Black Screen on Startup

[bazciscor]

My Z60t displayed a black screen at startup (first time). It came with an error message - something like: error: embedded security chip. I'm not certain about the exact wording - I didn't write it down, but immediately rebooted. Again, the same display, but this time, I guess, I didn't wait long enough for the error message and rebooted again. On the third try, it started normally. I've ran PC Doctor with no negative results - and have powered off and on several times to see if I could duplicate the issue, but with no "success." ThinkWiki advised to reset the embedded security chip in BIOS. I entered BIOS but was unable to locate the "reset" option. I haven't tampered with the chip; in fact, I've never even opened the casing.

Anyone have any ideas?

The machine is two years old and I've had no major issues with it. I'm running XP and Debian Etch.

[bazciscor]

Microsoft Help & Support advises that this issue may be related to one of more of the following: 1) Master boot record, 2) Partition tables, 3) Boot sector & 4) NTLDR file. I haven't experienced the issue again, so I'm inclined to believe it wasn't related to the system board. I'm thinking out loud. Thoughts anyone?