Resolved Cleaning Created Problem

As a result of cleaning the insides of my computer, I now get the following screen after the Dell splash screen and prior to boot up (presumably caused when I opened the case) :

When I select any of the three options above, here is the result:

Control I - Nothing happens
F2 Key - Goes into Setup Utility and when I exit the utility, normal boot up occurs.
F1 Key - Normal boot up occurs.

Not a huge problem becaues F1 gets me past the screen - but I would like to get rid of it. Before I opened the case again and started wiggling connections, thought I would run it through BBS for any suggestions.

If I have Drives 4 and 5, I wasn't aware of it. I do have a 1TB Maxtor external hard drive but I only connect it when I do a back up or image the hard drive.

 

Steve,

I gave it a go but it didn't change anything. I'll hang loose for a while and if I don't get any other suggestions I'll open the case again and see if I can really mess it up.

 

Agreed. If everything worked fine before cleaning, it should work fine after. This assumes you unplugged the computer from the wall, and discharged any static in your body by touching bare metal of the case before reaching in.

So I would unplug from the wall again, touch bare metal, and start following wires from the power supply to every device inside to make sure all wires are securely fastened. Each drive should have a power cable going back to the PSU and a data cable going to the motherboard - check both ends. Most motherboards today require a 20/24 pin main power connector AND another 4 or 8 (2x4) 12V power connector.

While in there, check your other power connections too. If you have a separate graphics card, many today require their own power connector.

Then close it up and reboot. This time, press the necessary key to enter the BIOS Setup Menu. Check to ensure your data and time are correct. Verify your drives are properly identified. Check the boot order to make sure the boot drive is first, or CD is first and the boot drive is second. Note if the CD is first, you will be prompted during the boot process to press a key to boot from CD. If you don't press a key in 2 or 3 seconds, it will timeout and move on the second boot device, your HD.

Then, as Steve noted above, press the key to "Save and Exit ", typically F10. If you just exit without saving, the CMOS information is not overwritten ( "refreshed ") so you must Save.

You said if you select F1, it does boot normally. When that happens, does the computer work fine? All your programs load properly?

BTW - Do NOT let this discourage you from cleaning in the future. I wish everyone would inspect monthly and clean as needed.

 

Pete, Bill, and Steve,

No doubt I have disturbed something. I just tried to burn a file to a CD (Pete is helping me with my wife's computer in another thread - I'll get back to that one in a while Pete.) and discovered that neither of my CD/DVD drives is recognized. So I will take a break here and get back into my case and check out connections.

And Bill - I have noted your suggestions. I do use an anti-static wrist strap any time I poke around inside a computer.

 

Great!

 

As we/they say in Texas, I'm back in "bidness ". Broke the case open and in checking the connections, one almost fell out. I secured it, checked as many others as I could, buttoned it up and turned it back on. The black screen has disappeared and my CD/DVD drives are back. Thanks all. Now I can go back to working on my wife's computer. I'll mark this one "Resolved ".

 

Hey glad you got it going. And don't worry about - I assure you, you won't let it happen again! It is next to impossible to ensure you won't knock any loose again. You just have to double-check to ensure you didn't. Don't worry - I'm sure Pete learned that lesson the same way you, me and everyone else did too!

 

At least you didn't actually break a cable whilst cleaning! *whistles innocently after he broke one changing his computer around*

 

Better a cable than a CPU pin. I have not that - fortunately I learned that lesson from someone else who did bend a couple pins, then promptly snapped them off while trying to straighten them. But I did forget to unplug the PSU from the wall once before inserting a new stick of RAM - which was promptly fried.

 

Whoops. I did once break a FireWire cable, but they're tremendously easy to break. xD

 

want me to tell you how simple it is to bend a CPU pin, then while carefully straightening that one bending another two and ending up tossing a $150.- CPU.
I will tell you when I finished wiping tears.