laptop keeps shutting down when trying to install windows

Hello,

I have a inspiron 710M. Every time i try installing windows, my laptop shuts down. I have the recovery CD from Dell.

When i ran the diagnostics test, its giving me "DST short test" failed message. I have checked my hard disk and there is no problem. I have formatted my drive and every single time i try to install windows, it shuts down at different times but never lets me install.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

 

That error usually means your drive is failing. How did you check your HD, in another unit? Have you checked the CMOS battery? Do you have a version of windows on your lappy now, have you tried a repair install?

 

DST stands for drive self test. If you got a DST error, you more than likely have a bad hard drive.

Though not impossible, that in and of itself should not shut the system down however, so there is likely another issue.

 

I had a Dell in for repair last week - (1525 or something) and it had a similar issue.

"shutting down" in my case was physically turning off.

Initially, I thought of it being a heat issue which is what normally would be the cause in it turning off but the fans were clear, heat sink gunk was fine and generally, it was running cool.

After putting my ear near the drive, I could hear the distinctive drive on its way out noise.
Despite it having a fairly new (under 1 year old) western digital drive (a make I very strongly go with), it was indeed the drive that had gone.

I changed the drive and everything fired up perfectly.

BUT, to add to this, the dell bundled media was also bad and would only go half way so I ended up doing a clean install

 

Use the HDD manufacturer's bootable diagnostic disc - SeaTools if it's Seagate, and run a short and long test. If errors kick out again, try the repair tools on the disc. If you're lucky, it'll just be a chkdsk error, but I'd consider replacing it if it's your primary drive, especially if it's still under warranty.