On power-up, system stops at blinking cursor

Question

I really appreciate any help you may have to offer on this issue... I have a new Inspiron 1420 running Vista Home. Yesterday, when I opened Microsoft Word, I received a blue screen error that appeared and disappeared so quickly that I could not read the message it displayed. Then, the computer restarted. Now, on every start-up, the computer displays the Dell logo. The percentage complete bar finishes loading. Then, the screen goes black and displays a blinking cursor at the top left. I cannot access Windows or the desktop. I have tried pressing F8 repeatedly on start-up to load the computer in safe mode, but the computer does not seem to respond to this input. Diagnostics tests seem to be okay. I can access the F2 and F12 menus, but booting from the hard drive just leads me to the blinking cursor, and loading to the Vista CD does the same. Thanks so much in advance for your help!

RoHe · Answer

If the system is still under warranty, contact Dell Tech Support for assistance. Are you sure you're booting from the Vista disk, or is it still trying to boot from the hard drive? Ron

savz · Answer

hey... i have the exact same problem that you have... were you able to fix it? if so could you please let me know what you did? thank you so much

DELL-Jesse L · Answer

Kevindp,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

Try booting to the windows disk and choosing a Repair Install to see if that will resolve the issue. If not, you may need to format and reinstall Windows.

savz · Answer

thing is it won't even read the OS cd... so how would i format and reinstall windows

RoHe · Answer

Put the Windows CD in the drive and reboot, then quickly press F12.  Select 'Boot from CD' from that menu. Ron

RoHe · Answer

OK, then try this. Reboot and press F2 to open BIOS setup. Change the Boot Sequence to put the CD drive first. Put the Windows OS disk in the drive, save the change and exit setup.

If still no go, contact Dell Tech Support if your system is under warranty...

Ron

savz · Answer

thats what i'm saying... i did that and it says hit any key to begin but it doesnt do anything when i do that

savz · Answer

so i did the startup repair and it says that all the tests were completed successfully... where do i go from here

RoHe · Answer

If you still have the same problem, contact Dell Tech Support, assuming your system is still under warranty. Ron

Windows General

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