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31576
Dimension E520 blinking cursor on start up does not enter bios
I have had a very strange issue as of late.
I shut down my computer which I almost always leave on before a 2 week vacation. After system was completely shut down I unplugged all of the cables from the wall and left. I came home and plug everything in and the 1-2-3 lights on the front of the case were luminated and a black screen appeared with a white blinking cursor in top left.
After a few calls to Dell Tech (no help at all) and then two friends with serious computer knowledge. I removed the aftermarket video card I installed and attempted to reboot. THIS WORKED!!!! Everything was working for about 2 hours and then the computer froze with a very funny shifted looking screen shot of the desktop. I manually shut down the computer and it would not boot. I was back to the 1-2-3 lights being luminated on the front.
I was told to unplug the CD-RW and DVD-RW drives. I did and IT WORKED!!! Back to no running with no issues, or so i thought. After the computer booted it continually attempted to install "NEW USB PORTS DETECTED" and finally installed "GENERIC USB PORTS." I have nothing pluged into the computer except the VGA monitor, power cord and dell mouse/keyboard Bluetooth USB stick. I then shut down the computer and restarted. Now I have no issues at all, and the computer has been running for about 12 hours. (i still have not pluged in the CD-RW or DVD-RW drives or the video card as I am afraid of what will happen.)
When the 1-2-3 lights appear the system will not run BIOS, the Dell Bios Logo, or the Windows Vista start up logo.
Anyone have any ideas??????
THANK YOU!!!!
| 2 | PN424 | Dual In-line Memory Module, 1G 667M, 128X64, 8, 240, 2RX8 (I after market installed 4 sticks of 1GB each RAM total 4 GB) |
| 0 | 4X388 | Instruction, Preparation- Material, Deviation, Dimension Increase, Number |
| 1 | NJ133 | INSTRUCTION..., DEVIATE CHAS L6 TO L5.5 |
| 1 | PN309 | Processor, 925, 3.0, 2X2M, PentiumD Presler, D0 |
| 1 | DT490 | Assembly, Dvd+/-Rw, 16, Philips Serial ATA, Black |
| 1 | JX373 | Kit, Speaker, 120V, WL6000 Unleaded, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION... |
| 1 | KU311 | Display, Flat Panel Display 22W, E228WFP, Black, Dell Americas Organization |
| 1 | DC094 | Assembly, Cable, Serial Ata Optical, Matrix, smith, mini Tower |
| 1 | GM477 | Kit, Software, Overpack, VU32 Digital Video Disk Drive English |
| 1 | JF495 | Modem, V.92, Data Fax, Internal SON2, Lead Free, Dell Americas Organization |
| 1 | JX718 | Hard Drive, 250G, S2, 7.2K, 3.5 WD-HAWK |
| 0 | 149DF | INFORMATION..., PREPARATION MATERIAL..., DEVIATION..., PRECISION WORKSTATION..., INCREASE..., #2 |
| 1 | DT488 | Assembly, DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE..., 16X, Serial Ata Half Height, Hitachi Lg Data Storage, Black |
| 1 | HU608 | Kit, Software, Norton Internet Security, 2007, 15MTH, English |
| 1 | PU214 | Kit, Mouse/Keyboard, UNITED STATES..., DT Vista, AMF |
| 1 | DR816 | Kit, Software, MS Office Professional-2K7, English |
| 0 | 01323 | INFORMATION..., NO ITEM |
| 1 | J9761 | Assembly, Heatsink, Shroud Performance, MATRIX,SMITH,MINI TOWER..., 2.0 |
| 1 | TG051 | ASSEMBLY..., CHASSIS..., NON PFC..., E520, PWA INTEGRATED... |
| 0 | 83535 | INFORMATION..., PART, ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ATTACHMENT PACKET INTERFACE..., DEVICE |
| 1 | HJ478 | Assembly, Panel, Filler, Black 3.5 Inch Form Factor, Matrix smith, mini Tower |
| 1 | NH729 | PLACEMAT..., GETTING STARTED..., E520, DAO/BCC |
| 0 | 83535 | INFORMATION..., PART, ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ATTACHMENT PACKET INTERFACE..., DEVICE |
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
43.6K Posts
1
December 23rd, 2009 19:00
Dead motherboard battery??
If it's more than ~2-3 years old, it miight be time to replace it. It's a 3-volt CR2032 lithium coin cell, about $2-$3 at discount stores. Reconnect your optical drives and reseat the RAM modules in their slots while the old battery is out. Then install the new battery (right-side-up!) and see if it boots with only mouse, monitor and keyboard attached.
Ron
b757capt
2 Posts
0
December 24th, 2009 12:00
Ron,
Thank you so much!!!! I think this sloved it. I have restarted the computer with a new battery and inserted all other compontents back into computer! Working great!!! I will install the video card tonight! Thanks!!!!!
b757cap
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
43.6K Posts
0
December 24th, 2009 16:00
:emotion-21:
The tip-off was you left it unplugged for 2 weeks, meaning it had to rely totally on the battery to maintain the BIOS settings. That probably pushed your poor ole battery over the cliff. :emotion-9:
Ron