Inspiron 4000 will not boot

[dfb627]

When I start the computer it goes through bios check, screen goes blank for a second, the shuts down and starts over again. I can get into setup ok. Running XP pro sp2.

 

[vacunita]

Is the Hard Drive being detected? Is it listed in Setup as an available boot option?




----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[dfb627]

Yes, it does show in setup.

 

[BadBigBen]

PSU or HDD...

to see if it is a HDD problem, try a Linux LiveCD, e.g. Knoppix or SystemRescueCD, they boot from CD/DVD, so set the BOOT ORDER accordingly...

report back...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[vacunita]

Agreed. Boot to a Live Cd and see if you can have access to the drive. You could also download the Manufacturers tools and check the drive for any problems it may have.


Normally diagnostic discs will create a bootable cd for you to let you run the applications.


----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[dfb627]

I have tried 2 different drives. I can boot with the win xp install disk and it appears to be copying to the drive. Would you lean toward power supply?

 

[BadBigBen]

PSU could be the cause, from experience I would lean towards it, I had a mainboard that powered on fine and would behave just like yours (except it would reset once the second CPU got activated) and it did turn out to be the PSU...

I would try another PSU (borrow one if you do not have another)...

if that does not help improve the situation, then another hardware component is at fault, and other troubleshooting steps would need to be made...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[dfb627]

It acts the same whether on AC or battery. Does that mean anything?

 

[BadBigBen]

ooops, it's a lappy, my fault... I had wrongly assumed it to be a desktop... so ignore my rambling about the PSU, as the components that usually fail in a PSU are integrated into the laptop mainboard...

I've no idea where to start looking on a laptop, my guess would be that the mainboard is shot and needs to be replaced...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[goombawaho]

Download and burn the Ultimate Boot CD and then boot from it. If it boots, run the Windows Memory Diagnostic test and then run the specific manufacturer's hard disk diagnostic utility. You can usually look in the BIOS to determine what brand hard drive you have.

If your hard drive doesn't have a utility (Toshiba comes to mind) you MAY have a diagnostic partition on the computer that you can boot up to. Press F12 for Dell and see if it lists something like Diagnostics or Hard Drive Diagnostics. It could be a whole suite of diagnostics or JUST a hard drive test.

If just the hard drive, run that. If a whole list of items can be tested - run the EXTENDED test and see if anything fails.

 

[dfb627]

Turns out the 3rd hard drive I tried fixed the problem. What are the chances of 2 bad drives. Setup saw both drives, but would not boot. In desperation I took a known good drive from another computer. The first 2 drives came direct from Dell. Go figure.

 

[goombawaho]

Still - do what I said. The hard drives may not be "bad" and may be able to be repaired with their appropriate diagnostic utility. You may be throwing away a good drive (or two).

 

[dfb627]

I will. Thanks

 

[vipergg]

Must be those cheap chinese Dell harddrivesQQQQQQQQQ

 

[goombawaho]

Wherever they're getting them, every other manufacturer is getting the same cheapo stuff to lower their costs. Don't single out Dell.