Computer won't start - shows BIOS Screen

A friend has an Acer Desktop with Vista.

It was installing the latest Windows updates , and ' hung / froze ' ( her
words )

Now, when it starts , it displays the BIOS screen ? Obviously some sort of
major problem ? Any suggestions ?

I was going to try the Recovery Console first ?

TIA

(Sorry , I don't have more detail , I'll go and see what's happening
tonight..) My guess is a hardware issue..?

"Sparky" <> wrote in message
news:...
> A friend has an Acer Desktop with Vista.
>
> It was installing the latest Windows updates , and ' hung / froze ' ( her
> words )
>
> Now, when it starts , it displays the BIOS screen ? Obviously some sort
> of major problem ? Any suggestions ?
>
> I was going to try the Recovery Console first ?
>
> TIA
>
> (Sorry , I don't have more detail , I'll go and see what's happening
> tonight..) My guess is a hardware issue..?

What makes you think that?
How old is the unit?
>

"webster72n" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
>
> "Sparky" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> A friend has an Acer Desktop with Vista.
>>
>> It was installing the latest Windows updates , and ' hung / froze ' ( her
>> words )
>>
>> Now, when it starts , it displays the BIOS screen ? Obviously some sort
>> of major problem ? Any suggestions ?
>>
>> I was going to try the Recovery Console first ?
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> (Sorry , I don't have more detail , I'll go and see what's happening
>> tonight..) My guess is a hardware issue..?
>
> What makes you think that?
> How old is the unit?
>>

Thanks for the reply. I've just returned from checking it out and sure
enough , powering on produced the Bios Screen. I selected LOAD SYSTEM
DEFAULTS , saved and restarted and all was OK...however the mail settings
were corrupted , Internet Explorer ' forgot' the default search engine , and
a couple of other small things seem to indicate there was some sort of
failed event ? I've scanned for viruses , rebooted several times and for the
time being , it seems OK. The machine is an Acer 3800 AMD Dual Core about 2
years old I guess ?

You do not provide enough info but I suspect there has been a coincident
hardware failure.
In order for Acer and its competitors to sell at high volume price points
their units are not built from the highest quality parts, particularly and
especially the power supplies. HP/ Compaq, Dell at al are no different.
One sign of a failing power supply can be that it does not generate a
signal telling the motherboard it has adequate power and so the boot process
will freeze at the first BIOS splash screen. Sometimes you will get to the
initial OS screen but the boot process will go no further.

you need to do a repair install of vista or try restore first sounds like
the upgrade scrambled some
hardware driver
"Sparky" <> wrote in message
news:...
>A friend has an Acer Desktop with Vista.
>
> It was installing the latest Windows updates , and ' hung / froze ' ( her
> words )
>
> Now, when it starts , it displays the BIOS screen ? Obviously some sort
> of major problem ? Any suggestions ?
>
> I was going to try the Recovery Console first ?
>
> TIA
>
> (Sorry , I don't have more detail , I'll go and see what's happening
> tonight..) My guess is a hardware issue..?

"Sparky" <> wrote in message
news:...
>A friend has an Acer Desktop with Vista.
>
> It was installing the latest Windows updates , and ' hung / froze ' ( her
> words )
>
> Now, when it starts , it displays the BIOS screen ? Obviously some sort
> of major problem ? Any suggestions ?
>
> I was going to try the Recovery Console first ?
>
> TIA
>
> (Sorry , I don't have more detail , I'll go and see what's happening
> tonight..) My guess is a hardware issue..?

To add further the battery on the mother board may have died or getting
ready too. Replace the battery.

--
Bob Eyster
Windows Vista Ultimate SP2 - 32 Bit - IE8