[BarNunBoi]

I have a computer that keeps showing smiley faces and alot of different other characters when I boot. The first time I seen it I thought it was a virus so I re-installed Windows Vista. Vista installed and after it performed a hardware check it rebooted and then here come the smiley faces again. I have a HP Pavilion a1210n......specs are in the link. I tried booting up in safe mode, but when I do the faces come back up. Some people speculate and say the Video Card has went bad , but then I ask myself why was I able to see perfectly fine when I re-stalled Vista. Here is a image of what I see.

Attached image(s)

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This post has been edited by BarNunBoi: 16 August 2013 - 05:25 AM

[modi123_1]

Looks like a jacked video display. If you are still using the integrated graphics I would look into getting a pci card. If you have a card installed try removing it and seeing what the integrated chipset does.

[BarNunBoi]

Roger that!

[BarNunBoi]

So I just installed a different video card and it didnt work. I see the smiley faces along with this message....DONE...Fallback 1.....find --set-root/bootmanager. Any ideas?

[modi123_1]

Is the vista copy legit?

Check the video cords and connections.. also make sure everything is tight inside..

[BarNunBoi]

No the Vista disc isn't!! OUCH!! That said, prior to me installing Vista I tried XP with the Key that was labeled on the computer. Same thing though. Im all outta of ideas. Cables seem fine.

[modi123_1]

There's part of the problem... it looks like your pirated copy of vista f'ed' up your setup - bootloader and all.

[BarNunBoi]

Does that warrant a fresh install of an OS? Or would you say this is permanent? That said, this was happening before I installed anything on this machine. The client I got it from thought it was a DEADLY VIRUS!! LOL!! He was like DON'T HOOK IT UP TO ANYTHING!! I do believe the bootmanger is jacked for the simple reason I can't boot into safe mode or anything. When the computer boots and I press F8 it shows the jacked display again.

This post has been edited by BarNunBoi: 19 August 2013 - 11:51 AM

[modi123_1]

I am not sure if I follow what you are chattering about... but this will, more than likely, require the partition to be blanked, a new one setup, and a legitimate copy of Vista to be installed.

[BarNunBoi]

I was talking about the problem itself. Do you think it is permanent? Im going to try to install a fresh copy of XP when I get home. I will let you know the outcome. Thanks Modi!

[modi123_1]

It's typical of a pirated bootloader issue, but does that preclude other issues causing it (or something similar)? No

[BarNunBoi]

Well, I solved the issue. Installed XP on the machine. I had to delete the partition and then reformat it. Once I done that it was down hill from there. Thanks for your input!

[modi123_1]

Yeah.. It sounded like an often reported boot loader issue with pirated copies of Vista.

[no2pencil]

Boot off a Linux live distro. This rules out hardware.

[BarNunBoi]

Before I installed XP I tried to install Suse and after that Ubuntu 12.4. No luck! Before I tried those i tried to boot to a Hirens disk. No luck! The XP install did it. That said, before I tried installing anything I was encountering the smiley faces.