....:)
thanks
sadie

Comments

  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited January 2005
    Talk to your friend who knows computers. ASK that friend if he/she can put your HD in his/her computer, see if the data is OK. If yes, then possibly something simple caused this--- those older computers sometimes need the CMOS table reset after replacing the CMOS and/or CLOCK battery (if that battery runs out of "juice" it can leave settings things in a mess, and that is probably what the Aptiva was trying to tell you, and ys I am hoping for your sake that the HD is OK). Sometimes, an old IBM Aptiva just needs a new CMOS\Clock battery pack or battery followed by a CMOS table defaulting, followed by a Ctrl-Alt_Del OR reset, followed by setting the CMOS up with right settings for HD (frequently on HD label on HD itself).
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited January 2005
    The IBM screen is just a gigantic blue IBM logo, yes? If so, press escape while it's up and it should show you the diagnostic startup (including any errors it may have found). The same trick works on Dells.

    -drasnor :fold:
  • sadiesadie
    edited January 2005
    drasnor and straight_man...
    thank you both for your help....i'll try the escape thing and if that doesn't work, i'll talk with my friend about the cmos/battery thing.....but be warned....if those things don't work, i'll probably be back....:)
    thanks again...
    sadie
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited January 2005
    Straight man is spot on here. I'm positive the battery is out of juice. It's easily replaceable by anybody who have installed a mainboard before.
  • flyriceflyrice
    edited January 2005
    Another possibility is that your CPU might have finally kicked the bucket or overheated because of age/faulty heatsink. Not too familiar with old processors tho like the K6.
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