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Computer won't boot

Sammz
Sammz Posts: 3,406 Forumite
I have a Dell Vostro 200 with Windows Vista. It's nearly 3 years old. I pulled out the plug the other night by mistake and since then I've not been able to get back in.

The DELL black/white screen sometimes has vertical white stripes on it which it didn't usually have. It then goes to the screen asking me if I want to start normally or do startup repair. Start normally just makes the screen go blank and nothing happens. Startup repair goes through it all then says it can't repair it.

I went in to the F2, F8 and F12 screens but don't know enough about them to do anything with. Once of them gave me the option of tests and I carried out a few. There was one error message about the optical drive not having anything in it. (I have a note of the exact message at home if needed).

I'd be grateful if anyone can offer suggestions as to what to do. I do have a netbook so can check replies in front of the PC later.
OD Girls On Tour
Barcelona 2008 - Dublin 2009
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Comments

  • prost
    prost Posts: 144 Forumite
    edited 15 June 2010 at 6:19PM
    A sudden power loss shouldn't be a problem. It sounds like there is possible motherboard damage, which is serious. Optical drives don't store any data since they're not hard drives.

    Either the motherboard is damaged, the hard drive is damaged, or both.

    Can you enter BIOS when the PC starts ?

    You may be able to take out the hard drive in your netbook(if it has one) & plug it inside your PC to see if the PC motherboard is ok. If that drive is SATA, & your PC has a SATA hard drive then you can do it. Your PC may have come with a spare SATA cable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SATA has a picture of it.

    If the netbook hard drive is ATA & not SATA, you could buy a 2.5 to 3.5 inch converter £2: http://www.amazool.com/en/25-inch-to-35-inch-laptop-ide-adapter.html
    to use it in the desktop PC. Ebay probably sell that connector.
  • Redqueen
    Redqueen Posts: 41 Forumite
    Sounds like some OS files may have corrupted due to the sudden loss of power. If the repair function it offers won't work then you could try to completely re-install from whatever recovery disk came with the computer. If there is a problem with the hard drive then it will fail to re-install again, and it's time to buy a new hard drive. Though since you said the computer is 3 years old it might be just as well to get yourself a new one!
    BSc (Hons) Computer Science (Games Development)
    ICT Technician in a school. Currently studying an MCSE course (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) Happy to help with your technical issues!
  • Sammz
    Sammz Posts: 3,406 Forumite
    Thanks both. Don't want to start messing about with the hardware so think I'll just treat myself to a new PC.
    OD Girls On Tour
    Barcelona 2008 - Dublin 2009
  • BostonMan
    BostonMan Posts: 12 Forumite
    It could be something as simple as the motherboard battery flat (it's usually a small silver disc type in a holder on the board). this battery maintains the bios settings.Some Mbrds will hold the bios settings even when the battery is gone as long as the power is connected. So before lashing out on a new machine I suggest you go into the bios and check the settings. this is usually achieved by holding down the delete key while you switch on but with Dell it could be anything as could the settings. I have heard that Dell customer support are quite good, you could try phoning them concerning the settings. Good luck.
  • Dear Sammz,

    Sorry to hear about your tales of woe with your computer not booting. This may be as simple as some corrupted files, so not quite the time to splash out on a new machine just yet!

    If you can connect the drive to another computer, say a desktop, as an additional drive, then windows will usually repair it for you. If you have a Windows XP machine to hand, then I can offer you further diagnostic tools which will likely repair this disk for you. PM me and I will be happy to help if I can.

    Regards


    Simon.
  • phxweb
    phxweb Posts: 99 Forumite
    Lots of conflicting advice on the problem above. Before 'treating your self to a new one why not spend £25 getting the machine diagnosed properly by your friendly IT Guy ?
  • closed
    closed Posts: 10,886 Forumite
    If you pulled out the power, you've probably caused a corruption somewhere, which costs nothing to fix (read or download the manual), restore to factory settings will resolve it, but you will lose all your data, so need to transfer it first. A new pc is an extreme resolution to this problem
    !!
    > . !!!! ----> .
  • Sammz
    Sammz Posts: 3,406 Forumite
    Thanks. I'll maybe have a look at it a bit more. I don't even know what a motherboard looks like though. I didn't get a recovery disk and couldn't find the option to restore to factory settings. I can get in to the BIOS but don't know what it is.
    OD Girls On Tour
    Barcelona 2008 - Dublin 2009
  • Browntoa
    Browntoa Posts: 49,501 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 16 June 2010 at 8:18PM
    Windows Vista: Dell Factory Image Restore
    Using Factory Image Restore:

    1 Turn on the computer. When the Dell logo appears, press <F8> several
    times to access the Vista Advanced Boot Options Window.
    2 select Repair Your Computer.





    The System Recovery Options window appears.
    3 Select a keyboard layout and click Next
    4 To access the recovery options, log on as a local user. To access the



    command prompt, type

    administrator in the User name field, then
    click

    OK.
    5 Click Dell Factory Image Restore.



    NOTE:

    Depending upon your configuration, you may need to select Dell
    Factory Tools

    , then Dell Factory Image Restore.
    The Dell Factory Image Restore welcome screen appears.
    6 Click Next.





    The Confirm Data Deletion screen appears.
    NOTICE:



    If you do not want to proceed with Factory Image Restore, click Cancel.
    7 Click the checkbox to confirm that you want to continue reformatting the



    hard drive and restoring the system software to the factory condition, then
    click



    Next.
    The restore process begins and may take five or more minutes to complete.
    A message appears when the operating system and factory-installed

    applications have been restored to factory condition.




    8 Click Finish to reboot the system.



    http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/vos200/en/slim_tower/om_en/pdf/PK009A01.pdf
    page 95-96
    Ex forum ambassador

    Long term forum member
  • closed
    closed Posts: 10,886 Forumite
    do you need any of the data on the disk?
    !!
    > . !!!! ----> .
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