Addendum:

Can get into Safe Mode tapping F8 only with PS/2 keyboard. Not with USB keyboard.

Within the Safe Mode menu screen, there is a link to Setup with F10. However, pressing F10 takes it right into a Windows boot.

I have to ask. How many beeps your hearing when the computer boots up ?

ZERO ! (on the problem Compaq)

But then I booted up my working Dell, and it didn't beep either.

I assume the beeps do not come from the speaker, but from the "beeper" on the mobo. My speakers were off.

CD: I just took a look at the mobo, and I see an icon for a small spkr about 1/2" in dia. No spk on mobo in that location. Can't see one anywhere else on the mobo either.

Funny, I remember hearing beeps on boot up, but it may have been another PC. Can't remember now. Never paid much attention to them.

Here's an interesting site with beep codes for different BIOS mfgrs: http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

At this point, I am unclear as to whether you actually tried the brute force method of going into setup or not. At least for me, the brute force method of forcing a setup session entails continuously holding down MULTIPLE KEYS simultaneously.. . The more, the merrier! But it should be at least FOUR keys! That way, it does not look to the system like a single stuck key, but it looks more like a failing (or already failed) keyboard. You repeatedly mentioned stuck key, in the singular, strongly implying a single stuck key, which can often occur in real life because of some foreign object (such as a sticky crumb of food) is not allowing that single key to return to the non-depressed state on its own. I believe you are correct about disconnecting the drive. I also believe you could accomplish the same result by disconnecting the power supply instead of the drive cable. Do you know whether you are using an IDE interface to the mainboard (AKA motherboard)? IDE stands for "Integrated Drive Electronics." They are normally 39 pin cables. But such IDE cables have a fairly low MTBF (mean time between failures) when connected and disconnected repeatedly, because the wires work loose from their respective insulation displacement terminals, due to excessive movement or stress during the connecting and/or disconnecting process. Then they can become intermittent because they are position-sensitive or stress-sensitive (meaning the wire needs some physical tension on it to make a good connection anymore). From your description of not booting to CD's anymore, that could actually be your problem with that computer! Have you connected and/or disconnected any drives very often on that computer? Cables are fairly cheap, so replacing them might be a very cost-effective attempt at correcting the problems. If it does not fix the problem, then at least you have not invested very much in the attempt.

1) You are correct. I have not used mutiple keys to simulate a stuck keyboard. I shall try that and report back.

2) I disconnected the Data and Power connectors to the HDD. Got an error with no options to get into setup, or boot from other drives. Will try just disconnecting the Molex power connector to HDD, just for kicks.

3) I do have IDE cables and drives. And yes, I have swapped around the IDE HDD connectors multiple times over the years when cloning HDDs. I have a few new IDE cables. Will try swapping in a new one. Certainly hope you are correct on that possibility. What an easy solution that would be!

Wouldn't a bad cable trigger some sort of error message?

Thanks. I'll be back soon...

A bad or intermittent cable may, or may NOT trigger an error message from the computer. It depends on which pin(s) are involved. Many of the (typically 39) pins are involved with data addresses (location of particular data on a disc drive). If a line in the address block is (briefly?) disconnected it may only result the drive going to a wrong address for part of a file. If that were to happen, it might read only part of a (fragmented) file, and the file (which may be a critical driver file) won't be fully functional but it may be partially functional... such as, a particular keyboard key might not work right. It sounds logical to me! If it were my computer, don't think I would eat another bite (or byte either, for that matter) until I swapped out ALL the IDE cables for known GOOD ones! I would certainly replace the IDE drive cable(s) for the CD drive(s), since your computer won't boot to that drive type, as is! Once ALL the IDE drive cables have been replaced, I suggest that you do not even try to boot your machine again at all, until you have tried accessing setup via a PS2 keyboard, using the F10 key, during the boot-up phase! I believe you are well on the way to correcting your computer problem now. Keep me posted. Good luck!

OK, here we go. I have info:

1) I have been using a PS/2 keyboard all day today.

2) I tried holding down multiple keys at boot up. Get the same error message as holding down a single key: "Error 3B 301 You may have a stuck key or defective keyboard. Correct the problem and reboot...".

