Crash causes reboot and No bootable devices message

Question

I have an E1705 and about a year ago the computer started crashing from windows xp. When it would crash, it would immediately try to reboot, but would come up with a message to the effect: No bootable devices found, strike F1 to reboot, F3 to enter setup or F5 to run diagnostics. I would then hit the power button and restart the computer, which would allow it to reboot and run windows normally again for a day or so until the scenario would repeat. The system is under warranty. At the time dell had me run several diagnostics (none of which the computer ever failed) and reinstall the OS, all to no avail. Eventually they replaced the motherboard and the problem seemed to go away. Since then, I have upgraded the operating system to Windows Vista Business and done a clean format and reinstall of the operating system early this year. This past weekend, the computer started having the same crash and reboot to a black screen with the error message about no bootable devices, just like before. I have again contacted dell technical support and run diagnostics on the computer (again they all passed). The technical support people are now claiming that this is all due to software problems and I should pay for Dell on Call service to fix it. I have found other posts on this forum which describe a similar scenario and suggest that the problem may be due to the computer getting hot and then the connections between the hard drive, the hard drive enclosure and the laptop becoming faulty. Does this sound more likely to any of you? Also if so, any suggestions as to how I can convince technical support that this is the case and get them to fix the computer instead of trying to get me to buy software support? Thanks, Luke Shulenburger

sluke5 · Answer

I should also mentioned that I have reseated the hard drive several times and this does not seem to help. In addition, when the computer crashes, it is always preceeded by a period where the hard drive indicator light goes solid for 30 seconds or so and I am unable to do anything on the computer.

eugene89us · Answer

Luke,

it always depends whether you will get a good or a bad representative. I have been having lots of issues with the LCD, so I made many calls, and one rep told me that he thought I was just playing and didn't have any problem. "You made too many calls, and it seems very strange. I believe you are playing games with Dell Support." God, was I furious! Problem was resolved after I got to speak with a good representative, who also made a little present for a customer to cover up all the inconvenience the LCD caused. Yeah, the system was replaced and i am not fond of the AUO screen, but it doesn't have any artefacts as the faulty screen did. Simply call Dell support as many times as you need to find a person who can provide an excellent customer service. I would also recommend you to speak very slowly, clearly, and extremely politely - this often helps and makes the rep more understandable. Lastly, if you get an American rep, those are the best helpers, and don'f forget to get his/her rep extension afterwards.

Take picture of the error, publish it to a website and ask a rep to look at it. Finally, if you are sure this is HDD and not motherboard or something else, ask them for that specific dispatch. If you are not so sure, send your computer to the depot. Make sure the rep creating service call records all of your issues, complaints, and wishes. After the call is created, call the support in a couple of days to make sure the file contains all the information - simply ask another rep to read what the previous rep wrote. And send your computer. This will take about 10 business days to get the computer bacl - but you should sacrifice this in order to have a working system

Hope this helps.

Eugene

________________________________

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
Dell Inspiron E1705: Centrino Duo Computer
Intel Core Duo T2350 @ 1.866 GHz D-0 (Yonah)
17" WXGA+ Screen by AU Optronics
2 GB RAM at DDR2-533 by Hyundai Electronics
ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 256 MB Graphics Card with Hypermemory
120 GB 5400 RPM Hard Disk Drive M60 Series HM120JI by Samsung
Dell 355 Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR Technology
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 a/b/g 54 Mbps
Sigmatel High Definition Audio
Sony DVD+-RW with DL Support

Storage, Drives & Media

Crash causes reboot and No bootable devices message

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