After a while your PC may begin to hang during the initial bootup sequence. Usually it will falter, detect the CD-ROM drive, pause to think about Life, the Universe & Everything, decide it's not a bed of roses and stop. And just to let you know how it feels, it will display this rather ominous message.   Don't Panic - Your computer has not suddenly become a chronic depressive!

All this usually means is that the internal connections have begun to come loose. This is not uncommon and is sometimes called 'chip creep'. They are subjected to vibration, heating up and cooling down, the intrusion of dust, humidity and perhaps cigarette smoke. It may be a wire which is not quite connecting, or a removable expansion card or chip which has become unseated.

When this happens, simply switch off, wait a few seconds and switch on again. It should boot normally. You may need to press the 'eject' button on the CD drive during power-up. You might also try gently rocking the case if it is a tower-type.
If offered something like "Press F1 To Continue" don't bother. Your machine might appear to be about to continue booting, but it will come to another halt, quite likely with another message, such as "Boot Failure - Insert Boot Floppy and Press Enter". All you can do then is insert a bootable floppy (such as an emergency Startup or Boot disk), but as this cannot solve the problem don't bother.

The next step is to open the box, clean out any dirt, and above all make sure all connections are firm. (See the previous page).

If you get a squeal and one of these messages, again don't worry. Switch off. Unplug the keyboard or mouse at the back of the case, make sure the plug is clean, and stick it back in. Whilst at it, ensure all the other leads are firmly plugged in. Then switch on and you should get a normal boot.

If your screen begins to show strange colours even during bootup - perhaps changing everything to a greenish tinge - the most common cause is a loose lead. Check both ends of the monitor signal cable to ensure the plugs fit snugly.