UNSOLVED
Won't start up
I have a
dimension 8200 that a friend gave me. When I turn it on all it does cycle through the Dell screen, an option screen that asks "safe mode, safe mode command prompt etc." then a quick blue screen that I can't stop to read. Over and over and over.
When I go into the boot menu it says there isn't a cd rom drive installed for some reason. I have tried changing the boot order, I have swaped IDE cables, I have checked jumpers, I have tried different hard drives.
Dell support tells me it may be the power supply. But I don't see how that could be.
Any suggestions?
shesagordie
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Posted September 25th, 2007 18:00
Bluesfan
How to run the Dell Diagnostics Utility.
Dell uses the 'Cable Select' jumper setting for the hard drives.
Bev.
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Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.
Message Edited by shesagordie on 09-25-2007 02:13 PMshesagordie
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Posted September 25th, 2007 20:00
Bluesfan
There's no such thing as a Dell hard drive, Dell uses the same retail brands of hard drives, that can be purchased from any computer vendor.
A USB key, is a USB memory flash drive, see here
Bev.
===================================================
Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.- If you are getting a blue screen, the PC is trying to boot into Windows but getting an error. If the option to boot from the Last Known Good Configuration is available, try using that. What have you tried besides swapping hard drives?Have you tried changing the hard drive cable?It sounds as if you have several different problems going on. The best approach would be to handle the simple ones first.First, start with the CD-ROM drive. Why? If you need to install an OS, this is the easiest way. Check the BIOS settings and verify that the motherboard is detecting it. Make sure that the IDE interface is enabled. Plug the CD into another PC to verify that it works. Try changing its IDE cable. Then try using the CD drive from another PC.It is possible that the IDE interface is broken.If you can get the CD working, move on to getting the system to boot. Get (or make) a bootable OS on a CD, like Knoppix ( http://www.knoppix.com). Knoppix has a bootable Linux image that can be downloaded and burned to a CD. Useful for diagnosing hardware problems. Put the Knoppix CD in the CD drive and boot from the CD. Try accessing the hard drive.Good luck!
- It gives the last known configuration option in the list of safe mode, safe mode command prompt etc. I have tried all of the options listed.Also, I have tried different IDE cables, different hard drives, replaced a power ide cable, checked jumpers, changing the boot order.I will focus on the cd rom drive and get it going.Let me know if you have any more suggestions.Thanks.
- Once you have the CD working, you can download the Dell Diagnostics Utility for the 8200 from Dell's support site. With all the options that you have tried out, it sounds like the hard drive is fine. Run the diagnostics and see if the problem is elsewhere, like in memory. If the problems continue, you may have to remove the memory and disconnect as much hardware as possible to figure what is causing the problem.If you get to this point, install and test each item individually so that you can identify the cause of the problem. If you still cannot get it to boot from either the hard drive or the CD, the problem may be somewhere in the motherboard or the power supply. If the power supply is not supplying enough voltage to the motherboard or the hard drive, the system will not be able to boot up. If the CD works in another PC, this could be a sign that power is not getting to the CD.
ejn63
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Posted September 25th, 2007 01:00