Could someone more in the know that I help me troubleshoot a critical problem with my Dell Dimension 8100? I'm trying to figure out whether my problem is likely a failed hard drive or something more serious.
Problem: The machine failed to boot when I powered it up yesterday. The Dell startup routine displays as ususal, but Windows XP does not load. I just get a blank, black screen with the cursor blinking in the upper left corner.
What I've tried: (1) I made a Windows XP boot disk, put it in my internal floppy drive, and turned the machine on. It boots to an A-prompt showing the machine recognizes the A drive. When I attempt to access the hard drive by entering C: I get "invalid drive specification." I get the same result when I try to access the CD-R/W and DVD devices. However, when I power up the machine I do get LED displays on the CD-R/W and DVD devices. (2) I have gone into the setup menu, set the boot sequence to boot from the CD-R/W drive, and placed a bootable CD in the drive. The machine does ot boot. (3) I have removed the cover, turned on the machine, and touched the hard drive to check for vibration. No vibration.
I am concerned about the "invalid drive specification" messages above when I try to access the hard drive and CD-R/W and DVD drives. Does that suggest something other than a hard drive failure?
Anyone out there want to hazard a guess as to what my problem is?
Problem: The machine failed to boot when I powered it up yesterday. The Dell startup routine displays as ususal, but Windows XP does not load. I just get a blank, black screen with the cursor blinking in the upper left corner.
What I've tried: (1) I made a Windows XP boot disk, put it in my internal floppy drive, and turned the machine on. It boots to an A-prompt showing the machine recognizes the A drive. When I attempt to access the hard drive by entering C: I get "invalid drive specification." I get the same result when I try to access the CD-R/W and DVD devices. However, when I power up the machine I do get LED displays on the CD-R/W and DVD devices. (2) I have gone into the setup menu, set the boot sequence to boot from the CD-R/W drive, and placed a bootable CD in the drive. The machine does ot boot. (3) I have removed the cover, turned on the machine, and touched the hard drive to check for vibration. No vibration.
I am concerned about the "invalid drive specification" messages above when I try to access the hard drive and CD-R/W and DVD drives. Does that suggest something other than a hard drive failure?
Anyone out there want to hazard a guess as to what my problem is?