Mon ordinateur ne voulait pas redémarrer, et le curseur restait immobile sur l’écran.

Because ordinateur is a masculine noun in French, so it takes mon.

• mon = my (before a masculine singular noun)
• ma = my (before a feminine singular noun)
• mes = my (before plural nouns)

So:

• mon ordinateur
• ma souris
• mes fichiers

This is a very common and natural way to speak in French.

French often uses vouloir with objects or machines to express that they seem unwilling to do something, especially when they are malfunctioning. In English, we do something similar with sentences like:

• My car wouldn’t start
• My computer wouldn’t reboot

So Mon ordinateur ne voulait pas redémarrer means the computer was not cooperating. It gives the sentence a slightly human, natural feel.

A more literal/technical version could be:

• Mon ordinateur ne redémarrait pas

But ne voulait pas redémarrer is very idiomatic and common.

Redémarrer means to restart / reboot, while démarrer means to start.

The prefix re- adds the idea of again.

• démarrer = to start
• redémarrer = to start again, restart, reboot

For a computer, redémarrer is especially natural if the machine was already on or you were trying to reboot it.

They are in the imparfait because the sentence describes an ongoing situation in the past, not a single completed event.

• voulait = was not willing / wouldn’t
• restait = was staying / remained

The imperfect is often used for:

• background description
• ongoing states
• repeated or lasting situations in the past

Here, the sentence paints a scene:

• the computer wouldn’t reboot
• the cursor was staying motionless

It feels like a problem that was continuing for a while.

If you used the passé composé, it would sound more like a completed event:

• Mon ordinateur n’a pas voulu redémarrer...

That is possible, but it feels more like a specific occurrence than an ongoing scene.

Yes. This is the standard French negative structure:

• ne ... pas

So:

• voulait = wanted / was willing
• ne voulait pas = did not want / was not willing / wouldn’t

In careful written French, both parts are used.

In spoken French, people very often drop ne:

• Mon ordinateur voulait pas redémarrer

But in standard writing, you should keep ne.

Because after vouloir, French normally uses a bare infinitive directly.

• vouloir + infinitive

Examples:

• Je veux partir = I want to leave
• Il veut manger = He wants to eat
• Mon ordinateur ne voulait pas redémarrer = My computer wouldn’t reboot

English often uses to, but French does not after vouloir.

Because rester works like a linking verb here, followed by an adjective describing the subject.

• le curseur = the cursor
• restait = remained / stayed
• immobile = motionless / still

So immobile describes le curseur.

This is like:

• Il reste calme = He remains calm
• La porte reste ouverte = The door remains open

French does not say something equivalent to remained immovably here. The adjective is the natural choice.

Both are possible, but they are slightly different in tone.

• restait immobile = remained motionless / stayed still

  • a bit more descriptive
  • emphasizes the state

• ne bougeait pas = wasn’t moving

  • a bit more direct
  • emphasizes lack of movement

In your sentence, restait immobile sounds very natural because it helps create a visual description of the screen.

Because le becomes l’ before a vowel sound. This is called elision.

• le écran → l’écran

French avoids the clash of vowels.

The full noun is:

• écran = screen

Since écran begins with a vowel sound, you write:

• l’écran

The same thing happens in many other cases:

• l’ordinateur
• l’image
• l’école

Sur means on, and here it indicates location: the cursor is visible on the screen.

• sur l’écran = on the screen

This is the normal preposition when talking about something appearing physically or visually on a screen.

Yes, but et is the most neutral and natural choice here.

• et = and

It simply joins two related facts:

• the computer wouldn’t reboot
• the cursor remained motionless on the screen

Other connectors are possible, but they would change the nuance:

• tandis que = while / whereas
• alors que = while / whereas
• de plus = moreover

In this sentence, et is straightforward and idiomatic.

Usually, yes.

Le curseur is the standard word for a cursor on a screen. Depending on context, English might say:

• cursor
• mouse pointer
• insertion point

In this sentence, curseur most likely refers to the visible on-screen cursor/pointer.

In everyday speech, people would often drop ne:

• Mon ordinateur voulait pas redémarrer, et le curseur restait immobile sur l’écran.

Some speakers might also choose a slightly simpler second clause:

• Mon ordinateur voulait pas redémarrer, et le curseur bougeait pas sur l’écran.

But for standard written French, your original sentence is perfectly good:

• Mon ordinateur ne voulait pas redémarrer, et le curseur restait immobile sur l’écran.

Yes, but it means something slightly different.

• ne voulait pas redémarrer = wouldn’t restart

  • idiomatic
  • suggests the machine was refusing to cooperate

• ne pouvait pas redémarrer = could not restart

  • more literal
  • focuses on inability rather than refusal

Both can work, but ne voulait pas redémarrer is often more natural in everyday French when talking about a stubborn machine.

Mainly because of the imperfect tense and the vocabulary choices.

• ne voulait pas redémarrer
• restait immobile

Both describe a continuing situation. The sentence is not telling you about one quick event; it is setting a scene and showing what the problem looked like over a stretch of time.

That is why it feels like a description of a frustrating moment rather than a simple report of completed actions.