Long Start Up - Black Screen

I am helping a friend with a computer that takes a long time to boot up. When we press the power button (4-5 year old Dell), it acts as though it is going through the normal bootup process. Then we get a black screen with this message "Diskette drive 0 seek failure ". There is no floppy drive installed on the computer.

If we leave the computer alone for 6 or 7 minutes, then we get a screen similar to "Safe Mode" start up. If we select "Start Windows Normally ", then we get a normal boot up. I tried going directly to safe mode by tapping F8 but kept getting the screen described above.

I checked the Dell website for error messages and located the following:

Any fairly simple fixes? I'm not real comfortable getting into registry or bios stuff on other people's computers - or my own I might should add. Should I tell him to get a pro?

 

Pete,

Thanks. I looked in the Bios on my Dell 8400 (which does have a floppy drive) and saw the list you referred to. I'll give it a try on my friend's computer tomorrow.

 

There is a good possibility that the floppy drive A: has failed or one of the cables is loose on it. The drive 0 means the A: drive (not the ARC path drive 0, which is the primary HD) and the error generally means the drive cannot be found.

 

"Floppy Drive Seek" well spotted Pete

Hi Robert,
If the BIOS settings have changed for an unknown reason. I would change the CMOS battery (the silver coin-like battery on the motherboard). If the battery is low the settings will keep reverting to default.

Matt

 

There were no changes I could make in the setup. Since there is no floppy installed on the computer, there was nothing in the Bios for me to change. I have backed away from this one and recommended a pro. Thanks to each of you for your input. When we get the computer squared away, I will report back on the fix.

 

Thanks for that Robert.

Your post caused me to go back and read your first post again and THIS TIME I noticed that you had no floppy drive installed.

As has been mentioned, maybe only the CMOS backup battery. You can change that yourself for a test, chances are if the computer is over 4 years old, it needs it anyway. Change it out and then reset the CMOS to the default values would be my recommendation before throwing in the towel.

 

Let's hope we can avoid you heading off to the pro and returning with a formatted harddrive

We think that the BIOS settings have changed. The BIOS settings are held in the CMOS ROM (Read Only Memory), a chip that has the basic startup information configured in it. The BIOS settings (the information stored to start the computer and which tells the computer "what it is" and what basic hardware is attached) is held in the CMOS using a small amount of power from a battery. If the battery goes flat/dies, any extraordinary settings (changes to the settings) are lost! The BIOS reverts to it's default settings.

We think that your BIOS has a default setting of "Floppy Drive Seek" (it may be other terminology, but will refer to "checking" for a floppy drive. The setting may be buried in a sub-menu of the BIOS settings. Scannning through the computer's motherboard manual or User Guide may help you find it.

If you find any settings for the Floppy Drive on that computer...feel free to change them It won't make the computer "unstartable" (yes, some can). Floppy Drive settings won't though.

Matt

 

Closeout - Just thought I would let you know my friend decided to go with a new computer so he just let the old one die. I would have pursued your suggestions had it been my computer - but thanks so much for all your input. I learned a few things about CMOS and batteries from reading your posts.

 

I'm sure all are appreciative of the update and hopeful that your friend puts that new machine to good use. Sometimes it can be an advantage knowing when to drop back five and punt. Unfortunately, it looks like the "smart money" will never know if a $2.50 battery would have solved the "old computer's" problem.