No Display During Startup

S

Sako

n00b
Joined
Jun 10, 2004
Messages
37
Hello, I'm at my Uncle's house trying to fix his computer and I'm running into a little problem. He has a 17" Mag LCD. When I turn the computer on I don't get any display untill it's loaded to the login screen in WinXP. Is there anything that I can do to get a display? The reason I ask is because I'm getting an error and I can't see it. :-( I don't own an LCD so I've never encountered this problem before. Any help would be appreciated. Here are so specs that probably count:
Compaq Presario
WinXP w/SP1
Integrated Nvidia Geforce 2 graphic card
17" MAG Model: LT765S
 
I don't think its the LCD, a LCD is just a screen. As long as it shows a picture then thats it. Big computer outlets like Compaq like to hid the bootup sequence. There should be an option in the BIOS that turns this on/off. If you don't see the option for the BIOS then check with compaq its there but could be hidden.
 
I understand what your saying. However I can't get into the bios because I never see the Compaq Splash Screen. The WinXP loading screen doesn't even display. The first thing to display is the Login-On screen. Which is weird because I've never seen something like that before from a cold-boot.
 
try hitting Del or F2 while it boots to see if you can get the BIOS to pop up. otherwise grab a spare CRT and hook it up.
 
Even though you cannot see it still should be there. When you boot wait 1-2 seconds then try DEL, or F2, or F5. If those don't work call Compaq and ask them show to access the BIOS. There is always a way. I don't swiching the monitor will have any difference. Like I said a monitor is just a dumb screen. As long as you get a picture you can rule that out.

Once in the BIOS, look for an option refering to the POST (power on self test). The options you are looking for is the DISPLAY POST. I believe Compaq disables this by default. I cannot tell you in which menu exactly as BIOS tend to be different. Just search for it, you should find it.

When the PC it loads up the BIOS first, when finished it then allows Windows to load up. You can hide the entire boot sequence, but you must hide it in two locations.
The first is as I mentioned in the BIOS. The 2nd is in Windows.

I suspect that in addition to your POST being hidden the NOGuiboot might be enabled. Once your in windows.

1. click start/run
2. type 'msconfig', a windows menu pops up.
3. Click on the boot.ini tab
4. You should see a box with the NOGUIBOOT. IF the box is checked then remove it.
5. There is also a 2nd way to do it but it involoves editing the registry, lets avoid it for now.

Unchecking this will allow you to see the XP loading screen on bootup. It does slow bootup by a tiny bit however.

Hopes this helps
 
i have that Mag 17" lcd as well. It's a great monitor, but it does have a nice little delay when you start the computer because whenever it receives video for the first time, or when changing resolutions, it will automatically take a moment to auto-adjust the picture so it shows up *just* right... unfortunately, there is no way to make it not do that automatically, so if you really need to see that screen, you could try changing it to a monitor that loads up quicker, such as a crt...

as for getting into the bios, i always just know my bios key offhand, so it was never a problem for me (never wanted to see that stupid screen anyways) - from what i know about Compaqs, they generally use F2, delete, or F10. hope that helps
 
I'll tries those out next time I'm at his house. Thank you for the replies. :)
 
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