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Inspiron 620 hangs on boot
Hello all. I am a self-employed computer tech and have run into a brick wall with a Dell system. Hoping someone here can help.
I have been working on an Inspiron 620 for 2 days with little success. The owner told me that he thinks it got zapped by lightning, but the hardware appears to be OK. The system powers on ok and I can go into setup and move around. When I first worked on the system, it would not boot into Windows 7 - kept wanting to go into startup repair and then never would complete that process. After troubleshooting, we decided to re-install the OS. So I took out the hard drive and put it into another working PC to make a backup. I also formatted the disk and ran a diag on it, which indicated no errors on the hard drive.
The owner did not have his recovery CD, so I called and Dell sent out a set of CDs. So I tried booting to the windows 7 OS cd and it gets about 2-3 minutes into the installation and just hangs up. I tried this several times. I have tried removing the wireless card and removing the DIMMs one at a time. I have also tried booting to a diagnostic/recovery CD that I use. It does the same thing with that - boots part of the way and then hangs up. I also tried booting to the Dell diagnostic CD. It gets as far as the menu, but as soon as I type 1 to select Dell 32 bit diags, it gives and very quick error which I can't read and goes back to the menu.
I have also tried re-setting BIOS to defaults and clearing the CMOS by removing the battery. So far, nothing I have done has enabled this PC to get to a point where it will boot to anything. It has me wishing for a floppy disk.
Would this be a hardware issue? I don't have a spare motherboard and processor in my back pocket to see if that would fix it. Dell support wants $129 to talk to me since it is 6 months out of warranty. I would hate to pay $129 for a support call and then end up buying more hardware. By that time, the guy could have come close to buying a new PC.
Dell-Kuldeep M
621 Posts
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August 16th, 2013 15:00
Hi MikeBMiller,
I would suggest you to run complete diagnostics for the system.
You may try to connect the hard drive to a different system and try installing windows to see if you are able to install the operating system.
Also try changing the optical drive and see if that works.
Keep me posted with the results. I will be glad to assist you further.
MikeBMiller
6 Posts
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August 19th, 2013 09:00
Thank you for your suggestions. I have tried to follow them.
When I hit F12 and go into diags, the screen hangs with a mouse pointer on it and nothing else. I cannot move the mouse.
I did put the hard drive into another PC (non Dell) and was able to install Win 7 from the Dell CD without a hitch. But when I put the hard drive back into this machine, it gets to the "Starting Windows" screen and hangs.
I have tried re-seating every cable on the system board. It seems to me that there is perhaps something wrong in the BIOS somewhere. Is there any way to flash/upgrade the BIOS without being able to boot into Windows?
I also tried running some diags from the "Ultimate Boot CD, " which is a collection of utilities that run from a bootable linux CD. Those utilities hang up as well as soon as you try to run them.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Mike
Dell-Kuldeep M
621 Posts
0
August 19th, 2013 19:00
Hi Mike,
As you are able to install operating system on the hard drive on a different system, the hard drive seems to be working fine.
It could be an issue with the motherboard as you have already tried disconnecting the wireless card and trying one memory at a time.
If you are residing in the US, you may contact Dell spares for replacement parts. Please click on the link
http://dell.to/11GOIPD.
Please feel free to reply for any further assistance. I will be glad to assist you further.
MikeBMiller
6 Posts
0
August 20th, 2013 06:00
Yeah - I checked on system boards yesterday. They want $160 for one. Seems a little steep to me. I guess we will be looking at getting a new machine. Thanks for your help.
Dell-Kuldeep M
621 Posts
0
August 20th, 2013 18:00
Hi Mike,
I understand that purchasing individual parts may be costlier; however you may look for the part on third party websites or at a local computer store for price comparison.
You may consider buying a new system after comparing the price, if needed, as it would also give you the opportunity to avail benefits of new technologies introduced lately.
Please feel free to reply for any further assistance. I will be glad to assist you further.
MikeBMiller
6 Posts
0
August 20th, 2013 20:00
If we buy a system board and that does not fix the problem, can we return it?
Dell-Kuldeep M
621 Posts
0
August 23rd, 2013 14:00
Hi Mike,
You can return products that you bought directly from us within the timeframe set by our Return Policy.
Refer to the link below for the US return policy.
The link is: http://dell.to/1799PQ8
Hope this helps. Please reply if you have any questions.