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    i9300 won't boot-black screen & cursor

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by OhSoCheesy, Jan 2, 2009.

  1. OhSoCheesy

    OhSoCheesy Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi All,
    I've been having issues since I put Vista on this system, which I have now downgraded back to XP Home. Before I was getting catastrophic crashes that would not allow me to get into windows or even safe mode. Repair wouldn't do anything to help...only a complete reinstall. After that happening a few times I changed the hard drive thinking its corrupting a file;3 drives later it is still dying, but with a different symptom. 3 weeks ago I put the new drive in and installed XP Home. Today after POST, it boots to a black screen with a flashing cursor in the top left side of the screen. Repair doesn't help. Last time only changing the drive helped. Western Digital Tools says the old drive is bad, but it works fine in an external enclosure (which all of them have worked fine outside of the laptop). Memory has been tested with Memtest86 and is fine. Do you think it is a motherboard issue?

    I'm kind of losing my mind. Any ideas? I don't have any problem getting a new laptop, but I'd like to at least get this one for backup. Thanks for any help!

    PS I hope this isn't rambling too much!
     
    OhSoCheesy, Jan 2, 2009
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  2. OhSoCheesy

    OhSoCheesy Notebook Enthusiast

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    Sorry, I thought my sig was showing.
    system is a Dell Inspiron 9300, 2.1Ghz Pentium M, nVidia 6800go 256mb,
    2GB Kingston Ram, Windows XP Home updated to SP4.

    Oh, and I've scanned for viruse/spyware with 4 different scanners with no issues.
     
    OhSoCheesy, Jan 2, 2009
    #2
  3. atbnet

    atbnet Notebook Prophet

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    Will it boot to the Windows install CD? Have you tried reseating the hard drive?
     
    atbnet, Jan 2, 2009
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  4. OhSoCheesy

    OhSoCheesy Notebook Enthusiast

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    yes it boots to the cd, but after trying to repair it reboots the black screen. If I try to install windows, during its first reboot I go straight to the black screen. HD and Memory are reseated as is the miniPCI WiFi card.
    Thanks!
     
    OhSoCheesy, Jan 2, 2009
    #4
  5. liustephen

    liustephen Newbie

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    i have the same problem, using an inspiron 6000.

    anyone have any thoughts/answers??

    thanks. stephen
     
    liustephen, Jan 29, 2009
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  6. OhSoCheesy

    OhSoCheesy Notebook Enthusiast

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    I installed Ubuntu 8.1 and have not had any problems since. I can't game anymore, but at least it works without having to keep wiping the HD and reinstalling Windows every few weeks. Still hoping someone else has some clue. Anyone??
     
    OhSoCheesy, Jan 29, 2009
    #6