Unknown issue I assume it's hardware.

I have a Dell XPS 410/9700 desktop. Recently in the last month or so I will wake up and my computer was on when I went to sleep, but I get up and it's like it's in sleep mode but it won't turn back on. I restart it and then I proceed to hear a sequence of beeps(clicks) as it's booting up and it won't get past the BIOS/DOS screens. The beeps go 6-2-2-6-6-2-2. It then just sits on the start up screen saying "no boot device available". Eventually with just random tinkering (bare in mind I'm very computer illiterate) it will boot up. But it seems to be doing it more frequently. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

It sounds like you may have a failing HD. Often when they first start to go they will occasionally not be recognized by BIOS hence the "no boot device" message. This generally becomes more frequent and then the drive completely fails. If you have files you want to save you should make a copy now on another device USB flash or external hard drive depending on how much you want to backup.

You can test the HD using the manufacturer's diagnostic utility. Try going to My Computer and right-clicking on the C: drive and selecting Properties. Under the Hardware tab give the model number or if you recognize the manufacturer (probably Western Digital or Seagate) give that name and we can point you to the diag utility.

 

Seconded on all counts. New HD time.

 

I went there and this is what it said WDC WD2500JS-75NCB3. So assume it's Western Digital like you guessed because of the WD in it twice.

 

Yes, try their diagnostic program. Be sure to run the extended/long test and note if it finds any errors. If it is just a few it will try to fix them which usually works well. If it has lots of errors it will recommend replacing the drive.

 

Thank you for the help. I will give this a try. Hmmm the 2 majorgeek links are giving me 404 broken, and the 3rd is not working either.

 

Try WesternDigital's page
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?lang=en

I've sent an email to Tim reporting the 3 bad links and the different errors for that particular download.