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Thread ID: 64630	2005-12-21 11:53:00	How to get rid of wrong screen?	Laura (43)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
414578	2005-12-21 11:53:00	When I began using XP Home SP2 several months ago, it occasionally opened with a Hewlett Packard splash screen instead of the customary Windows Welcome. I found that turning the power off & on brought things back to normal. It happened so rarely it was a minor annoyance. But now it's getting more & more frequent, not only time-wasting but downright irritating as I wait to see what come up first on the monitor. I can see no pattern in WHY I get the wrong screen on some occasions but not others - or why it's changing. My default browser is Firefox. Symptoms are: 1st screen says Hewlett Packard across the top. Along the bottom it says: Press <ESC> to switch to POST or <F2> to run CMOS That changes to: Insert BOOT diskette in A: Press any key when ready This relates to technical stuff I haven't needed to learn so far. I didn't do the original Windows install but I do have the disk. I hope someone more knowledgeable can suggest a remedy for me.	Laura (43)
414579	2005-12-21 12:23:00	Is this the very very first thing you see before the black screen with all the white wrighting (POST) or is this after the POST when you would get the Windows logo and the little lights racing accross underneath. If it is the first it is a setting in the BIOS, you will need to press the Del key or similar to get into this setup, look around to see if there is an option to turn off manafacture logo or similar. If it is the second thats the boot screen, this can bee changed with a theme. just noticed you mentioned F2 to enter the CMOS, do that and have a look around	Rob99 (151)
414580	2005-12-21 13:28:00	Rob: Yes, it's the very first thing I see after total blackness at boot up. Once the first screen I described has changed to the 2nd, there's no progress at all. It just waits for me to "Insert boot diskette..etc....press any key." These 2 peculiar extra screens - are the only ones I get in XP which have white writing on black (what you call POST?) though I did have loads of info like that at boot up when I ran Win98SE. It rolled through very fast & I didn't understood it... At normal boot up, I get (from black)-- A brief flash of the Hewlett Packard screen (but not always - only sometimes) Windows logo with lights Black Welcome to Windows My screensaver After that, I click on any desktop icon to open. I have no password logon and am the only user. So you see I'm unaware of POST and Bios is a foreign country. But I did try opening"something" back in the early days of the mystery & just kept being asked to insert the diskette - so gave up.. (Now when I want to try an experiment, it's behaving perfectly - of course) So I think I need a bit more knowledge...	Laura (43)
414581	2005-12-21 14:26:00	The POST(Power On Self Test) is the first thing the computer does when you press the power button, a logo screen before here is set in the BIOS(Basic Input Output System) which is held on the CMOS(Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). Simply put the BIOS is software stored on the CMOS chip, its a set of instructions that your computer does while its booting up. You will need to enter the setup to remove that screen, Del or F2 or similar. You should then see a blue(normally) screen with heaps of info about the hardware in your computer, note your mouse wont work so use the arrow keys to find your way around, you cant hurt just by looking. Hopefully you will find where you can turn of the manafactuer logo, normally you use Page Up and Page Down to scroll through the avaliable options. Then F10 to save and quit. Are you booting up with any discs in the CD or DVD drive, or floppy? In the BIOS you can set the boot order, IDE0 first, CD second... ps. you dont have a hp monitor do you?	Rob99 (151)
414582	2005-12-21 16:20:00	Press f2 for setup sounds like an HP computer. If it is you should have an option in setup to turn off "manufacturers Logo". Or simliar wording. It is on, by default. It comes on first to hide the POST settings. I was playing with an HP a while ago and had exactly the same problem.Can't remember now all the details. You may also find an entry in CMOS about "Hide POST". If it's there turn it off too.	JJJJJ (528)
414583	2005-12-21 22:50:00	Thanks Rob & Jack for your combined wisdom. That's a great help. Yes, this is a Hewlett Packard... 2nd hand..3 years old. I have to go out & do Xmas stuff now, but will take your advice as soon as I get back home. It all sounds nicely logical. What I don't understand is: Why the mystery screen appears only sometimes- not every boot up? Why it's now happening more often? But best to leave such queries until I've tried the remedies...	Laura (43)
414584	2005-12-21 22:55:00	P.S. Forgot to tell Rob - no disks loaded at boot up.	Laura (43)
414585	2005-12-21 22:57:00	It all sounds nicely logical. What I don't understand is: Why the mystery screen appears only sometimes- not every boot up? Why it's now happening more often? But best to leave such queries until I've tried the remedies... I was thinking the same thing, It should be one or the other, They only way it could change is if the setting in the bios is changed, and even then it would still be one or the other untill the setting was changed again. A dead battery would cause the system to default back to its original settings but again, it would stay that way untill it was changed. Sounds dodgy, Lets hope its not a sign of a bigger issue with the Motherboard.	Metla (12)
414586	2005-12-21 23:23:00	Who knows what an HP is going to do? :badpc:	JJJJJ (528)
414587	2005-12-21 23:30:00	What I don't understand is: Why the mystery screen appears only sometimes- not every boot up? Why it's now happening more often? i'll bet it has always been happening, however the screens often don't fire up and display it ie the splash screen is always there, the monitor just wasn't on to display it. for some reason your screen is turning on a fraction earlier or the pc is running slighly slower which is why your actuall seeing it now. if you have added hardware latly it could be thats slowing the pc boot slightly which is gives the monitor enough time to turn on and display the splash screen.	tweak'e (69)
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