XPS 8300, won't boot all of a sudden, black screen blinking cursor

@vtreola  The BIOS is on the BIOS chip on your PC's motherboard, whilst the Windows boot is on the hard drive.  Your problem is most likely caused by the boot sector of the hard drive failing.  This will not stop the other files being seen by another computer, but will stop the Dell XPS 8300 booting into Windows.

The same problem happened to my XPS 8900 last Autumn.  I'd suggest:

1. Copy all the files that are important onto your other computer.
2. Return the hard drive to your Dell XPS 8300 and take it to your local computer repair shop.
3. Get them to run repair software on the hard drive and then to clone your drive to a SSD and use this to boot up your Dell XPS 8300.
4. Buy a new hard drive and install it for storing data and for backup.
5. Buy an adapter / caddy for the failing hard drive so you can access the files via a USB cable if you need to.  Don't rely on this drive, though, as it is failing.

Re: i can get into bios and diagnostics and they ran without issue but as soon as it goes to boot windows it goes to black screen with these characters

concur. OS is corrupted.  Back up data that you can still retrieve from the drive,  then do a fresh clean install of Windows os on it.  This will wipe your drive.  You can do it yourself or pay/ask someone to do it for you.

ok , so is there a way to "repair": the corrupted "boot sector" so it will boot and i can then clone it to another drive? or no option other then getting new one since this one must be on its way out so dont want to use it 

thanks

you can try to reinstall os on top of current corrupted os as a temporary unclean install. not guaranteed it would work but second os install would not wipe existing non-os data.

not sure your drive is dying. OS corruption may not be due to hardware error.  But if you do not trust it then move on to new drive.

@vtreola  Before doing anything else, try clearing BIOS:

1. Power off, unplug
2. Press/hold power button for ~15 sec
3. Open case and remove motherboard battery (check Service Manual for details)
4. Press/hold power button for ~30 sec
5. Install the battery (It's probably time for fresh CR2032 3-volt coin cell battery. ~$2)
6. Close up and connect mouse, monitor and keyboard
7. Reboot

See if that solves the problem...

@vtreola 

Try doing a repair boot up with a Windows 10 DVD or USB Assuming it is Windows 10. Do not take to repair shop for this simple fix. 

I have seen this problem but never experienced it. I could copy all files to another drive then do a startup repair. 

I haven't had to do a repair on Windows 10 either so I am not that familiar with it. But taking to a shop is gonna be a ridiculas price

This is not MSDOS.

There are no fixes for physically bad hard drives.

Time to reinstall on a blank new hard drive and see if data can be recovered via a Drive Dock.

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-Internal-Drive-3-5-Inch/dp/B07H2RR55Q/

https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-Duplicator-Function-Protocol-Supported/dp/B00JJEUL5W/

Given the age of the unit this kind of failure is not unexpected.  OEM 10 DVD will boot and install Generic 10 home or pro depending on which version you have on COA.  Only works for WIN7  not for Vista or XP.

COA KEY

https://www.newegg.com/microsoft-windows-10-pro-64-bit-reinstall-recovery-disc-only-no-license-key-included/p/N82E16832350238

2004 Windows 10 install

Keep in mind that audio and video and other OEM drivers may need
REINSTALL after the feature update.

Sandisk USB flash and SD cards are faked all the time.

https://kb.sandisk.com/app/ask/session/L3RpbWUvMTQ3MDY0ODQ2Mi9zaWQvZFB5QWh5WG0%3D

Use 32 gig sandisk USB 2.0 flash drive for installer.
SDCZ60-032G-A46

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-cruzer-32gb-usb-2-0-flash-drive-black/9288807.p?skuId=9288807

https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000131442

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO

Update Now Link

https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=799445

20H2 Media tool no upgrades needed

https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=691209

More Options
Sign in to the Volume Licensing Service Center to download Enterprise editions.
https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/servicecenter/default.aspx


Sign in to your subscription on the MSDN Portal for MSDN downloads.
https://my.visualstudio.com/downloads

Visit the Windows Insider site to download Insider Preview builds

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windowsinsiderpreviewiso

Generic Key for INSTALL not for Activation

Win10 Home: YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7

Win10 Pro: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T