3) Tried just disconnecting the Molex power cable to HDD. Same error as unplugging data cable. Cannot get into Setup from these error screens.

4) Replaced IDE cable to HDD (but not to DVD drives since I was focusing on getting into Setup).

5) Changed my 2 DVD drives from Cable Select to Master / Slave to try and force a CD boot. No luck.

6) I learned something new that may have meaning to you: I did another CMOS reset by removing the battery. As expected, I can enter Setup with F10 when I 1st power on, just as before. Here is the new info: When I "Save Settings and Exit" Setup, it goes back to the normal Post screen. If I hit F10 again, before it boots to Windows, I can get back into Setup an unlimited number of times. However, once I let it boot to Windows, I cannot get back into Setup (F10) unless I remove the CMOS battery again to reset. This I was not expecting.

So, there is something about booting to Windows (or HDD) that shuts me out of Setup.

That's it for now. Hope you have some ideas for me.

PS: I don't want to bias your thinking here, but I spoke with an acquaintance that ownes a computer repair shop. Gave him all the same info. I know this sounds like the easy answer, and I hope he is wrong, but he thinks the mother board is going bad (whatever that means... ).

Update: Found a way to boot from CD or Floppy Drives.

Resetting the CMOS by removing battery ALSO allows me to boot from CD or Floppy as long as I don't launch Windows first (exact same situation as accessing Setup).

Also stumbled on something else. If I swap the HDD for a clone HDD I keep, the PC sees it as a "hardware change" and that situation ALSO allows me to access Setup or Boot from CD or Floppy, without resetting BIOS. Still must not launch Windows, or the "window" of opportunity is lost.

So what do you make of all this?

Did you have Windows System Restore enabled on your computer, pryor to the time when the computer first started refusing to go into setup? Can you name a date on which that the problem first started occurring? If so, launch System Restore, then look at the dates for which System Restore points are available. Do any of the dates predate the onset of the problem? If you are unsure, then pick the earliest date available, and restore the system to that date. System Restore should be fully reversible, especially if you set a backup (UNDO) point before you do the restore operation. Then reboot (using a PS2 keyboard), and try accessing setup again during boot-up (using the F10 key). Does the machine go into setup? If so, your problem could be the result of some obscure Microsoft update or tweak to your operating system, which was released AFTER your earliest System Restore point was created. But if it does NOT go into setup, then your problem could be a bad or intermittent motherboard -- or perhaps just a defective BIOS chip (integrated circuit). Would now be a good time to point out that you can probably buy a new BIOS chip that is different (probably better, with more options) than your OEM BIOS?

I'm not 100% on this one, but it is possible that it might be a sticky key somewhere on your keyboard. Try tapping every key on your keyboard 3 times and see if there is progress.
If not and you 'can boot to your operating system, try downloading a BIOS update from HP's website and flash your BIOS.
Warning, flashing BIOS is not supposed to cause problems but have seen on very rare occasions that they do. For example, if the problem is your main board or a BIOS problem, the update might fail and cause your main board to not work permanently... So do this entirely at your own risk!

Last warning, your power adapter should always be plugged in and pray the power doesn't go out otherwise you might damage hardware.

Anywhay, here is a link - > http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&document=&prod uct=93223&

IG:

I keep a Master Clone HDD as an emergency system backup. The last time I Updated the Clone was several months ago. I have since used Setup, and CD Boot. Installed Clone to see if problem was date or HDD related. Same problem on Clone HDD. So this should equal your suggestion (a very good one) to try a system restore.

I don't know much about BIOS chips.
1) Does a BIOS chip just plug in, or is it soldered? 2) Also, is it pre-programmed with the BIOS firmware? 3) Do I need to get a certain BIOS to work with my PC?

What's your opinion about flashing my current BIOS?

Grant:

Thanks for the keyboard suggestion. I have already swapped it out. No change. And for the reasons you gave, I am very hesitant to flash the BIOS. I'm afraid I may kill what's left of my BIOS.

Need Help with New Angle PLEASE:

Since yesterday, putting the PC in Standby mode is turning the PC off. (Hibernate still works). Also, it's not the keyboard button, as it does the same on the log-out dialog box.

