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392
May 23rd, 2021 12:00
How to get my computer working again?
I've had a Dell Optiplex 380 for six years, and it's always been reliable for me. However, in the recent months, it's been giving me alot of trouble, and as of now, refuses to boot.
The issues began about two months ago, once I returned from a month-long vacation with my PC left on, where the computer would randomly freeze/hang. Occasionally, this freezing/hanging would be followed by the screen briefly glitching out and then cutting to a BSOD with a variety of different STOP codes, such as "Kernel Security Check Failure", "Memory Management", and "IRQL Not Less or Equal".
Normally, they would become infrequent if I left the computer alone for a short period of time, but it's gotten much worse.
Now, it's to the point that this happens: When I power on the computer, the LED light on the power button becomes amber instead of green, and the computer refuses to boot. The fans also become extremely loud at this point.
I am at a complete loss. Any help would be appreciated.
James
bradthetechnut
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May 23rd, 2021 17:00
Do you get solid amber or blinking amber?
Solid amber can = bad MB. I'm thinking more in line with this one otherwise you'd probably mention "blinking."
Blinking amber can = bad PSU.
Before any MB ruling, first, try changing the size 2032 CMOS battery.
2nd - Does it allow you to access F2 BIOS? Not the fix is likely in BIOS, but not being able to access BIOS or F12 Boot Menu can be a bad MB sign.
Hopefully you didn't get a virus or malware. But this seems to have developed over time vs. instantaneous. BIOS and Boot Menu are independent of OS.
James626
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May 23rd, 2021 19:00
It's solid amber. And, since I have no experience with physically fixing computers, I don't know what a size 2032 CMOS battery is. It won't get to the boot screen (DELL Logo) either, so pressing F2 and F12 doesn't do much of anything.
bradthetechnut
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May 23rd, 2021 20:00
It's a button cell battery.
Try F2 or F12 by repeatedly pressing before Dell logo and before any lights light up on the keyboard. In other words, don't wait for anything after turning on PC. If BIOS can't even be accessed, battery won't matter anyway. Motherboard may be toast.
James626
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May 23rd, 2021 23:00
As I mentioned before, the computer won't get to the DELL boot screen. it simply turns on, displays the amber light, and nothing happens from there.