Dell OptiPlex Locks and Hangs on Start Up 1

[energy4life]

We have a Dell OptiPlex Gx240 that locks up intermittently (whether in browser, Word, desktop, or even at network login screen).

There's a second Dell (Gx260) that halts on start up; screen goes BLACK. But hard drive light continues to blink.

In both cases, Dell's tech support was the same:
1. hard drive check (ctrl alt d)
2. reinstall OS (Windows 2k Pro, SP3)

In both cases, I've suspected it's a HARDWARE problem; even the hard drive. Anybody have this occurence?

And any feedback on using Dell support? (longgggg wait times; too many departments and call queues)

 

[TedM]

There are numerous issues that could contribute to the symptoms you describe. Are the PCs networked? Do they exhibit the same symptoms when you remove them from the network? Have you downloaded the latest BIOS and DIAGS from the Dell website and installed / run them? Have you done the reload recommended by Dell and the problem persists?

My company is a dedicated Dell shop and we haven't experienced any of the issues you have mentioned that I know of, but it's a big company. I would be interested in knowing how this is resolved. Thanks!

 

[energy4life]

Thanks for your reply...
- PC has not yet been removed from network, so we don't know if behavior is the same
- No updates have been downloaded from Dell. When entering the service tag # on support.dell.com, and selecting OptiPlex, Gx240, we get hardware components, no drivers, resource CD, etc.
- yes, OS (win2k Pro) has been reloaded - along with HD tests.

So how many Dells are used throughout your dedicated Dell shop? On this end, we're only talking about 10 clients and a server at one company, then a 2nd company with 20 clients and 2 servers over a VPN, consisting of 1 dell poweredge server, 1 inspiron notebook, and 3 optiplex clients.

 

[TedM]

10,000 plus systems on this end. That might be why we don't have too much trouble with Dell Support <wink><wink>.

To get to all the downloads for these systems go to

http://support.dell.com/us/en/home.asp

Click on &quot;Select another system&quot; on the left. Close any annoying pop-ups and don't enter anything in the fields but open the drop down on the &quot;Choose Product/System Type&quot; and select your system from the list.

When the page for your system comes up select the tab at the top for &quot;Downloads&quot;.

Select your OS and click the &quot;Go&quot; button.

You should now be able to scroll to the &quot;Diagnostics Utilities&quot; or &quot;FlashBIOS Updates&quot; section and download your updates. I would run the diagnostics first and let it run a full series of tests. It's time consuming, but may be neccessary. Pay special attention to the memory section. From what you are describing it looks like you may have an issue with memory. Have you added memory to the machines? That could be your problem.
Good luck!

 

[idanraz]

I had the same problem with 2 brand new computers , called Dell and they made me run some checks on the HD which was bad...
They sent us a new HD and there is no problem since...

 

[stingers]

I am having a very similar (same) problem on a Dell Dimension 2100 running win2K. It is also on our network (win NT 15 clients). The computer locks up intermittently (in word, access, outlook etc) when the computer locks all that can be done is a hard reset by pressing the power button for 10 seconds to turn the computer off. Neither the mouse or keyboard respond.

Yesterday I pulled the machine and formatted the hdd and reset the mbr, reinstalled the os, all service packs and updates from MS. Inestalled the original drivers from Dell from the disk that came with the computer. (The computer worked for a year before this all started)

I played with it for a little..worked well, so I redeployed it. this morning it has already locked up once.

I am now thinking hardware....hdd??? ram??? any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Ryan

 

[energy4life]

TedM - ( i hear ya on the <wink>) the PCs were shipped with 256MB RAM, and running W2000 Pro; no upgrades since, so we should be okay...

stingers - whew, hope you're a full time tech - that was alot. uhm, since that client worked OFF the network, but locked when on - is it configuration related? (check TCP/IP properties, Options under MSIE, etc). and are you sure there's no virus? I hear Dell's primary support issue is with bad hard drives, so after reasonable duediligence on your end (which you've done), be prepared to get a HD. NOTE: The product key on the side of the chassis no longer worked on OS reinstall with the new HD; be prepared to get/have a new product key. good luck...

 

[stingers]

energy4 life -- thanks for the response, and no it is not my full time job, only part of my responsibilities....that’s why I am so frustrated. The client was not off the network while I was working on it/testing it. Do you think a utility like spinrite from Gibson Research (

http://www.grc.com)

would help diagnose the problem if it is HDD related? Do the dell system diags do any HDD testing?

Thanks for the response....

 

[drdebit]

thread750-472718 is discussing a variety of testing utilities.

 

[TedM]

Before you go getting third party diagnostics, I would give the Dell diags a shot. They are current and pretty darn thorogh as well as being maximized for Dell machines.

Good Luck!

 

[energy4life]

go figure on the resolution to the Dell OptiPlex hanging on start up...

well, we didn't buy MONITORS from Dell, so we're using older 15&quot; VGA CRTs (this particular monitor happened to be a Samsung SyncMaster, mfred 1998).

and, this particular monitor could not handle the default resolution set by the video drivers (probably 1024*768). So after a new HD from Dell, OS reinstall, then driver reinstalls, the same behavior occured: BLACK SCREEN DURING STARTUP. The problem was then more apparent, because the Black Screen occured on after the video drivers were installed. <ding!ding!ding!>

So, the end result: fooey on us, not on Dell's Optiplex... (2 more Dell troubletickets to go)

 

[energy4life]

go figure on the resolution to the Dell OptiPlex hanging on start up...

well, we didn't buy MONITORS from Dell, so we're using existing 15&quot; CRTs (this particular one happened to be a Samsung SyncMaster, mfred 1998).

So, after a new HD from Dell, then an OS and driver reinstalls, the same behavior occured: BLACK SCREEN DURING STARTUP. The problem was then more apparent, because the Black Screen occured on after the video drivers were installed. <ding!ding!ding!> The problem was: this particular monitor could not handle the default resolution set by the video drivers (probably 1024*768).

For this case: fooey on us, not on Dell's Optiplex... (2 more Dell troubletickets to go)

 

[stingers]

Purchased new motherboard from Dell (proprietary bs) and now it works fine again! Guess that was the problem.