When I power back up, all programs that were open, go into a recovery mode (ie: Windows), almost as though the PC was shut off with power button as opposed to a proper shut down sequence.

Obviously, these 3 problem are all related. Up until now, the 2 original problems made sense that they could both be a BIOS issue.

I don't know what sequence of events must take place to put a computer in Standby, but I do know that the power is shut off to many circuits and the HDD, but the RAM is kept powered on.

The way things are going, I am ready to trash this machine, but I was just wondering if the symptom profile (all 3) might fit a power supply problem? I could handle that repair.

Feedback on this would be greatly appreciated, as I'm facing a fork in the road here. Trash, or new power supply???

Thank You All!

The problem you are experiencing could possibly be a power supply problem, but I seriously doubt it, since all PC power supplies that are multiple output power supplies are SMPS (switch mode power supplies). So the likelihood of just one voltage feed going out, but not affecting any other voltage feeds would be minimal.
In a previous post I made in this thread (which is no longer there, for some reason), I asked if you could tap F8 and get into safe mode. I never saw a response to my question, but if you can actually boot to safe mode, you could run SFC (System File Checker) by left clicking on Start, then Run, then type in SFC. A scanner will then be triggered that tests all the Windows System files and offers to replace any incompatible or corrupt files. What you described on your hard drive sounds like hard drive corruption (perhaps even miss-written files). Did you ever try System Restore, which I also suggested in a previous post? Very frequently, System Restore can correct that type of malfunction, as long as the file system is basically still intact. When I stopped getting responses from you, I did not know quite what to do, but I am responding to your latest discovery on your computer. If the file system is corrupt, don't despair! Just download the latest version of CG Security's Testdisk, and run it under a DOS window, to rebuild the boot sector of the hard drive. I can help you with that, step by step, but sequential steps depend on intermediate results, for an effective rebuild. Also, there are self-booting OS's that you could download and burn using a different computer, which include several "outside looking in" utilities that run completely independent of your hard drive, and can even run without any hard drive installed. One such diagnostic and repair CD is hyperlinked below:

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

Hi InfoGuy.

Thank you for your kind offer of help, especially the step by step... I may need that as I am unfamiliar with what you have just described.

Let me take a moment to clarify a couple things. I can get into Safe Mode with a PS/2 keyboard (my response on that was posted on pg2 5/26 at 4:10pm PT)

I didn't do a System restore, because I don't know when these "BIOS Setup" problems started. But I did install a Clone of this HDD that I last manually updated about 8 months ago when everything was working, and it is now displaying all the same problems. So my assumption is that this is equivalent to an 8 month old System Restore. (my response the system restore question was on pg4 5/28 at 12:11pm PT)

I have actually never stopped communication with you. In fact, I had posted a response on 5/28 (same as system restore answer) and ended with a question of my own about flashing the BIOS, and never got an answer to that.

I can tell you that I have had some problems on this site with posts not showing up for some reason. That was reported to admin. Another issue is not always getting emails when someone answers in the thread, so I check the site manually every day. Perhaps that is what you are experiencing. As you may know, at the very 1st post (at top of each page) you can select the page number of the thread. We are up to 4 pages now. I also see that you are new to the forum, so you may not be aware that this is actually the "NEW" version of the site. You can access the "original version" (which many people prefer) by going into Settings at the very top right of each page, and in the lower left corner, select "Take me back to the Old Style". You may like it better, and I have never lost a post there. I hope this is helpful.

I shall run the SFC, and am excited to learn something new and useful. I wasn't aware of that function. So thanks for that. But let me ask you this. Installing my "Master Clone HDD" (which has never been in use, kept only as a hard drive backup) updated 8 months ago, and working perfectly at that time, but displaying all of the current problems now. Doesn't that tend to rule out a corrupted file system?

Again, thanks IG. I truly appreciate your continued help and quick responses. Just a heads up. I have some non-PC issues I am dealing with right now, and it is possible that a day or 2 may slip by before I can get to some of these things, but I'll do my best to keep this dialog moving along as quickly as possible.

