Windows 10: Blank screen with flashing underscore

Had this laptop since 2012. Upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 back when it was free in 2016. My laptop sat with a dead battery for some time and recently I tried to start it and a message "Boot from AHCI CD-ROM:". I am not a techy guy so I followed some online advice and changed the boot order from the BIOS menu thing. Put HDD first and CD second. Now all that comes up is a flashing underscore with no message.

I would like to keep windows 10 and my files.


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

:)

 

Blank Screen

Hi Virginia,

Conflicts with third-party software and outdated graphic drivers are common contributors to the black screen issue that you're having. To isolate the said issue, we'd like to ask a few questions:

• Are you getting any error messages before getting a blank screen?
• Are you experiencing this when using a particular app?
• Were there any changes made on your computer settings prior to this issue?

Meanwhile, we suggest that you refer to this
article which talks about the steps you can take to resolve blank screen errors.

We'll wait for your response and assist you accordingly.

 

Black screen with flashing underscore

I no longer get the Lenovo logo; now I get the boot text... which shows "Phoenix BIOS 4.0 Release 6.1"

Tried holding the Off button, twice, after the initial text, and after "mouse initialization"; nothing changed.



If I interrupt with the Enter key, it shows the Startup Interrupt Menu, listing "Esc to resume normal startup" "F1 to enter BIOS Setup Utility", "F11 to diagnose hardware or recover your system" and F12 to choose a temporary startup device.

F11 takes me back to the flashing underscore, and nowhere to recover the system.

F1 takes me to -Config, -Date/Time, -Security, -Startup, -Restart or HDD diagnostic program.

Interestingly, that same page shows BIOS version 2.05 (80ET65WW), dated 2013-03-25, not the Phoenix BIOS.

The HDD diagnostic takes a while to run, but shows no problems.

So I probably have to try and get Lenono's help on the BIOS; will that be something I can copy to a disc that will write itself into the laptop?

Thanks!

 

Underscore problems on the E63

Thanks for that suggestion. Yes I have tried that and it



OK. It seems like I need to do a step by step:



Menu > Installations > Messenger > Open Messenger try to type in my domain name which includes an underscore that I am unable to type. I've tried pressing the Ctrl, Chr, button with the grey and white triangle, with the 'K' which has a dash, and by pressing
them on there own. Nothing.