Hard drive won't boot

I have a Dell Inspiron 530s desktop running Windows XP and when I hit the 'on' button, the fan comes on real loud, the monitor turns on, and the hard disk light briefly lights up... then nothing. The fan keeps on running but it never boots up. I've tried hitting the function keys and the delete key while turning it on, to no avail. The computer is about 2 years old and I've had zero problems with it so far, it's in use several hours every day. All I get is the opening screen that has the "Dell" logo and "BIOS Revision 1.0.5" on it. Any suggestions?

 

Enter the BIOS (also called 'setup') by pressing F2 when the Dell logo comes up. Poke around the BIOS and see if the hard drive is recognized, and check the boot order to be sure the hard drive is listed first, or second after the CD drive. If the hard drive is 'seen' in the BIOS, visit the manufacturer's web site (not Dell) and download their diagnostic tool. The BIOS should give you the model of the hard drive; write it down and run a Google search on the model number. That will tell you who made it. If the model number starts with ST it's Seagate, WD is Western Digital, HT or IC is Hitachi, etc. Once you've downloaded the diagnostic tool, follow the steps to create a bootable diagnostic CD (also at the manufacturer's web site). Boot to it and run the extended or 'advanced' test. It will take some time. If the drive passes the test, but doesn't load to Windows, then something else is afoot.... let us know what happens and we'll do our best to help.

Good luck!

 

Hey dlb, thanks very much for your quick reply! Unfortunately, F2 does nothing when I turn the machine on. The Dell logo comes up but it's like the keyboard provides no input (I've checked the connections and they are all good.) Pushing the CD-ROM button will pop out the CD-ROM tray, is it possible to get the machine to boot up using a disk of some type? (I don't have a boot disk.)

 

:confused Do you have a PS2 keyboard (round connector) or a USB keyboard (flat rectangular connector)? If it's the USB type, borrow or buy a std PS2 keyboard. You can get 'em used at thrift shops for $5 or less, same at used PC stores. However, some newer Dell PCs do not have PS2 ports, so check first. So pressing F2 does nothing? If trying a different keyboard does not work (even if it's the same type of connector) then there's a good chance that something is very wrong. Unplug the power cord, open the PC, and unplug the power cable and data cable from the hard drive, then plug it back in and power up with the hard drive completely disconnected. You should get an error like "Primary Hard Disk not found". If not, then you may want to take the PC to a repair shop, or, if you have extra memory sticks (or more than one installed) try swapping around to see if there's a difference. Bad memory can cause numerous issues.... as far as using a boot disk, you can create a UBCD4Win but it requires a Windows install disc; with it, you can't build the CD. You can try a bootable Linux build like Knoppix. Burn the downloaded .ISO file to CD you must burn it as an image and not as regular data; using ImgBurn to burn the file is a good idea if you're not familiar with burning ISO image files because with ImgBurn it's almost impossible to burn an ISO incorrectly. Then boot to the newly created CD and you'll get a functional Linux desktop that runs from the CD. This can at least tell you if the PC is more-or-less functional, and will also allow you to browse the hard drive to see if it's being recognized by the PC (be sure to hook it up again if you disconnected it earlier, and do so with the PC power cord unplugged).

GOOD LUCK!

 

Okay, great-- I have lots to try now! Thanks for getting back to me (again). It is a USB connector, I'll have to look and see what other ports I have. I have another computer (obviously!) and will try connecting that keyboard to it. I'll also try the other things you mentioned. Could it be a bad power supply? Even with the fan and CD/DVD drive working?

 

Yup... I have seen all kinds of weirdness caused by bad power supplies.... PCs are strange creatures. LOL

 

Maybe it's providing enough juice for the fan and optical drive, but not the other stuff.

It could also be bad RAM. On my old computer, it froze at the BIOS screen due to fried RAM.

 

Thanks, Aimee and dlb. I'll start working on checking these things. I'll get back to you ASAP on what I found...

 

Success! After a number of steps, my Dell is working again! Okay, here's what I did. First, after dlb's suggestion, I plugged my Dell keyboard into a USB port on my other computer and it worked fine. So it must've had something to do with the computer, not the keyboard. I opened the case and vacuumed out the dust (not much, I've only had it less than 2 years...) and pressed all the connectors and memory sticks into their sockets firmly, to make sure they were connected well. As I was doing this, I was on the phone with Dell tech support. The tech there said it sounded to him like a bad motherboard, power supply, or RAM stick. So, remembering what Aimee said, I took him up on the offer to renew my warranty ($178 on 'special') which would cover replacement of any faulty parts as well as in-home service if it needed it, for one year. When I turned on the computer to describe exactly what it did to the tech, it worked! So, something must've been loose or dirty, and in cleaning it, I fixed it. I don't have 100% confidence it will not recur, however, so I'm glad I renewed the warranty. Anyway, they updated my BIOS and fixed a couple of minor software issues, and now it's running perfectly! Thank you guys for your help and expertise, and good luck in the future.