I can only boot in safe mode.

[xraycatj]

I'm working on a friend's computer (using it right now) . Here's a description of the problem:

When the computer is turned on, it will POST, display installed RAM etc. then when it would normally display a Windows XP progress bar, the screen goes black and stays black until it is turned off manually. I can get into BIOS before the screen goes black to look through and edit settings, which I haven't changed. After looking through BIOS I can startup with safe mode only. System Restore is turned on so I tried to restore to an earlier date; this did not work. I can connect to the internet so I ran Trendmicro Housecall; this came up with zero malware, spyware, viruses, but found 49 microsoft updates. I tried to install these updates but came up with an error message, unable to install or something.

System specs:
Compaq Presario SR1834NX
Windows XP Media Center Edition

Any help is appreciated! Ask more questions if needed.

[xraycatj]

She can't find her Windows disk so I was wondering if I can use MY windows disk to do a repair.

[Cricket]

This problem may not be software related.

Did the owner install any new hardware recently?

Cricket

[xraycatj]

She says nothing new was installed.

One thing I tried was switching the video in BIOS from PCI to onboard since the video was originally handled by the integrated radeon xpress 200 and not a PCI card.

The result was the same: black screen. no Windows splash screen.

[xraycatj]

problem solved. I started taking out all unneccesary hardware until it started up; it turned out to be the 56k modem! So that's what it was!

Thanks for the mental spark Cricket.