Replace the CMOS battery unless done in recent history. Either way, leave the battery out for 10 min. to ensure BIOS reset.
Are the insides, vents, and fans clean?
You said it runs fine when it does start. With it being an older system, it still might be time for new thermal paste.
No guarantee, but one can also try clearing the event logs in BIOS.
It's not said what what BIOS version you have. If there is a newer version, Dell Support Assist should still show you. And I would know 1st hand as my Dell PC's are from '08 & '11.
I had this problem with a T5400, but bizarrely, after replacing the third party memory it came with, with dell stickered memory the problem went away. It seems to be very picky with memory as it never recognises all of it (currently 24gb out of 32gb) and seems to have BIOS problems if it doesn't like it.
PaulKruger
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October 28th, 2019 13:00
This reply just to send first response to white list spam filter!bradthetechnut
7 Technologist
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9.3K Posts
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October 28th, 2019 17:00
A few ideas:
Replace the CMOS battery unless done in recent history. Either way, leave the battery out for 10 min. to ensure BIOS reset.
Are the insides, vents, and fans clean?
You said it runs fine when it does start. With it being an older system, it still might be time for new thermal paste.
No guarantee, but one can also try clearing the event logs in BIOS.
It's not said what what BIOS version you have. If there is a newer version, Dell Support Assist should still show you. And I would know 1st hand as my Dell PC's are from '08 & '11.
RET42
1 Message
0
August 28th, 2020 09:00
I had this problem with a T5400, but bizarrely, after replacing the third party memory it came with, with dell stickered memory the problem went away. It seems to be very picky with memory as it never recognises all of it (currently 24gb out of 32gb) and seems to have BIOS problems if it doesn't like it.