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June 18th, 2009 07:00
Dell Inspiron 1521 Will Not Boot
Hi,
I have a Dell Inspiron 1521 Laptop and it has been working great for as long as I can remember now (about 2 years).
Yesterday morning I was on my laptop checking e-mail like I normally do. I turned off my computer and went to work. However, this morning when I powered the computer on it went to the Dell loading screen as usual but right after that I got a message reading something like this:
Disk Read Error
Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to restart
I of course done so but without any success.
I am just curious as to what I can do to fix such a problem. I do not posess a high computer IQ when it comes to issues such as this, so please bare with me and try to be blunt as possible. I can usually configure with software farely easy but issues like this blow my mind. :)
And thanks in advance!
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t_caldwell15
6 Posts
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June 18th, 2009 07:00
Thanks for the reply ejn63.
I am unfortunately at work at the moment but I will run the full Diagnostics Scan when I get home. I should be able to post an update by tonight or maybe tomorrow morning at work with the outcome.
Oh yeah, what are some good websites to purchase the SATA drive above? And what would be a reasonable price for such a drive?
And again, thanks!
ejn63
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June 18th, 2009 07:00
Most likely the hard drive has failed. To confirm the failure, power on,press F12, and load the Dell Diagnostics from the menu - run the extended - NOT just the quick - hard drive test.
If the drive fails, and you're under warranty, call Dell with the error. They'll ship you a replacement drive.
If the system is out of warranty, you can use any 2.5" 9.5 mm SATA notebook drive as a replacement. If you don't have a Windows disc, you will need one to reload the operating system. If you're in the US, see below. Outside the US, call your local Dell office.
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/en/backupcd_form?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&redirect=1
ejn63
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June 18th, 2009 08:00
Depends on the size you're looking for. Here's a 160, for example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148452
t_caldwell15
6 Posts
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June 18th, 2009 08:00
Thanks for sharing. Is Seagate a premeire brand or just affordable?
ejn63
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June 19th, 2009 08:00
You can try restoring the system to as-shipped - with XP it's CTRL-F11 at the Dell screen; with Vista, F8 before Windows begins to load.
You WILL lose everything on the drive if you do this.
t_caldwell15
6 Posts
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June 19th, 2009 08:00
Hi,
I ran the long diagnostics scan, it came back saying everything was good. It then took me to another type of screen and I then ran some more test under this category: "Cannot boot OS." However, I passed all of them as well.
Although everything came back clear I am still unable to boot the OS up. So would buying an upgrade be my only option at this point?
t_caldwell15
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June 19th, 2009 08:00
Alright, I will do so when I get home this evening.
As far as losing everything, I actually reformatted my computer due to a virus about a week ago and already have everything backed up on a disc so no worries there.
I will update this post later this evening. Thanks again.
t_caldwell15
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June 29th, 2009 09:00
Sorry for the long reply. I actually left for the Beach last Sunday and had not gotten the chance to post an update on the situation till right now.
But anyways, I got my OS disk out last week and started the reformatting process. On my first restart I got a little nervous but everything went smooth. I had to restart my computer several times during the updating process and each time the OS booted up without a hitch.
Just wanted to say thanks for all the help and hopefully my laptop will not repeat this issue because reformatting is such a tedious process.
One more thing.... since I didn't have to order a new hard drive and just reinstalled the OS, does that shine a light on what exactly was wrong with the cpu?