Sounds like an HD failure to me. Unless you have the international warranty, I don't think you'll be able to get it serviced by Dell without paying.

if you still have this problem here is a suggestion ( I think this will solve your problem):

 

1)reboot your computer then boot into "safe mode" by pressing the key F8 at start up ( if you are unsure when to press it, just repeatedly press it).

2)after pressing F8 at bootup. Chose "safe mode" and log in as administrator.

3) go to control panel and doubleclick "System" icon.

4)click the "advanced" tab. under the advanced tab you should see three menu choices in blue; "performance", "user profile", and "startup and recover".

click the "setting" button under the perfermance section of the advanced tab.

5) you'll see a new window popup. it's the performance option window. click the "advanced" tab for that new window. Then chose "programs" for the memory usage section instead of "Systems cache"....click apply.

reboot.

 

apparently, if you update your bios to the newer A04, you'll get this issue. DELL should work on this problem and update the bios. Take Care! I hope this solves your problem.

 

I tried your suggestion on my 8100 but it was already set to 'programs'. Does that then indicate that this is a harddrive problem?