Booting issues..

[brianb22]

now that i've got my new pc working onto other stuff.  i've been trying to fix my friend's pc for awhile.  i took out his hdd and connected it to my old pc to see if that was the problem.  at this point it's hard to tell.  i set the jumpers multiple times but what i think is the right one is master.  it's an ibm deskstar so there's slave and cable select as well.  after hooking it up to my dell d/4600 the display boots right up with the dell sign and starts loading.  then it briefly flashes some kind of text but it's squiggly and sideways and only stays on the screen a millisecond. the it's a black screen with a blinking cursor and eventually beeps twice.  i've looked up what that means in POST and nothing i've found has fixed the problem.  the diagnostic leds on  back of pc light up in the sequence that says that "something else is the problem" and tells me to make sure cables are connected properly to hdd, cd, and dvd drives.  the mobo on this dell has one ide port for cd and one for hdd.  they are correct.  i reseated the memory and video cards just as a precaution.  i've tried hitting f12 and f2 to get into bios and boot setup.  f12 for bios just beeps and doesn't do anything.  f2 will say entering boot setup for a brief second and then doesn't do anything.  the hdd has windows on it so that's not an issue.  it's also the only hdd in the system.  the hdd is getting power to it so it's not dead.  he hasn't touched the thing in a couple of years and when he did he said it worked.  my dell was working last week with my old hdds in it so can't see anything there being the cause.  any ideas on how to proceed?

[Geek-9pm]

If you discount the HDD and turn it on, yu should bet some kind of error message. What does it say? Does it ever let you into the BIOS?
What is the make and model of the problem PC?
Has the CMOS cell ever been changed?

[brianb22]

i'm not getting an error message at all.  right after the initial load happens a screen pops up for a split second but you can't read anything on it.  like i said before it's sideways and squiggly.  nothing was wrong with this computer before i took out my old hdds and put in this other one.  video card, mobo, power supply, cpu all fine.  again last week i booted it up without a problem.  one could take that info and say it's the hdd that's the problem.  if that's the case i should be able to get into bios or boot setup.  it won't let me into bios.  i hit F12 non stop when it first comes one and it just beeps every time i hit it.  then just goes to a black screen and does nothing and then POST eventually gives 2 beeps and that's it.  the make of the computer is a dell d/4600.  no the CMOS cell hasn't been changed

[brianb22]

also i don't know if this is relevant or not but i'm using my tv as the monitor.  i've used it in the past with my laptop with no issues whatsoever.  this is the first time i've hooked up the desktop to it but i don't see why it would be any different.  i'm getting initial video so that tells me the video card and monitor cable are working fine

[jason2074]

The only 2 beep codes in this link for Dell Dimension 4600 Series Service Manual is the 1-1-2, which is Microprocessor register failure. Can you check also the Diagnostics lights to help you identify the cause by following the link?

[brianb22]

i looked up the same thing(link) and i found one website that listed 2 beeps.  i googled it and can't remember exactly what it said now.  i'll look and see if i can find it again and post the link to see if it's correct.  the leds go as follow:
A=green
B=green
C=green
D=yellow.
i've made sure each drive is seated properly and getting power to them.  no error message or if there is it's that screen that flashes and disappears.  can't access boot setup so can't change the settings there. 

[brianb22]

i did a chat session yesterday morning with dell and they told me to boot into "boot device" menu and choose "boot to utility partition" or "diagnostics" and run an express test.  obviously from what i've written before i can't do that.  just figured i'd mention it.  trying to not leave anything out.

[Allan]

I deleted your other post. Please do not start more than one thread for the same question.

[brianb22]

i appreciate the fact that you are on here making sure lowly beginners like myself don't clog up the forums with their futile attempts to get help but while you're busy deleting posts would it have been so hard to offer up a suggestion?  it says you're a "guru" so i assume my boot problems wouldn't be to complicated. 

[Geek-9pm]

The problem with your computer can be due to a number of tings. Therefore it is not possible to give one quick and complete answer. Here are some causes:
A. Power supply that is no longer given full power.
B. Hard drive does not respond right away.
C. USB device that does not respond as expected.a
D. Motherboard failure due to aging of components.
E. Something else that has changed.

So members of the forum will ask if the user has tried to start then machine with a minimal amount of extra devices connected.  Such as a new hard drive or a TV set. The naked setup for testing is Power supply, motherboard and Monitor.

What LEDs are you talking about?

[brianb22]

the diagnostics lights on the back of the computer.  i tried all that stuff and nothing worked.  ended up installing 7 and formatting the drive.  works now.  just lost data.  oh well.  thanks anyways

[Geek-9pm]

Sorry you lost your data.
Suggestion. Divide your Had drive into two or more partitions. Put your important personal data on another partition. If it ever happens again, just format the system partition and keep your data.
Move the My Documents Folder in Windows 7