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General discussion

dell 545s black screen

Jun 3, 2013 3:21AM PDT

Discussion is locked

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Usually by diagnosis
Jun 3, 2013 3:37AM PDT
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black screen
Jun 3, 2013 7:01AM PDT

I opened the case and there was a little dust not much i cleaned it but still see the black screen with cursor

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Ahh the classic cursor of the zombie PC.
Jun 3, 2013 7:12AM PDT
https://www.google.com/search?as_q=pc+with+blinking+cursor finds this is a fairly common failure. However it is rarely always the same thing. Try reading a few and see if prior discussions help.

My favorite repeating cause is something plugged into the USB ports. I always try it with nothing in the ports or the CD/DVD drive.
Bob
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black screen
Jun 3, 2013 7:36AM PDT

when i press f2 bios cmos set up utility comes up i can enter bios

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Can be a failed, unplugged HDD?
Jun 3, 2013 7:39AM PDT

Since you have the case open, with the power off, check both cables on the HDD. One is from/to the PSU and HDD, the other is the SATA cable to/from the HDD and motherboard.

Just be sure it's snug. Try again, listen to the HDD for it's usual spin up noise.
Bob

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screen cursor
Jun 3, 2013 8:07AM PDT

when it turns on i hear noise and the power light and there is anther light that is at the bottom they are on as usual like it always has been

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But
Jun 3, 2013 8:08AM PDT

Is the HDD spinning and did you do the checks I noted?
Is the HDD listed in the BIOS?

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reset cmos
Jun 3, 2013 8:09AM PDT

i'm trying to find out how to reset cmos in bios

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I read the manual
Jun 3, 2013 8:15AM PDT

And if you can get to the BIOS screen it appears to have a "load defaults" option. Let's hope that helps.
Bob

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phoenix bios
Jun 3, 2013 8:42AM PDT

i selected load default it said yes or no i selected yes and the screen blinked off real quick i exited it asked me to save i did and restarted my computer. that didn't work and i went into SATA there is something next to it i think it's the hard drive

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windows disc
Jun 3, 2013 8:46AM PDT

when i bought the computer it had windows vista it came with the option to update to windows 7

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Not sure if that helps.
Jun 3, 2013 8:56AM PDT

It's a common symptom so the most common is a failed HDD. It could be a corrupted OS but you have choices to make.
Bob

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bios
Jun 3, 2013 9:39AM PDT
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disc
Jun 3, 2013 11:52AM PDT

i do have the re-installation disc but its for vista just found it. when i bought the computer i had the option to upgrade to windows 7 which i did

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upgrade disc only
Jun 3, 2013 1:42PM PDT

There are two disc one is orange its used for upgrade only and another disc windows 7 upgrade assistant i don't think i'm able to repair from that disc

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Do any of the CD/DVDs boot?
Jun 4, 2013 1:20AM PDT

We don't need to do more than boot these for a test I do at a shop.

It could be a badd HDD or just a boot area corruption. If you boot up some Live CD (too many to list here so a link about it) you sometimes can see the HDD and its content.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_live_CDs

Bob

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no boot
Jun 4, 2013 3:53AM PDT

I tried to use the upgrade assistant disc it went to the black screen i can't enter safe mode when i press f8

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have you tried booting
Jun 4, 2013 3:59AM PDT

the Vista re-installation disc first?

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So the F8 or F5 shows a menu or other?
Jun 4, 2013 4:00AM PDT

That's a good sign there is hope for this HDD.

There are many discs to try. I would be guessing you tried just one.

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It's a Dell. You can usually use this prior discussion.
Jun 4, 2013 4:04AM PDT
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black screen
Jun 4, 2013 4:06AM PDT

there is no menu when pressing f8 the only buttons i can press are f2 and f12 i haven't tried the vista re-installation disc am i able to use it on windows 7?

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Yes
Jun 4, 2013 4:08AM PDT

that's the original and you should use it first

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This sounds as if the boot area of the HDD or
Jun 4, 2013 4:16AM PDT

This sounds like the boot area of the HDD is "blown" or the HDD has failed.

By booting any of the Live CDs I can look to see if the HDD and it's content shows. This test tells me what I should try next. Also, if I can access the owner's files this means we can copy out what they didn't backup.

If there are files, folders and such, I could use EASYBCD to rebuild the boot areas. But until we do the diagnostic boot of a live CD/DVD we don't know what is our next step.
Bob

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black screen with blinking underscore
Jun 4, 2013 6:29AM PDT

I inserted the windows vista disc it didn't boot the black screen appeared

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leave the Vista disc in and reboot
Jun 4, 2013 6:38AM PDT

when it restarts , immediately start tapping the f12 key until it starts bringing up the boot menu, than select boot from disc

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(NT) P.S. You must use the arrow keys at this point
Jun 4, 2013 6:40AM PDT
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bios
Jun 4, 2013 7:03AM PDT

i am in the boot menu which do i select i don't see boot from disc http://tinypic.com/r/3163oex/5 i forgot to mention last year a new hard drive was installed and the shop did a clean install of windows 7

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select CDROM
Jun 4, 2013 7:06AM PDT

but yes you failed to mention that, this will install Vista and than you can install Win 7 upgrade

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(NT) Select the boot from CDROM option
Jun 4, 2013 7:10AM PDT
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boot
Jun 4, 2013 7:24AM PDT

will i lose all my files?