Dell Vostro 200 conventional tower. I press the power button, there's a beep, the screen shows the Dell splash screen with F2 = setup and F12 = and hangs there. Pressing F2, F12 or anything else does nothing. I've HD failures on other PCs and usually it gets a step or two beyond this point such as showing the Windows screen or indicating a missing or failed HD. This seems to be a failure prior to addressing the HD. What could it be?

Dell support says to check for the power light [yes, I also hear the fan surge when first turned on] then check for POST [no POST progress bar]. If no POST progress bar, disconnect all peripherals except for the monitor, keyboard and mouse [disconnected printer and 2 external HDs, still won't boot; disconnected keyboard and mouse, still won't boot]. Next suggestion is to call Dell support.

Thanks,
Sixto
87 300D

Sounds like a failed HD...if the HD with the boot sector is corrupt then it will not load an OS. The workaround is to throw in a floppy disk or CD with a boot disk on it (like a linux distro) and change your bios settings to hit the CD/floppy as a higher boot priority. That way you can boot from the floppy/cd instead of the bad HD. You usually need a total reformat, a new HD or new PSU, speaking from experience.

Edit: sorry initially misread. I would recommend a floppy/CD boot disk regardless. If you can't get that far then it is the power supply or motherboard, both of which Dell skimp on quality. Sometimes you can short the BIOS chip or do a similar action via taking out the motherboard battery (button type). Other than that you're looking at a new motherboard (probably new PC at that age)

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Probably something along the skimping on quality line. I removed and refit the memory cards, drive data and power cables. It booted! I remember getting this PC before Christmas and that Vista was an option I declined. Must be 3 years old then and about its life expectancy.

Sixto
87 300D

I know you don't know me, but I live in the bay area too, and am looking for a Dell of that vintage to help out some struggling friends.

If you decide to upgrade and are willing to sell it off affordably let me know. I just need the box, not the monitor, etc. The people on CL are creepy.

Are you creepy?

__________________
For the Saved, this world is the worst it will ever get.
For the unSaved, this world is the best it will ever get.

Clk's Ebay Stuff BUY SOMETHING NOW!!!

I have a Dell Latitude D800 (laptop) with a dead screen. Works with an external monitor. Can you work with that?

Sixto
87 300D

I've probably bought and sold 50 items on CL. I've also let apartments solely from Craigslist ads. Actually, the creep and idiot quotient is much lower on Craigslist than on sites like EBay. And you can generally tell if someone's a spaz by talking to them on the phone before going there.

Thanks, but I am working with trying to salvage their desktop without losing their programs and am chasing the proper chipset.

Spdrun, I agree with you about flea-bay, it's why I haven't looked there. But CL must be better in NYC than on this coast. I'm not saying it is all creeps, but there are some and perhaps I'm just good at finding them.

Eh, I'll restate what I said before about CL being creepy...


http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/open-discussion/310104-guy-wants-refund-craigslist-item.html

Probably a bad memory chip