# Keyboard Failure - Cannot Start Up



## ColdFire- (Jun 3, 2007)

I have a Dell Dimension 2400 with Windows XP Professional.

My sister was using the computer and apparently the screen went blank and it gave her an error saying that the computer needed to be restarted, and now the computer refuses to start.

When booting up, it goes to the BIOS screen then a black page with an underscore flashing, I hear about 10-15 clicks inside the computer but then I hear a double beep and then the screen says:
"Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility"

When I press F1, nothing happens, but I am able to press F2 to goto the setup utility. On the BIOS screen, I tried pressing F8 to try and boot into safe mode, but I get the Keyboard Failure message.

I use a PS/2 Keyboard and a USB mouse. When I boot up, the lights under the PS/2 slots, A, B, and C are green but the D light is orange.

I even tried booting the computer up with ONLY the power cord connected to the tower, but still no luck.


Anyone have any ideas? Please help.

Thanks.


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## pinntech (Aug 26, 2004)

Have you tried a different keyboard? I highly doubt that your keyboard is defective, but the 10 to 15 clicks could be a stuck key.

However, I think your 10 to 15 clicks are most likely a failing hard disk drive. It&#8217;s hard to say without hearing the &#8220;clicks&#8221;, but I&#8217;ll put my money on the HDD.

Are you familiar enough with computers to open up the case and disconnect the power cable from the hard disk drive?

It&#8217;s not common for you not to be able to enter the BIOS when the drive is failing, but I have seen it from time to time. The hard disk drive detection locks the computer up and you can&#8217;t get into the BIOS (setup) until you disconnect the power from the HDD.

I hope this helps a little


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## ColdFire- (Jun 3, 2007)

Thanks for the reply.

I'll try to disconnect the Hard Drive then start it up again.

Any idea why it would say "Keyboard Failure" when the problem is with the Hard Drive?


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## pinntech (Aug 26, 2004)

If the error message states keyboard error, then the clicks could possibly be a couple of stuck keys. Please try a different keyboard before disconnecting the HDD. If a "known good" keyboard doesn't solve the problem, then disconnect the HDD.


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