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C521 - about to die?!
Hey everyone,
I'd really appreciate some help with this problem :(
My C521 is dying, I am pretty sure... the lights at the front stay solid 2, 3 before all flashing briefly and Windows finishes loading. 2, 3 means hard-drive failure according to the manual and Windows is sluggish to the extreme so that seems right.
BUT... my real question is: what is the normal start up sequence for the front lights? I had never noticed before so I have no idea whether the machine is trying to tell me that more is wrong with it, this is what mine does... if anyone out there can remember what their machine does I'd appreciate you letting me know :)
Power on:
3, 4 ... 2 ... 3 ... 2, 4 ... 2, 3 , 4 ... 2, 3 ... then all flash briefly.
Cheers JG
osprey4
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November 5th, 2009 17:00
Hi, J Garcia:
You should immediately back up your important data if there is any chance of a hard drive problem.
Once that is done, grab your Dell resource disc and boot your computer using that disc, then run the Dell diagnostics. Run a custom test on just the hard drive.
j_garcia
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November 6th, 2009 04:00
Hello osprey4- thanks for you reply. Yep, I am doing that as we speak :)
I am now awaiting delivery of a new drive so I can reinstall. The thing that worries me is those other flashing lights... what if I replace the hard-drive only to find more things are wrong (and that's why the lights are flashing away like crazy at boot up) say like the motherboard etc... this could get costly! Fingers crossed :emotion-8:
osprey4
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November 6th, 2009 11:00
I think it's fairly unusual to get multiple hardware failures at the same time unless there is a lightning strike or something. So I suspect all those lights are pointing to a single problem. That Dell resource disc is your best friend. Give your system a good going over with those diagnostics and I think you'll be able to figure it out.
And if it's worse than I think? Well, you can thank the upgrade fairies.