Dell XPS8700 unable to boot pass dell logo

Hello Zan,

Well if this is occurring right at the Dell logo at the beginning, and you've only been able to get 1/5 times to work with Safe Mode, it's probably safe to conclude this is a hardware failure of some kind.

Does your XPS have a dedicated graphics card or did it ship with just the Intel integrated graphics?

Have you been able to press F2 at start-up to see if the ePSA/Dell Diagnostics will run?

Have you ever made any hardware changes to it? Like installing RAM or a new hard drive?

Let us know & we'll go from there, thanks!

Is there a key to press to enter SafeMode before the PC starts?

I have been restarting repeatedly only to depend on the Dell Logo "Please Wait" to be able to trigger the Troubleshooting to enable me to get into Safemode. Other than this method, I have absolutely no clue as to how to trigger the SafeMode when I press the power on.

I have a AMD Radeon HD R9 270 2GB GDDR5. I have gotten my Hard drive replaced by Dell less than a year ago.

I tried pressing F2 at startup and it entered a blue page with "Main-Advanced-Boot-Power-Security-Exit"

Where do I go from here? Do I need to check if the settings are correct?

I have not made any changes prior to this problem and since I'm not well versed in PC stuff, I didnt update windows much nor did I search for new drivers since I bought it in 2014.

Alrighty Zan,

For Windows 8/8.1 - that's the way to get into Safe mode. It's a pain but it's what we've got (unless you can actually get into Windows).

Try using F12 instead of F2 - this will bring up the boot menu & you can choose the option that says "Diagnostics" from there. They'll run an automated quick-check, but if you want something more comprehensive check the box that says "run thorough mode."

I ran the diagnostics and got the following error code.

How do I go about fixing this error?

Hey Zan,

Unfortunately that means the hard drive is failing. You're going to have to have it replaced & get Windows reinstalled.

Dell has service manuals on your model so you can do it yourself, it's fairly simple, but if you're not comfortable with it you can take it to any computer service place to get that done.

Whether you do it yourself, or have a company do it for you, you're going to want to see if your data can be recovered.  Sometimes it's as simple as connecting the bad hard drive to a USB enclosure (in your case, a 3.5inch), but in some more rare cases the data is not easily recoverable & will require professional services to recover.

Hi, I have a few questions

1) Where can i find these Dell Service Manuals, if i want to try to buy a new HDD and fix it myself?

How about my BIOs settings configuration? What settings should they be set at if I do it myself?

2) Is it right to say that this issue is not related to the graphics card as I thought that when it first hanged, it was due to the game being too graphics intensive?

3) Called Dell and they recommended said HDD failing and recommended to do replacement and purchase Windows CD. Before i resort to this, may i know if Windows Refresh will help?

(accessible via Windows Recovery Option after 3 reboots)

4) What type of Windows license should i buy? I'm afraid that if my HDD fails after i replaced it again, would i then be able to reinstall Windows using the CD i purchase today?

Seems that every pre-installed PC is pre-installed with Windows OEM version which is non-transferable. I'm just afraid that the Windows CD that Dell ask me to buy will not be able to be installed on another HDD in an event if every 6mths I need to purchase a new HDD if it keeps failing on me. I do not want to have to buy the Windows repeatedly just cause my HDD spoils so frequently.

Any advise?

I'll try to answer these one by one.

1)  For manuals on this model look here:

www.dell.com/.../diagnose

For replacement hard drives, this is Dell's purchase page. There are A LOT of options, I'd say not to buy anything less than you have (I don't believe you'd have less than a 500GB given the model. "TB" is larger than "GB" = 1TB = 1000GB).

accessories.us.dell.com/.../category.aspx

For you, these drives are NOT unique and any place that sells desktop hard drives (Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target are examples if you're here in the US) will be fine.

2) It is possible this isn't related to your GPU, but we don't have a real way of knowing that without a proper stress test. Since this has occurred on 2 different GPUs, it's probably fine.

3) HDD replacement yes; purchase Windows we might be able to work around.

You can try a refresh for giggles, but that won't fix a failing hard drive.

4) Let's try something else first before you buy Windows.

Since you can - eventually - get into Windows or into Safe Mode, see if the Dell Support Center, or Dell Recovery Manager, is still on your system (typically under All Programs). If so, you can use that to burn the factory OEM of the Dell Windows image. Those can typically be burned to a DVD or flashed to a USB drive (make sure it's at least 8GB, the on-screen prompts should tell you).

I don't think I saw it anywhere - did this computer originally come with Windows 8/8.1?  If so, it likely has your Windows activation saved to the BIOS on the motherboard. Meaning you can use Microsoft's Media Creation Tool to make a USB install drive. Once installed, Windows will auto-activate using that BIOS.

I'll try to answer these one by one.
1) For manuals on this model look here:
www.dell.com/.../diagnose

For replacement hard drives, this is Dell's purchase page. There are A LOT of options, I'd say not to buy anything less than you have (I don't believe you'd have less than a 500GB given the model. "TB" is larger than "GB" = 1TB = 1000GB).
accessories.us.dell.com/.../category.aspx

For you, these drives are NOT unique and any place that sells desktop hard drives (Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target are examples if you're here in the US) will be fine.

2) It is possible this isn't related to your GPU, but we don't have a real way of knowing that without a proper stress test. Since this has occurred on 2 different GPUs, it's probably fine.

3) HDD replacement yes; purchase Windows we might be able to work around.

You can try a refresh for giggles, but that won't fix a failing hard drive.

4) Let's try something else first before you buy Windows.
Since you can - eventually - get into Windows or into Safe Mode, see if the Dell Support Center, or Dell Recovery Manager, is still on your system (typically under All Programs). If so, you can use that to burn the factory OEM of the Dell Windows image. Those can typically be burned to a DVD or flashed to a USB drive (make sure it's at least 8GB, the on-screen prompts should tell you).

I don't think I saw it anywhere - did this computer originally come with Windows 8/8.1? If so, it likely has your Windows activation saved to the BIOS on the motherboard. Meaning you can use Microsoft's Media Creation Tool to make a USB install drive. Once installed, Windows will auto-activate using that BIOS.

hi, in response to your (4) above 

I can't find the Dell Support Center or Dell Recovery Manager in my system. But I do have a "Factory Recovery Disk" that I burn when I first got my XPS the very first time I start it up. It was 2yrs ago though. Is that of any use?

Also, i tried to 'System Refresh' for giggles but it prompted me to insert a recovery media; of which i inserted my "Factory Recovery DVD" which did not work. (I'm starting to question the purpose/use of this DVD i created).

My system came originally with Win 8.1.

Called Dell today and they mentioned that I can download the recovery ISO from the link below and provided a guide on how to make it bootable.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

 I also provide the video steps to create bootable USB

 https://youtu.be/0CznhPxLxHk

I'm planning to purchase a HDD and try. Any pointers or advice before i embark on this?

Sorry about the long delay, life kinda hit me like a truck this weekend.

Yes you can just grab the Windows Media Creator & use that - it'll be a pretty much blank Microsoft image, so some drivers might need to be manually downloaded from Dell's support site after the fact. Generally though 90%+ of your drivers will be recognized without having to jump through any hoops.

Once your system is restored & Windows is running, just reinstall any additional programs you may have (Office, web browsers, games, etc) and then import your files back over - I assume you've made a backup or copies of them somewhere?