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9200 fails to boot up.
This is problem is causing me nightmares!
I am doing my thing on this computer and I go to restart. It shuts down ok but it fails to start up again. The machine is running, I can hear the fan and somethings one of the lights is on flickering, sometimes it is not (the one shaped like a cylinder of which I assume is the hard drive light).
The monitor power button turns yellow. Sometimes, as I try to start this thing, I see on the screen "Entering Power Save" or something like that before the button turns yellow. There are no diagnostic lights on. It just does nothing.
Before this happened, the computer has been making some ugly noises. It sounded like the fan was grinding against something. This happened maybe a few times a week for only briefly each time.
It has gotten to the point where I could not get it to launch at all. I had been successful if I sometimes unplugged it and waited a few minutes. I literally had to do this dozens of times just to be able to get to my desktop. Eventually this did not work.
After many failed attempts to get to safe mode, I ultimately got there and used the factory image restore hoping that this would be solved. (lesson learned here: backup files more than once every two years!)
My heart broke when I experienced the same problem when I got everything up and running again. So I lost all my software for nothing!
But strangely, doing the factory restore thingy did improve things. Instead of dozens and dozens of failed attempts to get to the desktop, it is only takes a few.
This is what I am thinking: I doubt that it is software. I suspect maybe it is hardware related. Question: if the computer is overheated becuase the fans are not working (incidently the fans no longer grind nor can I feel them blowing either-they are spinning but not producing much wind) is there a safety that on power up it automatically hibernates if overheated?
Question: is the reason I don't feel the fans is because the machine simply isn't hot enough to turn on meaning there might be nothing wrong with the fans?
I have no idea what to do here. Do I need to replace the fans? if so, how? Is it indeed a heating issue or is it still software related since reloading everything did seem to improve conditions?
What more info do you need?
Power light green says the PSU thinks the power is ok.
1-2-3-4 doing nothing says the CPU/motherboard makes no progress on the POST.
The CPU is designed to throttle back. It should take a little time before it overheats. So I don't think that is it.
I think the most likely scenario is the motherboard has a problem. The PSU is also a possibility. You can always touch the heatsink to see if it is hot. If it is not that hot, then presumably the CPU is not overheating (the CPU can overheat even if the heatsink is not hot if the CPU is not attached to the heatsink properly).
Peter
1 2 3 4 do nothing-they are off. The power light is a steady green. The fan is running when I openned it up but it is not producing to much of a breeze. I will try buying a new fan for it, but I can't seem to find any at the link provided.
You say that if it overheats, it shuts down. Is that a complete power off or does it still run (like mine is) but does nothing (monitor doesn't start but mouse and keyboard are lit up)?
PETER345
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Posted April 30th, 2008 14:00
What do the diagnostic lights (1-2-3-4 on the front) do? What color is the power indicator (light in the power switch)? Is it blinking?
If the CPU fan doesn't run, the CPU will overheat and shut itself down.
You can replace the CPU fan. You can buy one from Dell spare parts. You might also be able to buy one from another vendor on the web.
I would open the case and check out what is happening.
Peter