Dell Dimension 8100 won't boot

[Kenb917]

I have a 4 year old Dell Dimension 8100 PC that is refusing to boot. When I turn it on I hear intermittent clicking noises, then after a little bit, I get a message something like "F1 to retry or F2 for Setup". I checked the LEDs on the back and they flash randomly before settling on A, B, and C green and D yellow. I found a website that defined the codes, but this code is "Other no Port/video". I'm not sure what it's telling me...Is it saying I have a bad video card or something else? I would appreciate any help you can give with this.

 

[franklin97355]

Sounds like the hard drive has failed.

 

[Kenb917]

Thanks. I was afraid of that, but I was hoping against hope.

 

[garebo]

If you have s.m.a.r.t enabled in your bios, it should have alerted you. Just curious to see if you have s.m.a.r.t in your bios as its after the fact and cant help you if the hard drive is bad, but, if you have it in your bios and its enabled, it should have warned you.
The clicking is usually the sound of a bad hard drive, especially if the hard drive wont boot up.
Im curious about the smart and if your bios sees the hard drive still?

You could slave the drive to another system to see if you can get any data from it. Also, there is the freezer trick, and if your drive is clicking then its a candidate for the freezer method.



Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[micker377]

My Dell monitor "clicks" everytime the video turns on or off. Have you tried a different video card/monitor? I'm curious about the "Other no Port/video" indication.