Dell xps won't boot

[hwally]

I have a Dell XPS gen 5 running XP. When I try to start it I get a brief view of the Dell screen with set up and boot options then it goes to a black screen with a multicolored band off to the right. This computer belonged to a recently passed friend and I'd like to get it up and running if possible. I press f2 and set up changes to entering set up but nothing happens, same with f8, f12 or any other f. I don't have the XP install CD. If I hit ctrl-alt-del I get the Dell screen which turns to the black screen. I live out of the US and am not near any technicians so I'd like to see if I can recover this with your expert help. Thank you.

[RobbieG1977]

I am a little confused. You say it won't boot but yet you say something happens when you press control alt del.

Is this the PC your friend gave you?

There should be an LED light near the bottom right of your monitor. What happens before your screen goes to black. Does that light stay green or does it go to orange.

Do you hear any noise coming from any of the devices including the power supply?

I would first try replacing the video card.

[hwally]

When I say it won't boot I mean it won't boot up windows. When I turn it on I get the Dell logo with f2 setup and f12 boot menu displayed in the upper right hand corner. That's as far as I get. The moving line that indicates it's loading finishes then the screen goes black with the multicolored line on the right side. At this point I can hit Ctrl alt del and the dell screen reappears and then goes to black. The monitor light is green, it's red when it's off. I can hear the fans start when I push the button to start the computer. My computer is the one you had the link to. I installed another video card with the same results, the line is still on the right hand side.

[hwally]

Just to be clear, the light on the monitor stays green from when the computer starts until I turn the computer off with the power button.

[glc]

Can you press F12 and get into diagnostics? If not, you have a hardware failure, very likely the hard drive.

[hwally]

Nothing happens when I click on f 12 or f2 or anything. I talked to the sister of the person who had this computer and they thought the computer may have had a trojan, No more info than that. I took the hard drive out and tried accessing cmos no luck. I have an old dell laptop with out a hard drive and cmos still works on it. I have puppy linux installed on ram with a usb flash drive as backup. I can still access cmos on the laptop but not the desk top. I have the manual for the desktop (XPS) and tried resetting the cmos back to default, there is a cmos jumper on the mother board, once again, no luck. I also tried removing the battery from the motherboard and nothing changed. Still no access when I click f2. I've tried booting puppy linux from cd and flash drive but nothing happens. I have other computers I'd just like to have the experience of solving this problem and learning many fine things along the way. Thank you for all responses. They are all valued and appreciated.

[glc]

Does that model Dell have A-B-C-D diagnostic lights? If so, note their state and look the codes up in a Dell service manual. The should ALL be green after a successful POST.

Disconnect ALL drives, remove all cards except the video card, pull all but 1 stick of ram, and see if you can get into the bios.

[hwally]

Diagnostic lights 123 are lit. I have all drives and cards disconnected and only 1 stick of ram. The computer is still reacting the same. Don't give up I'm willing to go the distance. Thanks again this is the most professional and friiendly forum I've seen.

[glc]

Try it with all your sticks of ram, one at a time, trying each slot. If still no good, do you have a spare video card to test with? Do you have a spare power supply to test with? If you rule all those out, the motherboard is probably shot.

[hwally]

I connected another older desktop to the monitor I had the dell connected to (an ATVIO) and got the same results ending up with the black screen with the multi-colored band off to the right. I got out an antique Sony monitor hooked it up to the dell and was able to go into safe mode. While I was hooked up the monitor started turning to a shade of pink. I shut down the computer, disconnected the monitor and installed another video card, same results. I hooked up the other desktop to the sony monitor and it works fine, isn't pink. The ATVIO monitor was working fine until I hooked up the dell to it, in fact it was new. When I unplug the ATVIO monitor from the computer but leave it turned on the band goes away. It just won't work when connected to a computer. Do I have some sort of a short? What do you suggest I check to sort this problem out. By the way the ATVIO monitor is a multi function unit. It's basically a tv with multiple uses, it has a vga plug.

[hwally]

I finally got it in safe mode by hitting f1 and f8 at the same time. I still get the pop ups telling me I'm logged in with an account that doesn't have sufficient privileges to view...Anything. I can't access system restore. It keeps telling me to contact an administrator for assistance. I've tried various command prompts but keep getting the system error 5 has occurred. Access denied. I have administrative privileges in bios. How can I get them in XP? Why am I denied access in safe mode> I can only sign in as guest. When I go to control panel and user accounts it only shows guest and nothing happens when I click on guest. I know there is an answer out there. I thank you ahead of time for the right one. Keep up the great work.