'press DEL to continue'

Question

I have a Dimension L866r running Windows ME. Lately, about 90 percent of the time, the boot sequence hangs up at a screen with a bunch of technical info and the message "Press to continue." When I do so, the computer boots normally. At the point of the hangup, the LEDs on the back of the box read green/green/green/yellow, but once the machine is up and running, they’re all green.

There has been previous discussion of this problem in the BIOS forum, but no consistent solution. Some people have replaced their hard drives, which I very much want to avoid. Does anybody know if there have ever been any actual hard drive failures associated with this phenomenon? Does anybody know a consistent solution?

DELL-Les · Answer

t.mc,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

What is the information that is given when the system does not boot? Do you get any beeps when the system does not boot? Any additional information you can give would be helpful.

t.mc · Answer

Thanks for your query. The boot sequence stalls at a screen that reads as follows:

CA 8102A.10A.0030.P10.0011131641

Dell Dimension L866r
BIOS version A09
Intel (R) Pentium (R) III Processor, 666 MHz

Keyboard...detected
Legacy Mouse...detected
USB Legacy...detected

Fixed Disk 0: Maxtor 5T040H4
(UDMA = 66 MHz)
ATAPI CD-ROM SONY CD-RW CRX140E
A>R.M.D. IOMEGA ZIP 100 ATAPI

Press to Resume

psychojo · Answer

Hello Try to remove any third party device on the system and run the diagnostic on the hard drive. hope this works!

DELL-Les · Answer

t.mc, Test the system for hardware failures. You can do this by using the Dell Customer Diagnostics that came with the system on the drivers and utilities CD.

t.mc · Answer

Thanks--I've run the hardware diagnostics and passed with flying colors.  I will take your advice and look at the third-party stuff.  When you refer to third-party things, do you mean software as well as hardware?  Many thanks.

t.mc · Answer

Thanks--I've already done that.  Oh, and by the way, this morning my computer is no longer hanging on startup.  However, I don't expect this situation to last--it's happened before.

kijana · Answer

Hello all,   I've similar problem with 'Dimension 4100' PC where I get a prompt: 'Press tp Resume' every time the machine is rebooted or restarted.  I want to make the complete boot-up without having to press 'del' key.  I've tried all  'pointers' in this thread thus far, and no luck yet. Thanks in advance from 'kijana'

psychojo · Answer

I would suggest you try to contact dell tech support and run a diagnostic on the hard drive, most often than not the hard drive is failing at this point. Hope that you have backed up your data and you still have warranty for that hard drive. =)

t.mc · Answer

Thanks to all--I think that this message on some but not all bootups was in fact a sign of a hard drive nearing failure. In any case couldn't bear to take the risk, so I bought a new computer. The fact that the phenomenon was intermittent, I think, implies that something mechanical was going on. A software problem, such as a corrupted dll, would have produced consistent behavior. Or so, at least, is my intuition. Just as an academic matter, and to satisfy my curiosity, I would love to hear from anybody who has undergone the same trials, and what your own conclusion has been.

doods79 · Answer

Hi peeps!  Try downloading the flash bios update for your specific system. You can find this at the premiersupport.dell.com website or the support.dell.com site. After you flash the BIOS you shouldnt be getting that  message anymore!

Storage, Drives & Media

"press DEL to continue"

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