Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
4 Posts
0
79027
May 5th, 2012 04:00
Is my BIOS corrupted?
Hi
When I turn on my Dell Dimension 9200 I now get the BIOS screen but peppered with various characters.
If I'm supposed to get a BIOS beep, there is no beep.
Up to this point, status lights come up in different combinations until I get to the Windows Error Recovery screen, at which point there are no status lights showing.
If I start Windows normally, I get stuck with the following screen.
If I start Windows in the last known good configuration, it goes past the above screen and then seems to enter sleep mode (main screen goes to sleep, secondary screen cycles through different colours).
If I start Windows in Safe Mode, there are strange bullet characters in the background but I have run a virus check and got an OK.
If I boot with the Operating System DVD, I can run Repair PC (and have done so several times) but the situation does not change.
Is my BIOS corrupted? If so what can I do about it?
Thanks, Neil
Dell_Silangchi
30 Posts
0
May 5th, 2012 05:00
Hi liphook-neil,
Welcome to the Community.
Sometimes an out of date Video Driver or BIOS can cause abnormal screen issues.
Visit the Dell Drivers and Downloads website and input your Service Tag to get updates specific to your computer.
If you need assistance in Downloading and Installing Drivers or BIOS please go to this link--- http://dell.to/KpPQnb
However,lets try to Run Dell Diagnostic Test and see if the issue still persist .Please follow the procedure as below-
Note: Turn off the Computer completely,remove the VGA cable from the monitor connected to the system tower and then put it back on.
1.To run PSA Diagnostics, as soon as you turn on the computer,keep tapping the key several times at the Dell logo screen.
( Dell logo flashes really fast so be quick in tapping )
2.This will start the One-Time Boot Menu.
3.Select Diagnostics to start the diagnostic assessment of the computer hardware.
( Remember to select Y/N as you see on the screen)
4.This test takes approximately 5 minutes.
If you receive an error from the PSA diagnostics,please let me know.
Thanks,
liphook-neil
4 Posts
0
May 5th, 2012 07:00
Thanks Silangchi
I ran the Diagnostic (if this is the right one) and the Hard Drive came up with a PASS.
I'll use your link now to read up on Downloading and Installing Drivers or BIOS.
Neil
liphook-neil
4 Posts
0
May 5th, 2012 07:00
Hello again
I downloaded the BIOS .exe file and transferred it to the PC using a USB stick with the PC booted to SAFE mode with networking.
The problem is how do you run the .exe file?
In SAFE mode I got the following dialog box:
I also tried re-booting to SAFE mode with DOS prompt and got the same dialog whilst in "DOS".
Any ideas?
liphook-neil
4 Posts
0
May 7th, 2012 03:00
Some interesting developments ...
Firstly, pressing F12 at the Dell logo again I selected Boot Utility Partition and found the various tests you can run. Using the symptom tree to test video came up with a series of error messages like this one below for the VESA SVGA Video - Video Memory Test:
Secondly, in my attempts to re-install the nVidia GE Force drivers I actually uninstalled the drivers but found that I couldn't install another set of drivers (or so I thought). When my PC re-booted, there were still the apostrophies all over the boot-up screen but Vista then loaded without complaint.
The screen resolution was all wrong but Windows appeared to be working (slowly) and I even had internet access. Windows detected the nVidia GE Force 9200 video card and said it was installing the drivers for it.
Thirdly, with Windows working I took the opportunity to Flash the BIOS, which said that I would be replacing the BIOS with the same version, which I did.
Fourthly, on re-boot, I was back to the original problem as shown in my first message.
I wonder if there is a problem with the nVidia GE Force 9200 video card or the video memory (if that's not the same thing), such that uninstalling the video drivers allows me at least to load Windows normally.
What do you think?
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
May 7th, 2012 13:00
What color are the 4 diagnostic LEDs on the front of the tower when it won't boot?
If not all green, look up error codes are here. (NOTE: Dimension 9200 and XPS 410 are essentially identical sytems and share documentation, error codes, etc.)
Do you have a spare video card you can swap into this system?