My (old) computer will not start

Hey guys. Basically, i have an old Compaq Mini laptop, only a couple years old. Owned by a friend and given to me because it wasn't working anymore. I have a bit of PC experience, having a basic qualification in pc repair. Managed to get it working, basically the windows install had been corrupted and it was just a case of reinstalling windows. It's been working fine for a while now, except in the past week or so.

Like i said, its a Compaq Mini, version 702ea. I have 2gb of RAM in it, but apart from that every thing is factory settings. I turn the power on and get the compaq start screen, then it freezes. Cannot open the BIOS settings, choose a drive to boot from etc, so i'm thinking it's an advanced hardware problem, as the software has not had a chance to boot up yet. I have some experience tinkering with pc's. Near enough rebuilt my tower after 7 years so i have some experience, but this one is throwing me. Mainly because every time i search for something to help, i get feedback about windows start up, but not even getting that far.

Any help would be appriecated and if you need any more info i'll do my best to supply it.

 

What Windows OS is it?

 

Whoops, figured I'd forgot something. Windows XP. Had Vista, used 7 for a while but it was uber slow so I'm using do just for easy access

 

Hi,

If it stalls on the Compaq screen it usually means that POST/BIOS can't identify a hardware device. Since this is a netbook the two devices I can think of would be HD and Wireless card (if it is a separate card which can be removed). Try removing the HD and then start the netbook and see if you can enter BIOS. That would tell you if the HD has a problem which keeps POST from completing.