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Dell Inspiron 530 starts up 3 times
For the past several months, my 5 year old Inspiron 530 has had the following issue:
From a cold start, it will power up for a few seconds (loud fan noise), then power off, then power on for a few seconds, then power off, then power on and proceed as normal. So from a cold start it will start up a total of 3 times.
When the computer is restarted, it will power down, power up for a few seconds, power down again, power up and then proceed normally. So from a restart, it will start up a total of 2 times.
I have tried the following fixes and so far none of them have resolved the issue (these may not be in the correct sequence):
I contacted Dell Support. They told me it was a "software issue" and they proceeded to try several different things over a remote connection. After about 5 hours of trying to resolve the issue without a solution, I was told it was not a software issue but a hardware issue and referred me to the hardware tech support group. The technician from that group told me that it was a software issue and that I needed to reinstall the operating software. Since I also read on the internet that this could be a power supply issue, I had them refer me to Dell sales who could sell me a replacement power supply.
I bought the power supply and installed it, but that had no effect.
I bought a new video card and installed it, but it had no effect on the restart issue and actually caused additional problems. I removed the new video card and reinstalled the old video card.
I contacted Norton about doing a remote virus removal. I had two different technicians from Norton work remotely to fix the startup issue, but they were unsuccessful.
As a last resort, I decided to go ahead and reinstall the operating software which is Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit. I actually reinstalled the operating software twice, because I didn't reformat the C: drive when I did the first reinstallation. I did do the reformat of C: drive on the 2nd reinstallation. While my Inspiron 530 now boots up much faster and also runs much faster, it will still take 3 starts to get going.
So if anyone out there has any insight on this issue, whether it is a fix or whether I should just let it be and not be concerned about it, please respond to let me know your suggestions. If additional detail is needed, please let me know.
RoHe
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May 3rd, 2013 15:00
Couple of off-the-wall thoughts:
Humor me... :emotion-2:
RSDColOH
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May 4th, 2013 13:00
Hi RoHe -
Thanks for the suggestions. Here's what I found out:
Running chkdsk c: /f got me a report that said: 0 bad file records processed, 0 unindexed files processed, and 0 bad sectors. Most of the wording scrolled by too fast for me to read after the 0 bad sectors report.
fsutil dirty query got me the result that volume c: is NOT dirty.
I did a scan earlier today using Norton Internet Security and Norton Power Eraser. Norton Internet Security got rid of 73 tracking cookies, while Power Eraser determined there were no risks.
BIOS settings:
Hard disk Boot Priority:
1. SATA-0: [name of hard drive]
2. Bootable Add-in cards
First Boot Device: CD-ROM
Second Boot Device: Hard Disk
(as an aside, the first and 2nd boot devices have been reversed in the past with no effect on the 3 start issue that I've had)
Boot Other Device: Enabled
SATA Mode: IDE
Onboard LAN Boot ROM: Disabled
Since I was in the BIOS screen I disabled the Onboard LAN controller. The computer took the usual 2 startup attempts after a restart, so I immediately went back into BIOS and enabled the Onboard LAN controller. After saving that setting, the computer restarted, but took five or 6 attempts before restarting (I wasn't paying full attention and had music in the background, so I can't say for sure just how many tries it took - it was just several more than is usual). When the computer finally booted back up I got a message that said ALERT! and something about the attempted boot up, but it went by too fast for me to read it. This was a little scary for me! Any ideas if this Onboard LAN controller may be an issue?
Thanks RoHe - I hope to hear from you again soon!
osprey4
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May 5th, 2013 06:00
The on-board LAN controller should be enabled. This is your network adapter. If there is an entry for the LAN controller in boot devices, that should be disabled.
RoHe
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May 5th, 2013 13:00
That's correct, but I suggested dsabling the onboard LAN controller (quote: " just to see what happens") to see if we could exclude that as a factor in this 3-peat booting problem. :emotion-4:
RoHe
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May 5th, 2013 13:00
Guess I missed a post in this thread.
I'd still put the boot hard drive as first in the boot sequence, if nothing else than to save the few milliseconds it takes for BIOS to see if there's a bootable disk in the CD drive before booting from the second boot device (hard drive). And try disabling Boot Other Devices, at least for a test.
Did you ever replace the motherboard battery as I suggested?