I'll wait to hear your thoughts on the "Master Clone" = an 8 month old Sys Restore.

Cheers...

If you are experiencing the same lack of getting into your BIOS (for setup) using a hard drive clone from a time when getting into the BIOS was easily accomplished, then you are correct. In that case, the problem is probably NOT hard drive corruption. May I suggest, then, that you download and burn (as slow as you can, for accuracy), the FREE Hiren's Boot CD, perhaps using a different computer? What I would recommend at that point, would be to REMOVE all hard drives from the Compaq Presario on which you experienced the problem. Then boot to the newly created CD (Hiren's Boot CD V14.0). It will have its own self-contained operating systems. The first screen you see (after the CD boot event) will be various choices from which you can select using your up/down cursor keys on your keyboard. The first TEST I would run would be a complete memory diagnostic test. If no errors are discovered, then I would run a keyboard test (however, you may have to run that test in DOS mode instead of Mini XP mode). You could have a flaky keyboard interface (on the motherboard) which would fault any perfectly good keyboard! Or you could have a dirty or loose fitting connector at the keyboard jack on the machine -- but probably not, because that would not explain faulty operation when using a USB keyboard. Have you checked (or replaced) the CMOS battery? CMOS stands for Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor. That would be the battery that is supposed to maintain the setup configuration while all power is removed from the machine. If very weak, setup retention will be questionable, and if the voltage is too low, certain setup parameters may actually change without any user intervention, leaving other setup choices undisturbed! When running tests from the bootable CD, no hard drive is needed because all the software (including all device drivers) are furnished by the bootable CD. It is sounding more and more like the problem you have is actually a (rare) hardware problem, if you actually replaced the IDE drive cables and the problem still persisted. If you have ever experienced an electrostatic shock when putting your fingers over (whichever) keyboard, that could have damaged the motherboard's electronic interface to the keyboard. Or it could still actually be a power supply problem, especially if it was subjected to on/off/on/off power cycling due to storm-induced AC power failures. I would have to look again, but I think there is a BIOS testing routine on that CD as well. Good luck!

1st thing I did was change the CMOS battery.

So based on your most recent post, would you suggest I not bother with the System File Checker?

I'll get to the Boot CD as soon as possible. My wife's PC got all fouled up today doing a simple program update. I've been running back and forth between hers and mine. I can't believe the luck I am having these past 2 weeks!

Thanks IG...

For a direct answer, no, I would not bother with SFC (System File Checker) at this time. The point seems moot if an older hard drive clone (from the functional past) is showing the same failure symptoms as your present hard drive. I do not now believe that the problems you are now experiencing originated in (or on) your hard drive.

As for Microsoft Updates, far be it from ME to ever recommend that everyone DISABLE "automatic updates" simply because in the past 12-18 months, Microsoft Updates have BROKEN far more situations than they ever FIXED! They throw together a bunch of patches, but after getting massive negative feedback, they have to patch their previous patches to undo damages or disablements caused by the so-called update! For that reason, I try to stay behind the curve (of Microsoft updates) by at least 90 to 180 days. Usually, Microsoft finally gets few things right around 1/4 to 1/2 of a year after an update release. As for installed program updates (as opposed to Windows system updates), ALWAYS set a System Restore point BEFORE following through with any program update! That way, if anything goes haywire, you can drop back to the way everything was JUST BEFORE you did the (possibly flawed) update. Updates are kind of like new inventions. Some work, and some DON'T work!

I have had virtually no time to work on my PC in the past 24 hrs, and probably won't until tomorrow.

One interesting thing however. Just because I could squeeze this in to an extra 5 minutes I had, I decided to reseat all the connectors from my power supply. Surprise! my Standby Mode started working again.

I'm not sure if it was a connector, or all the pressing and pulling that stressed the mobo and caused a cold solder joint to make a temporary connection.

The BIOS Setup and ability to boot from CD is still not working.

InfoGuy:

I finally had time to read up on Hiren's Boot CD. It looks like there are 1000 utilities in there. How would I know which ones to use to do your recommended tests?

BTW, I already ran MemTest86 and MemTest86+ and the RAM is all good.

Thanks...