Hi,

My emachines t6412 has problem and does not boot up anymore.

Here is what happened:
1) I was looking at a Web site that I go to with 3 other PCs and I know that's a safe site.
2) PC suddenly reboots. It was like if the power went out for a moment, but it didn't because other PCs were still on.
3) Now the PC does not boot.

What happens when I turn on the PC:
1) First screen is the vedeo card info.
2) Next screen is a big "e" (emachines logo) with F2=Bios and F10=Boot menu at the bottom right.
3) It's stuck at "e" screen and does not go to the next screen.
4) Neither F2 nor F10 works even if I keep pressing those many time right after I turn on the PC.

Can't even reinstall OS:
1) I tried to reinstall OS.
2) Turn on the PC and let it stuck at "e" screen so that I can open the DVD drive and insert the OS disc.
3) Turn off the PC since it doesn't pass the "e" screen.
4) Turn on the PC.
5) PC is stuck at "e" screen and does not even go to the step to boot from disc.

I'm guessing it's hardware problem because I can't even reinstall the OS.
If anyone had this problem or knows how to fix it, please let me know.

Thank you,
Seeking

Unplug everything but your Keyboard mouse and Monitor. Especailly any USB devices. Then boot and let us know what happened.

Hi acklan,
Thank you for the reply.
This PC is used only to play Final Fantasy XI and go to a several Web sites (safe ones that I have no problem with other PCs also) to look up info, so there is no device other than Monitor, Keyboard, and Mouse plugged to this PC.

Can you download and run a memory test? My first thought would have been a hard drive crash but you would (should) still be able to access the BIOS\Setup.

Memtest86 "A Stand-alone Memory Diagnostic"
MicroSoft's Memory Test

I know you did not menition beeps, but if you have beeps compare them to this list.

BIOS beep & POST codes

Hi,

The problem is..., F2 (Bios) and F10 (Boot menu) don't work.
When I boot up my PC, it goes to the screen that I have choice of F2 (Bios) or F10 (Boot menu), but it freezes there and does not continue.
Nothing happens when I press F2 or F10, even when I start pressing from before this screen.
Since the booting is after this screen, I can't even reinstall OS.
It wouldn't boot from the disc (since it's stuck at the screen before booting from any drive).

My PC does not beep when I turn it on.
It goes to the screen with emachines logo with F2 and F10 choices without making any beep sound.

Thank you for the help

Boot the computer with the Windows Installation disk in the cd drive.

If it won't boot from there, your bios is not working properly which means either a bios, or motherboard problem (maybe bad RAM).

I have a friend who biulds computers. He says you need a new mother board and that emachines are famous for mother boards going out. He replaces them frequently.

Have you cleaned the inside of your computer lately? Heat is one of the biggest killers. A dirty heatsink or obstructed fan can cause your CPU to over heat and freeze. If it is heat related damaging your processor is a real possibility.

Thank you everyone for the replies.

The recovery disc doesn't work either because PC doesn't even boot from disc.
It's just stuck at F2 (bios) and F10 (boot menu) selection screen.
Booting from disc is after this screen, so I can't boot from disc.

Last night, when I tried to turn it on even though I knew it's not going to boot, it somehow booted.
When the Windows started, it was saying something about there's a problem with driver and that makes the PC to shutdown.
I couldn't really read what it said because it restarted itself after a few minutes.
Then it doesn't boot up again

This is weird because I didn't install any driver for 3 months.
Unless the installed driver can go bad, I don't know how I can have problem with the driver now and not 3 months ago.

Here's what I will try:
1) Insert recovery disc and try turn on and off the PC once in a while. One day, hopefully it turns on, boot from disc, and I can reinstall OS.
2) If it still doesn't help, then it could be the RAM as Enthusiast said. I had experienced a bad RAM with this PC and I think it was stuck at the same screen, but I don't really remember. That happened when I bought a new RAM. When I exchanged that RAM, then it was fine, so I think that was bad RAM.
3) If it still doesn't work, then I'll bring it in to get it fixed. It's only 3 months old, so warranty should cover it.

heres my thoughts on the matter

1) computer powers up
2) computer BIOS starts POST
3) computer BIOS finishes POST (my guess since you have no beeps)
-computer freezes-
4) boot loader starts
5) OS loads and takes over

1-5 are the basic steps for computer booting. your stuck at 3 so its either going to be in the boot loader or in the motherboard.

Sounds like the power supply maybe - but try this:

If it has two sticks of ram, take one out and try to boot. If it boots its bad ram.

If it didn't boot, switch the ram stick and try again.

I had a Gateway computer that used to do the same thing, it might be bad capacitors.

Unplug your computer and open up the case and touch a metal part. (be careful not to touch anything else inside the case--static electricity can fry stuff inside easily)

Look to see if any capacitors look like the ones shown here:

http://www.badcaps.net/ <--scroll down theres some pics at the bottom


or more specific: http://www.badcaps.net/ident/

HTH

-Nick

I forgot about that. Had the same on a P-III Gateway last summer.

Thank you very much for your replies!!!
I was able to say "Welcome back!!!" to my PC last night.

It was the bad RAM as Enthusiast suspected.
I tried running it with only the RAM that came with the PC, then it made beeps (like every second) and didn't boot up.
Then I tried running it with the RAM that I got 3 months (maybe 4 months) ago and it booted up fine!!!
I was playing Final Fantasy XI with this PC for about 2 hours and it didn't turn off all this time.

Thank you very much to everyone again for the help!!!