E510 won't boot past blue screen w/windows logo

Sorry... why it would NOT boot in the first place.

Thanks for the advice, but I can't even boot to run the diagnostics.   The power light is flashing amber which is supposed to mean motherboard or power supply problems.  GREAT!      But do you think that the motherboard or power supply problem could have caused the initial non-boot past the blue windows logo screen?  I suppose it doesn't really matter, just trying to find out a reason why it would boot in the first place.

Hello,

Take a look at the E510 troubleshooting page and tell us what you find.

Thanks for the advice, but I can't even boot to run the diagnostics.   The power light is flashing amber which is supposed to mean motherboard or power supply problems.  GREAT!      But do you think that the motherboard or power supply problem could have caused the initial non-boot past the blue windows logo screen?  I suppose it doesn't really matter, just trying to find out a reason why it would boot in the first place.

As you have noted, a blinking amber power button LED could mean a power supply or motherboard failure.
As a power supply costs less than the motherboard, that's the first part to replace.

If you are comfortable around computers, you could try the following to test the power supply.

Unplug the cord from the power supply, hold the power button in for about 15/20 seconds, open the case, unplug the 24-pin power connector from the motherboard and jump the Green wire to one of the Black wires, reconnect the power cord and power the system on and if power supply fan and hard drive run, then the PSU should be good.

Note: Do not remove any wires from the plug, use a small piece of wire or a paper clip as a jumper.

5150/E510 systems do not use a Dell proprietary power supply, you can install most generic ATX power supplies with either a 24-pin or 20+4-pin main motherboard power connector. As the D-5150/E510 has an open back panel, a power supply with or without the on/off switch can be used and can be purchased from most local or online computer stores.


A power supply with a minimum of two SATA power connectors is needed.

For more info, see Dell's post about the Dimension 5150/E510 Blinking Amber LED (No power or No post) is here,

http://old.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_other&message.id=358135

Bev.

Sounds like your "power cycling" caused a problem either to the motherboard or the power supply.  What you did is not something, as a computer tech, that I would tell any of my clients to do or do myself.

Sounds like your "power cycling" caused a problem either to the motherboard or the power supply.  What you did is not something, as a computer tech, that I would tell any of my clients to do or do myself.

Hello,

I am just wondering what you both refer to as "power cycling"? I have never heard the term before other than to mean turn on and then off.

Darrell, I assume he is referring to powering it off and on (which should not cause any problems) but can depending on how it was powered off/on.  In this case with the blinking power light (which indicates a power supply failure in most cases) and powering it off and on and it will boot to the initial screen if the "power recycling" was done fast it could damage other PC components such as the motherboard (and it's not to say that power supply still is not a problem). 

Also, if the power "recycling" was done from an external AC power strip or something similar it potentially could cause more problems.  In my many years in computers, I've seen too many problems that were caused by excessive or fast power "recycling" of systems.

I found out that the problem I had was with software. I reformated a new partition and reinstalled windows from the Dell reinstall disk they sent me today. The system is coming up. No motherboard or powersupply problems .

Don