Start up problem

[711]

I have a H.P.Compaq Presario laptop, with Vista. Usually when switching on, it boots up normally. Over the last week or so, after switching on, before boot up, a blank black screen appears with a small white `blinking` hyphen in the top left corner. This carries on for between one and two minutes, before disappearing, and then normal boot up.
Any ideas what may be causing this and how it can be rectified? Thanks.

[TTG]

Have you installed or upgraded any new software recently? Sometimes anti-virus software can do a quick scan of your boot files before starting Windows. Maybe do Start/Run/Msconfig. Select Startup tab and search on the net for the ticked items. Untick if not needed.

[richtee]

Hi 711,
If you have one of the F500 series notebooks with an AMD processor, you may be suffering the common problems associated with this series. The AMD cpu runs too hot, causing failure of the Wi-Fi card initially and often leading to failure of the motherboard.
There was a Bios update sometime back, that turned the fan on from startup-that may help. It was some time back I had these problems, so might be good idea to do a Google for latest info. Good luck
richtee.

[looobylooo]

hi 711,
i sometimes get that happen on my laptop too and have wondered why and what it is.
mines an acer though, not a hp like yours.

[711]

Thanks for your suggestions, folks. I will be trying them accordingly.