XPS 8300, displays white or black screen

Did you run the diagnostics to see if hardware has failed?

Time to start thinking about a new computer.

Is that the Dell diagnostics? Will try that as well. I must admit I had been thinking of upgrading quite soon anyway. Pity the new range of XPS don't offer the same range of customising the PC as they did in the 8300 days.

Version of Windows?

In addition to running diagnostics, test this monitor on different PC or different monitor on this PC.

Do you have an add-in (AMD or NVidia) video card or only use Intel HD Graphics 2000? If you have an add-in video card, physically remove the add-in card (see service manual) and connect the monitor to either the onboard VGA or HDMI port. See if that works. NOTE: Unless/until an add-in video card is removed, the onboard video ports will be disabled.

If that doesn't help, consider overheating or possibly a power supply issue. So make sure all fans are clean, turn freely and are working. Use canned air to blow out all the dust from motherboard, fans, heat sink, case vents, etc.

Then consider that the thermal paste between heat sink and CPU dried out and has to be replaced. Service manual shows how to remove/install heat sink and lots of youtubes on cleaning top of CPU and bottom of heat sink and applying new thermal paste. NOTE: Do not remove CPU from its socket.

I did try my old Dell monitor on the 8300 when it had stopped booting up and since. Before I swapped the graphics card over there was still no display. And now I am getting all be it intermittent access to windows it has shut down on the other monitor as well. So I think the monitor is ok. I have backed all my files over the years once I realised how risky Raid 0 is. I am a bit surprised that Dell sold them set up like that! 

Pleased that compatability mode works. As in the past with windows never found it that great!

Have you verified your monitor isn't the problem? Do that before going any further. Test it on another PC or a different monitor on this PC, using the exact same video ports on PC and monitor as when you see the problem.

Are all the drivers up-to-date, especially the video drivers? With the old card semi-working, I'd start by updating the video driver and chipset driver first. Drivers on Dell's support page are not recent, so go to the Intel Download Center and use its app to scan your hardware for updated drivers, and install those, if any.

Then go to either the AMD or NVidia website and look for updated drivers for whatever video card is currently installed.

And it still might just be overheating, either CPU or GPU, or RAM.

RAID0 is very risky, so back up all your personal files on external media ASAP!

And you'd be surprised what apps will run under Win 10 64-bit. After you install an old app, set its compatibility mode in Win 10 to run like it would under an earlier OS, eg Win 7. I have apps installed and working normally on this Win 10 PC that were originally released for Win XP and for Win 95.

Might also be a failing power supply, if not heat issues...

Could a failing PSU kill a graphics card as the one fitted originally is now completely dead! And this older one I have fitted works but still crashes without warning! I left it on this afternoon and it was still on when I came in some hours later. Moved the mouse to open a file and it rebooted!

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@Fly-Catchers wrote:

Could a failing PSU kill a graphics card as the one fitted originally is now completely dead! And this older one I have fitted works but still crashes without warning! I left it on this afternoon and it was still on when I came in some hours later. Moved the mouse to open a file and it rebooted!

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If it's over- or under-powering the GPU, it could. 

Or the GPU is over-heating.  Are all the fans working? You could install something like Speccy (free) and minimize it to taskbar to monitor CPU, GPU and HDD temps. Just mouse over the icon on the taskbar

That crash might be a video driver issue. Have you reinstalled (updated) the video driver?

You still haven't told us if you ran the diagnostics from the F12 menu.

Without proper diagnostic equipment, you won't be able to test the PSU.

Are you able to test the same "image or video options" in Safe Mode?

And I'd consider heat issues before replacing PSU, CPU etc. 

Had not tried diagnostics in F12 till today. All tests came up ok apart from hard drive 1 which failed with status 79. Error code 2000-01 42 validation 8105 So guess that is the culprit? 

You cannot use the video or photo options in safe mode. 

Is HDD 1 your boot drive or just a storage drive?

If it's the boot drive, you have to replace it now. If it's just storage, open the case and disconnect its SATA data cable from the motherboard and reboot. If it boots, the PC is usable but you will have to replace the HDD.  Hope the files on that HDD are backed up elsewhere.

And replace the motherboard battery while you're in there. CR2032 3-volt coin cell battery, ~$2.

Will try that but as I mentioned the setup is using RaidO which might complicate matters!

I don't recall getting a Microsoft Windows 7 disc when I got the computer from Dell. But a restore disc. Could that be used to install windows on another hard drive do you think? I did back up all my files some while back and I have tended to keep more recent photos on external drives rather than the PC.

Oh, I forgot this is RAID0.  I'm afraid you're in deep because of RAID0, and all your files are gone. Good that you have at least some files up on external media.

You can remove the bad drive, do a clean install on the remaining good drive without RAID. That recovery disc probably can be used to reinstall Win 7, but...Microsoft stopped supporting Win 7 so you won't be able to get any of the updates or fixes released after that disc was created, meaning your Win 7 installation will be full of unpatched security holes.

You may still be able to get Win 10 for free, as long as there's a readable Microsoft Win 7 Product Key label on the PC. You'll have to create a bootable USB stick with the Win 10 installer on it and use that to install Win 10.

Plug the USB into PC while it's off. Then power on and tap F12 at the Dell splash screen to open the menu. Choose the option to boot from USB and follow the prompts. Enter the Win 7 Product Key when a key is requested.

Once Win 10 is installed and fully updated, install your apps. You could then get another HDD to replace the bad one and use it either for storage or backup

An alternative is to install an SSD and install Win 10 on it, and use the remaining good HDD for storage or backup (as long as it still passes the diagnostics!). Crucial and others offer SSDs that are compatible with the XPS 8300.