not able to reboot

Our desktop Windows XP (Media Center Edition) PC started making an unusual
clicking sound, as if
some network traffic was attempting to access the hard drive. I tried
clicking out of programs that were up at the time, but the mouse arrow had
turned into a cursor bar and wasn't clickable. So I turned off the PC by
holding down the power button.

Upon turning the PC back on, I was led to the black screen that gives
options of restarting normally, in last configuration or in various types of
Safe Modes. None of these options worked. Trying to deploy each simply led to
the Windows XP screen with the bar that shows the program loading, then
another blue screen, then black with the flashing cursor in the upper left.
That led to the black screen with the various startup options again.

Any clues as to what might be going on?

Thanks much for your attention.

John
Tue Jan 08 06:47:26 PST 2008

Unusual clicking noises coming from the hard drive are a bad omen, often
a sign of a dying drive. Go to your drive manufacturer's web site and
download a diagnostic utility for your drive. If you have any precious
files that you want to save on the drive you should do it before you
attempt anything else!

John

markwline wrote:

> Our desktop Windows XP (Media Center Edition) PC started making an unusual
> clicking sound, as if
> some network traffic was attempting to access the hard drive. I tried
> clicking out of programs that were up at the time, but the mouse arrow had
> turned into a cursor bar and wasn't clickable. So I turned off the PC by
> holding down the power button.
>
> Upon turning the PC back on, I was led to the black screen that gives
> options of restarting normally, in last configuration or in various types of
> Safe Modes. None of these options worked. Trying to deploy each simply led to
> the Windows XP screen with the bar that shows the program loading, then
> another blue screen, then black with the flashing cursor in the upper left.
> That led to the black screen with the various startup options again.
>
> Any clues as to what might be going on?
>
> Thanks much for your attention.
>
>

HeyBub
Tue Jan 08 07:35:09 PST 2008

markwline wrote:
> Our desktop Windows XP (Media Center Edition) PC started making an
> unusual clicking sound, as if
> some network traffic was attempting to access the hard drive. I tried
> clicking out of programs that were up at the time, but the mouse
> arrow had turned into a cursor bar and wasn't clickable. So I turned
> off the PC by holding down the power button.
>
> Upon turning the PC back on, I was led to the black screen that gives
> options of restarting normally, in last configuration or in various
> types of Safe Modes. None of these options worked. Trying to deploy
> each simply led to the Windows XP screen with the bar that shows the
> program loading, then another blue screen, then black with the
> flashing cursor in the upper left. That led to the black screen with
> the various startup options again.
>
> Any clues as to what might be going on?
>
> Thanks much for your attention.

Hard drive's broke.