Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
9 Posts
0
44055
Boot failure, can't get past DELL LOGO
I have a Dimension E521, AMD chip running vista home. Graphics controlled by NVidia g force 7300.
The pc would not boot, instead showing a cmd box: x:\windows\system32\wpeinit.
After much reading I discovered there was a driver problem with the nvidia card, causing a boot failure, but since I couldn't boot, I re-formatted and reloaded vista figuring I'd update the drivers afterwards. Ok, so vista is loaded, and after downloading the updated drivers from Dell, I began updating the drivers. After loading the nvidia driver, I rebooted as it requested. Well now the pc will not get past the DELL startup logo. Even with the OS dvd in, I cannot get past the logo. I believe the bios must have gotten corrupted. How do I flash the bios when I cannot get past the DELL LOGO when starting up since my dvd drive is useless if I can't get past the dell logo. Of course I'm only guessing it's the bios...HELP!!!
I appreciate any help I can get...Markalan
fireberd
9 Legend
9 Legend
•
33.3K Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 03:00
Many Dell's have a Recovery Partition on the hard drive that will allow you to restore the PC to the original factory condition, without manually installing anything.
See THIS on using the Recovery Partition, and F8 at boot up to access the recovery partition.
mark.alan.57
9 Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 04:00
I certainly appreciate the two responses: The recovery partition is non-existent so that option is out; Flashing the bios is great but what about getting past the DELL LOGO? No matter what disc I put into the dvd drive (original OS dvd), I don't get the option to boot from anything because I CAN'T GET PAST THE DELL LOGO...IT JUST SITS THERE WITH THE BAR SHOWING ABOUT HALF WAY PROGRESS. Please advise...
Gratefully...Markalan
Compu101
66 Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 04:00
Hi
Thanks for the reply and thanks for reminding that its not passing the Dell logo.
Try reseating the memory cards. The video card of your computer, is it integrated or is it discreet ?
Compu101
66 Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 04:00
Hello
There is a way in which we can flash the BIOS
on any other computer just download the BIOS patch and then using a sonic or nero make the cd as a bootable media.
Then push F12 at the start-up and then boot from hte cd, then you will have the option to run the set-up of the BIOS.
Thanks and Regards
Compu101
mark.alan.57
9 Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 05:00
I pulled both memory cards and reinstalled. I pulled the video card and reinstalled that also. Hooked back up and still stuck on the logo screen with the progress bar half way. I am completely baffled...
Markalan
Compu101
66 Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 05:00
Hello Mark
Just open the tower and check if the video card is external then please try to remove and put it again.
It can be one of the points on failure.
Compu101
66 Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 05:00
Thanks Mark
mark.alan.57
9 Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 05:00
No warranty, my friend...unfortunately...sounds like I'm ...will wait to see if anyone else can help...thanks for your time Compu101...
Markalan
Compu101
66 Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 05:00
Is your computer still under warranty ?
If it is then please call the tech support.
mark.alan.57
9 Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 05:00
Will do and will report back asap...thanks very much!!
Markalan
mark.alan.57
9 Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 05:00
Thanks for responding: The video is the Nvidia gforce 7300 GPU...
DELL-Larry R
1.7K Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 10:00
Are you able to press F2 to get into the BIOS, or does the system not even get that far? Also, check the diagnostic lights on the system to see where they stop. If it is before you get the F2 option as I suspect then those diagnostic lights (four LEDs labeled 1 - 4) should give you an idea of where the failure is.
DELL-Larry R
1.7K Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 11:00
My recommendation would be to start in Safe Mode, uninstall the previous nVidia software and then try installing the latest version.
mark.alan.57
9 Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 11:00
Hi larry,
After giving up and unplugging everything, I by chance logged back onto this forum and saw your post...so I plugged it all in and booted and sure enough I was able to get past the LOGO screen and right now I am sitting at the bios screen.
So since I FINALLY got past the LOGO screen, I'm not sure how to proceed. If you read the previous posts you'll see I had reinstalled vista and then was trying to update the nvidia drivers when this all happened. Should I reformat the HD and load the old drivers (install disk) and then install vista? I guess I'm feeling a little gun shy right now and not sure what to do. Please advise...
Thanks...Markalan
mark.alan.57
9 Posts
0
January 13th, 2009 12:00
Thank you Larry, I will do that and post back on the results.
Markalan