Is there any other error notice, with the "F1" notice?  Do you get any diagnostic lights or any diagnostic beeps? 

 

There are lights labled A, B, C and D on the back of the motherboard and the manual HERE details what the various combinations denote.  Further down the pages in the manual is the Beep Codes.

When was last time you replaced the battery on the motherboard?

 

Ron 

Thanks for the response. There are no beeps or abnormal lights when I reboot the computer

Thanks for your quick response. The computer keeps accurate time and date but for a few dollars I'll give it a try tomorrow.

Is the clock keeping date/time? That may indicate a weak/dead battery.  The battery only lasts ~2-3 years in my 8400.

 

Power off and disconnect PC from the wall. Press/hold power button for ~15 sec. Open the case and remove the battery from the motherboard. Press/hold power button again for ~30 sec. Reinstall the battery, right side up, and see if it boots. Note: If you don't have an internal floppy drive, you'll get a floppy drive error when you reboot after reinstalling the battery. That's simple to correct.

 

A 3-Volt CR2032 lithium coin cell battery is only ~$2 at places like Walmart, Target, etc.

 

Ron 

I have never replaced the battery on the motherboard in the three years I have owned this computer. Is this something I should do to resolve this problem? Are there tests I can make to be sure the battery needs to be replaced?

I replaced the battery. No change. Other suggestions?

Reboot and press F12 before XP starts to load. Go to Utilities partition and run extended hard drive tests.

 

Disconnect all peripherals except mouse, keyboard, monitor.

 

Strip motherboard down to bare minimum, leaving only hard drive, RAM and video card installed/connected. Reseat RAM modules in their slots.

 

 Ron

Thanks for your suggestion. After 24+ hours of testing here is the result.

 

When using the "Symptom Tree" option in the Dell boot extended test option I chose "Cannot Boot to the OS"

 

I have a RAID configuration. One volume tested OK completely. However, the other volume produced errors. They were

 

Read Test

 

Error Code 0F00:0244, Msg Blk 46696002, Unrecoverable error or media is  write protected, SATA Disk S/N 5MT09B9S

 

Verify Test

 

Error Code 0F00:1A44. The remaining details are the same as for the Read Test.

 

I have reviewed a number of web sites about these error codes and most suggest that the disk be replaced. A few suggested a variety of repair options. Notable is Spin Rite from Gibson Research (GRC). I have a disk image program but I think it will capture the problem along with the good data. Is this correct?

 

I have most of the data backed up to an external hard drive and also to an off site location via the internet.

 

My knowledge of RAID operation is limited but I think data on one disk can be used to rebuild the data on the other disk. Is this correct?

 

Your suggestions will be welcome.

What version of RAID do you use? RAID 0, RAID 1?

 

RAID 0 (striped disks) distributes data across several disks in a way which gives improved speed and full capacity, but all data on all disks will be lost if any one disk fails.

 

RAID 1 (mirrored disks) uses two (possibly more) disks which each store the same data, so that data is not lost as long as one disk survives. Total capacity of the array is just the capacity of a single disk. The failure of one drive, in the event of a hardware or software malfunction, does not increase the chance of a failure or decrease the reliability of the remaining drives (second, third, etc).

 

SpinRite is excellent software. It can test the surface of the hard drive, move whatever data it can, and then mark the bad sectors so Windows won't ever use them again. But it's not cheap. $69, if I remember correctly.

 

Ron