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Black Screen - won't boot
I have a Inspiron 17R. Suddenly windows file explorer started flashing on screen. shut down and now when it boots I get a black screen with cursor in upper left screen. Have fun all diagnostics off a repair disk and through F2 & F12. All tests show all elements are ok. All my files are still intact. Have tried the following with no success: repair disk restore to earlier point reseated memory & hard drive powered down, left for awhile, repowered tried changing boot for SATA to another setting, save changes, rebooted, change SATA back to Smart Tech, save changes, rebooted. I've read through the forum entries and tried everything I could find that was even close to my problem. Nothing is working. Do not want to do a System reload as I don't want to lose all files. (have many backed up but not all unfortunately). I read somewhere about a virus that could be causing this problem but can't find the info again. I think it was either a Zero Virus or One Virus. I have also tried to Safe boot but cannot get it to boot at all. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Dell-Vasudev R
3 Apprentice
3 Apprentice
•
39 Posts
0
June 19th, 2014 14:00
Hi TAM65,
Thank you for reaching out on the forum.The symptoms indicate that its an issue with the Operating System.Since the data has not been backed up,I would suggest you to try Parallel Operating System Reinstallation using recovery media.If the computer is under warranty you can order recovery media here: http://dell.to/SULh9M .Let me know it helped or if you need more assistance.
TAM65
3 Posts
0
June 20th, 2014 03:00
Dell-Vasudev R
3 Apprentice
3 Apprentice
•
39 Posts
0
June 20th, 2014 06:00
Hi TAM65,
If you are not familiar with parallel operating reinstallation then I would suggest you to get in touch with local technician. One wrong troubleshooting step results in complete data loss. Repair disc will not help us to install operating system. Reach out if you have any queries.
TAM65
3 Posts
0
June 23rd, 2014 16:00
Here's an update on my situation. I have managed to get all my files off the hard drive. Now I need to figure out how to fix the operating system. Unfortunately I cannot do a safe boot - f8 does not work when I boot up so I don't know how to get into the recovery area. I know my system came with the system software on a special area of the hard drive so that it could be restored (I don't have any disks other than some drivers) but how do I get to it if I can't initiate a safe mode boot? I"m guessing I'll need to do a clean reload but need some guidance. Trying to do myself to avoid taking it to a repair shop if possible; but that may be the next step. Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks to all! Tom
Dell-Vasudev R
3 Apprentice
3 Apprentice
•
39 Posts
0
June 24th, 2014 09:00
Hi TAM65,
Good that you have backed up all the data. The steps to restore the computer to factory defaults are:
You need to go to repair my computer from F8 menu->login to your profile->go to system recovery options->select the last option which says Dell recovery manager. Once you select this option you need to select->select other system Backup and more on welcome screen and click next->select Restore my computer->click on Factory image->Restore without preserving new or changed files->yes continue, once the restoration is complete you need to restart the computer.
However if you are unable to go to F8 menu, you won’t be able to restore the computer. You need to reload the Operating System. I do see you don’t have the OS media, I would suggest you to private message the service tag or express service code. I will check what best can be done. To send a private message, click on my user name and select "start conversation".