Laptop Always Boot to Diagnostics

Question

Hi

I have been asked to sort out a problem with a Vostro 1000 laptop used by a local charity.

All I have been told is that the user "had lots of problems with viruses".

At bootup, all I got was a blank screen, and various lights flashed a few times (POST, I assume); the screen remained blank.

I then connected an external monitor - using Fn-F8 gives me video output, but the only thing that happens is that it boots to a small screen called "Choose an Option". The three options are Test Memory, Test System, and Exit.

I ran all the various tests and they all passed, however, if I then select Exit, it re-boots, and come back to the same place...

Any suggestions/ideas?

Watchspring1 · Accepted Answer

Well - I decided to get this one down off the shelf (the charity couldn't afford the cost of new software, so it has just sat around for a while...), dust it off, and see if a fresh look could come up with anything.

I reviewed all the posts above, and re-tried everything I tried 18 months ago, with no improvement. When connected to another machine, i could read the drive, virus check it, access the files, etc, but no joy with anything else.

I then considered the issue of the constant booting straight into the diagnostics, and given that the diagnostics are in a different partition to the OS, I went into Disk Management to check which partition was the active one. it turned out that the partition with the diagnostics was the active partition, while the partition with the OS was not.

I changed the second partition to active, re-booted, and problem solved - it went straight into the OS.

I still have the issue of the lack of video display to deal with - suspect the inverter, or backlight, or both.

Happy New Year!

Watchspring1 · Accepted Answer

Check to see if the Diagnostics and the OS are in seperate partitions - in my case, they were, and the partition with the diagnotics was set as the active partition. Resetting the partition with the OS as the active partition solved the issue.

Watchspring1 · Answer

Some further info - I ran the PSA diagnostics which came up with the error message "No Diagnostic Utility Partition identified", which seems odd, as the it keeps booting to the diagnostic partition...

Some sort of disconnect between the two?

DELL-Terry B · Answer

It sounds like the hard drive may have been partitioned. Since the basic test passed the drive may be alright. After the basic tests run the system will try to load extended diagnostics, if the drive has been formated, extended diagnostics may be erased and the system will give the "No Diagnostic Utility Partition identified" message.

Assuming that the drive is alright you will need to manually reinstall Windows and drivers for the system. You can find instructions for the manual reinstall from the following link.

http://dell.to/ptyvBW

TB

ejn63 · Answer

Run a full diagnostic on the drive - all manufacturers except Toshiba have a downloadable diagnostic you can run.  If the drive passes, you'll need to do a clean install of Windows.  If it fails, of course, replace it.

Watchspring1 · Answer

Thank you for responding, but this doesn't move me much further forward.

The drive has been partioned - it has been in use since 2008.

What do you mean by extended diagnostics? I can, and have, run two different sets of diagnostics with the drive so far.

I can also connect the drive to my PC and read everything on it.

Watchspring1 · Answer

Initial and full diagnostics run - no errors.

ejn63 · Answer

That leaves a clean reinstallation of Windows as your only option.

Watchspring1 · Answer

Well, that's it then - the owner cannot find the install/recovery disk - of the 5 laptops the charity has, they can only locate the disks for 3... Will advise them they need to buy new disks/licence.

teejay_a123 · Answer

Hi - I just had the same problem today! It's very annoying. Circumstances that led to the problem: I was running Windows 8 and Ubuntu 12.10 on separate partitions in a dual boot mode. Three days ago, I started having issues with Windows 8 so I reinstalled it completely (reformatted the windows partition) without affecting the other partitions. The Windows started running like a charm, but I stoped getting the dual boot option for Ubuntu - my laptop will directly boot into Windows 8. Since I needed my Ubuntu for some development stuff that I am doing, I tried to fix this by getting the dual option back somehow. I used the Ubuntu Boot Repair software, by creating a bootable USB with the repair software on it, and running from the USB upon the boot. While using the software, there was an option which said 'Repair Ubuntu Boot' or something similar. I did, and it said that the problem have been fixed, and asked me to restart. Upon restart, the computer goes straight into the Diagnostics with three options 1) Test Memory 2) Test System 3) Exit. I did run the two Tests, got nothing for Test Memory but got two errors for Test System (0F00:065D, 0F00:133C). Upon some google search, it seems that the first error is rather concerning and suggests that my Hard Drie has failed. I don't think this is the main problem given the circumstances which led to it, and the fact that I get the Diagnostic screen automatically everytime. Also, the bootable USB I create earlier to fix my Ubuntu boot, and which obviously started all the problem, doesn't work anymore i.e. I can't boot using a bootable USB as well, I still get the Diagnostics. Please help! Could you please explain in more detail how you solved the issue? System Info: Dell Studio XPS (Laptop) 16 inch, Dual Core, 4GB RAM, 500GB 7200RPM Seagate Hardrive, supposed to be running Windows 8 and Ubuntu. Thank you so much!

teejay_a123 · Answer

Hi watchspring1: Thank you for the reply. However, I am using a laptop, so how can I make a different partition active? A quick google search on how to make a Hardrive partition active did not not help me. Do I remove my hardrive, connect it to a different PC, and use some kind of software to do this? I will really appreciate your input!

Watchspring1 · Answer

Depending on your version of OS (e.g. Windows Vista - go to Start, then Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Storage, and finally, Disk Management) go to Disk Management. This will list your disks/partitions. Right-click on the partition that has your OS and, if not already set, select Mark Partition As Active. Use the same process to change the partition with the diagnostics from active.

Note - this only works if the diagnostics and the OS are in different partitions, and if the partition with the OS is not the active partition (i.e. the partition which is used during boot up).

Locked Topics – Laptops General

Laptop Always Boot to Diagnostics

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