UNSOLVED
Failure to boot-up
I have a Dell Inspiron 530 with XP Professional o.s. A week ago the computer stopped the boot-up process at the screen that gives me the option to use the "F2" or "F12" keys. Using neither of these function keys did anything, and the only way to start again was to hold the power button down till the unit turned off. The next time I tried boot-up the unit came up normally, and with no error messages.
Unfortunately, the problem was duplicated a few days later and I had to power down (again holding down the power button) to try again. This time I had to make about eight attempts before I was successful. The next day (yesterday) It took twelve to fifteen attempts to successfully boot-up. I left the unit on since then so hopfully I could get to this forum to get some ideas.
When boot-up fails, the hard drive activity light is only on until the initial screen appears and all activity stops. The fan is operating normally , and there is no other sound being emitted by the unit.
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks,
allen
shesagordie
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Posted June 16th, 2012 09:00
biker275
Assuming that you have the Inspiron 530 Mini Tower and not Slimline version.
Is the power button LED, Steady Blue, Blinking Blue, Steady Amber, Blinking Amber?
Are there any 'Beeps', or error messages?
Is there a discrete graphics card installed, or are you using the intgrated graphics?
Does the power supply fan run?
Has any changes been made to the 530 recently?
The Inspiron 530 Troubleshooter and Diagnostic Codes are HERE.
Bev.
The fan that exhausts from the rear of the unit is running. If there is an internal fan just for the power supply I'll not know that until i take the case apart.
The power button is steady blue, and there are no beeps or error messages.
The graphics card is the original card installed by DELL.
Recently I installed a USB video adapter so I could use a program that requires two monitors. It has been working fine, but I disconnected it a few days ago just to see if the problem mignt be related to the new hardware or driver.
shesagordie
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Posted June 16th, 2012 10:00
biker275
The power supply fan should only exhaust out of the back panel.
There's a fan inside the case attached to the heatsink and maybe one on the graphics card.
Try opening the case, then remove and reinstall the PCIe X16 video card and see if this makes a difference.
No differance, remove the graphics card, connect the monitor cable to the motherboard's VGA connector on the back panel, and see if the monitor works.
Bev.
Amrinder Singh
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Posted June 16th, 2012 08:00
Hi biker275,
Welcome to the Dell Community.
The concern that you have mentioned could be a possible hard drive concern. As you stated that the hard drive light stops when the compueter gets stuck. Please follow the steps below to run the diagnostics.
1. Tap F12 on the dell logo on restarting the computer.
2. Select the option Diagnostics from the One time Boot device menu.
3. Ensure that we run the complete diagnostics by following the instructions on the screen.
Any possible failure with the hardware would be reported with an error code. If all the hardware diagnostics pass, we can then look at isolating the failure. Also please look at disconnecting all external peripherals like a printer or external hard drive and then check the boot process.
Glad to be of assistance.
Regards
Amrinder D
Social Outreach Professional