And you can always change the BIOS settings option "Halt on" to "all error" which will give you a chance to read what those alerts say.
RSDColOH
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May 12th, 2013 10:00
Hi RoHe -
Per your recommendation, I switched the first boot device to hard drive and the 2nd boot device to CDROM.
I also disabled "Boot Other Devices" to test if this had any effect on the 3-peat start issue, but it didn't. I have since re-enabled this setting.
I have yet to replace the motherboard battery, which is the only suggestion that I haven't followed up on yet. It's just a matter of me getting enough inertia to open up the CPU, find the battery and drive to Radio Shack (or elsewhere) to get a replacement for it. My computer is off most of the day, so I could see a drained motherboard battery as a possible issue. I hope to take care of it soon.
RSDColOH
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May 12th, 2013 12:00
Hi again RoHe -
As a followup to the battery issue, I decided to go ahead and get the motherboard battery taken care of today - after all it is Mother's Day. I did go to Radio Shack and they said the old battery was on the verge of going dead. I replaced the battery and the power button on front of the CPU was glowing orange after I got everything put back together. It only took one start to power up the CPU. I went in and reconfigured all of my settings in the BIOS and saved everything, at which point the computer restarted and took two tries once again. As a test, I also tried starting it from a cold start and it took its usual three attempts to get going. At any rate, it was probably worthwhile to replace the battery anyway, since it was going dead.
Thanks for your help - let me know if you have any more suggestions.
RoHe
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May 12th, 2013 19:00
Sorry...you've stumped me.
I could loan you a real big sledge hammer... :emotion-7:
RSDColOH
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May 12th, 2013 20:00
Thanks, RoHe & osprey4 for all of your suggestions as well as everyone else who has responded to this post. The suggestions were definitely worth trying even if they didn't fix the 3 start issue. I also learned a few things along the way.
Fortunately for me, the 3 start issue doesn't cause any other problems (that I know about anyway), and the computer is still quite usable. The sledge hammer has been a tempting thought, but then I'd have to shell out hundreds of $ for a new computer which I really don't want to do at this point.
Meanwhile, if anyone else has any ideas for me, I'd be happy to hear them.
Vejay_Sarathy
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May 16th, 2013 19:00
Try to update the BIOS with the latest version / try to update with the previous version of BIOS. Might be an issue with stuck power button (But 3 starts - weird). Remove all ext peripherals, Connect Monitor to Onboard graphics port, Remove Hard drive cables, DVD cables, Video card, Cards, except Motherboard, processor and RAM. Connect Keyboard and mouse. Turn on the PC. See if this turns on the PC the first time. If its still doing the same thing 3 starts - Probably cause motherboard. Reseat the RAM just to make sure. If you had upgraded the RAM - bring the system to factory setting - remove the additionally upgraded RAM.
Just to rule out the power button you have a cable coming from the front power button assembly to the motherboard. Remove that and short the two pins on the mother board using a screw drive to emulate the power button press. - This can rule out possible issue with the power button.
Can also remove the front panel with the three white tabs - remove the front panel. Use the black button to turn on the PC.
Hope this helps. :)
rdunnill
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May 18th, 2013 12:00
The Sapphire 6450 is a great budget card and I've had nothing but good luck with it in older Dells.
Thanks for posting the fix, froggyjo!
froggyjo
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May 18th, 2013 12:00
The card I put in was GeForce XFX PVT86JYAHG GeForce 8500GT 450MHz 512 MB GDDR2 SVideo/DVI/VGA PCI Express x16 Vista Ready from Amazons site by EchoShop about $40.00. I thought it was cheap!
rdunnill
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May 18th, 2013 13:00
The 8500GT obviously works, but the Sapphire, around $40 including shipping before a $10 mail-in rebate, is superior in performance. Its pluses include lower power consumption, faster gaming graphics and UVD 3.0 video decoding.
RSDColOH
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May 19th, 2013 11:00
froggyjo -
Thanks for remembering to post your solution on this forum! The 8300GS is the exact same video card that my Dell has. I did try replacing the video card once before, with no success (in fact, it made my computer situation worse because it actually had problems displaying online video properly). Since that new 8500GT card worked for your Dell, I decided to give it a go and placed an order for it. I'll let you know how it comes out.
osprey4
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May 20th, 2013 17:00
I'm staying tuned...