Dell Inspiron 3700 Reference And Troubleshooting Manual page 67

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During POST , the computer checks the hard-disk drive, comparing its characteristics
with the system configuration information. (The drive access indicator, located to the
right of the display latch, blinks as the computer performs this check.) If a failure
occurs with the drive, make a copy of the Diagnostics Checklist found in Chapter 5
and fill it out as you perform the following steps:
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Reboot the computer. Does the drive access indicator blink during the boot
routine, and does the drive boot the operating system?
Yes. If a message appears on the display, see Appendix C, "Error Messages and
Flash Codes," for an explanation of the message and possible corrective actions.
Then go to step 7 .
No. Go to step 3.
3. Insert a bootable diskette into drive A and reboot the computer.
4. Type c: and press <Enter>. Then type dir and press <Enter>. Does MS-DOS
display the root directory contents for drive C?
Yes. Go to step 6.
No. Go to step 5.
5. If your hard-disk drive has more than one logical drive, type d: and press
<Enter>. Then type dir and press <Enter>. Does MS-DOS display the root
directory contents for drive D?
Yes. You may have a corrupted boot sector or file allocation table (FAT) on drive C.
Go to step 9.
No. Go to step 8.
6. Rename your autoexec.bat and config.sys files, remove the operating system
diskette from drive A, and reboot the computer. Does the operating system load
now?
Yes. You have an error in your autoexec.bat or config.sys file. Use a text editor
to examine the contents of these files and locate the error. For information on the
correct syntax for commands in these files, see the documentation that accom-
panied your operating system.
No. Go to step 7 .
7 . Insert your diagnostics diskette into drive A and reboot the computer. Then run
the IDE Devices device group. Does your drive pass all the tests?
Yes. Go to step 8.
No. Go to step 9.
Basic Troubleshooting 3-19