Blinking cursor, black screen - Windows XP Pro

ariel

Solid State Member
Messages
9
Hi all,

I was hoping that someone can guide me through resolving this problem that I think is related to Windows XP.

I have an old Thinkpad T42 laptop that stopped booting up, but instead would go to a black screen with a blinking cursor on the top left-hand side. I tried booting from a CD (after changing the boot list), but that didn't work and also tried using a repair CD but that didn't work either (i.e. nothing showed on the screen). At some point much later, when I started up the laptop it went to the IBM thinkpad splash screen and then to a screen that says:

Error 0271: Check date and time settings

Press F1 to Setup

I've read on the internet that this issue is likely caused by a bad CMOS battery so I ordered a new one.

What I wanted to know before replacing the battery is:

1) Could that have caused the blinking cursor/black screen problem as well or is it more likely a virus that corrupted the Master Boot Record or perhaps I have both problems?

2) Would it work if I just swap out the hard drive and use the hd from a Toshiba Satellite C870 laptop either internally or somehow externally? The Toshiba powers up but the screen is cracked so I cant use that laptop now either!

I just want to be able to use the Thinkpad until I replace the Toshiba and am looking for the easiest solution.

Appreciate any suggestions.
 
Just one more thing I want to mention is that the OS on the Toshiba hard drive is
Windows 7.


Thanks.
 
Ok. So let me just address this straight off the bat, if you were going to use the hard drive from the Toshiba, you'd need to wipe it, and reinstall the operating system. Reason being, the two laptops would have entirely different hardware, resulting in different drivers, bla bla bla. It's not as simple as just plugging one drive into another computer and being good to go.

The date time problem is definitely a CMOS battery issue, though I'm unsure if you'll have easy access to the battery in a laptop, or if you'll be able to replace it at all.

Regarding not being able to boot into the Thinkpad, if the master boot record is damaged in some way, that still wouldn't stop you from booting from a CD. What you've described is making me wonder if the motherboard has decided to kick the bucket. (Layman's terms, is the mobo dead?).
 
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you need software that will allow you to "inject" drivers for the dissimilar hardware. I have a CD floating around my office that basically does it MAGICALLY , but I can not find it. here is a similar software Restore image to any PC/different hardware with EaseUS Todo Backup - Knowledge Base.

I've done it 50+ times, it is very do-able but I no longer run into it because people just recover data, buy a new computer, and toss the old.:silly:
 
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