Whenever a major component or device in your computer does not function properly, you may have a component failure. If you are experiencing a problem with your computer, Dell recommends that you perform the checks in "Solving Problems" and run the Dell Diagnosticsbefore you call Dell for technical assistance.
As long as the microprocessor and the display, keyboard, and CD or DVD drive are working, you can use the Dell Diagnostics. Running the Dell Diagnostics may help you to resolve the problem yourself quickly without having to contact Dell for assistance.
If you are experienced with computers and know what component(s) you need to test, simply select the appropriate diagnostic test group(s) or subtest(s). If you are unsure about how to begin diagnosing a problem, see "Starting the Dell Diagnostics" and "Advanced Testing."
The Dell Diagnostics helps you check your computer's hardware without any additional equipment and without destroying any data. By using the diagnostics, you can have confidence in your computer's operation. And if you find a problem you cannot solve by yourself, the diagnostic tests can provide you with important information you will need when talking to Dell's service and support personnel. If you are experiencing a problem with your computer, Dell recommends that you perform the checks in "Solving Problems" and run the Dell Diagnostics before you call Dell for technical assistance.
NOTICE: Use the Dell Diagnostics to test only your Dell™ computer. Using
this program with other computers may cause incorrect computer responses or
result in error messages.
The diagnostic test groups or subtests also have these helpful features:
Options that let you perform quick checks or extensive tests on one or all devices
An option that allows you to choose the number of times a test group or subtest is repeated
The ability to display test results or to save them in a file
Options to temporarily suspend testing if an error is detected, or to terminate testing when an adjustable error limit is reached
Extensive online Help screens that describe the tests and how to run them
Status messages that inform you whether test groups or subtests were completed successfully
Error messages that appear if any problems are detected
The Dell Diagnostics is located on a hidden Diagnostic utility partition on your hard drive.
Shut down the computer.
If the computer is connected to a docking device (docked), undock it.
See the documentation that came with your docking device for
instructions.
Connect the computer to an electrical outlet.
NOTE: If you cannot see
anything on your display,
you can hold down the
mute button and press the
power button (instead of
F12) to begin the Dell
Diagnostics. You do not
need to highlight
Diagnostics and press
. The
computer automatically
runs the Pre-boot System
Assessment.
Turn on the computer. When the DELL™ logo appears, press
immediately. If you wait too long and the Microsoft® Windows® logo
appears, continue to wait until you see the Windows desktop. Then
shut down your computer and try again.
When the boot device list appears, highlight Diagnostics and press
.
The computer begins to run the Pre-boot System Assessment, a series of embedded diagnostics that perform initial testing on your system board, keyboard, hard drive, and display.
During the assessment, answer any questions that appear.
If a component failure is detected, the computer stops and beeps. To stop the assessment and reboot to the operating system, press
; to continue to the next test, press
; to retest the component that failed, press
.
If failures are detected during the Pre-boot System Assessment, write down the error code(s) and contact Dell before continuing on to the Dell Diagnostics.
If you receive a message stating that no Diagnostics utility partition has been found, follow the instructions on the screen to run the Dell Diagnostics from your Drivers and Utilities CD.
If the Pre-boot System Assessment completes successfully, you receive the message Booting Dell Diagnostic Utility Partition. Press any key to continue.
Press any key to start the Dell Diagnostics from the Diagnostics utility
partition on your hard drive.
After the Dell Diagnostics loads and the MainMenu screen appears,
click the button for the option you want.
NOTE: The service tag
for your computer is
located in the title bar of
each screen.
If a problem is encountered during a test, a message appears,
displaying the error code and a description of the problem. Write
down the error code and problem description and follow the
instructions on the screen. If you cannot resolve the error condition,
contact Dell.
If you run a test from the Custom Test or Symptom Tree option, click
the applicable tab described in the following table for more
information.
When you have finished running a test, close the screen to return to
the MainMenu screen. To exit the Dell Diagnostics and reboot the
computer, close the MainMenu screen.
When you select Advanced Testing from the Diagnostics Menu, the following screen appears, listing the diagnostic test device groups and devices of the selected device group, and it allows you to select categories from a menu. Press the arrow keys or
to navigate the screen.
NOTE: The test groups reflect
the configuration of your
computer.
Information in the Advanced Testing screen is presented as follows:
On the left side of the screen, the Device Groups area lists the diagnostic test groups in the order they will run if you select All from the Run tests menu category. Press the up- or down-arrow key to highlight a test device group.
On the right side of the screen, the Devices for Highlighted Group area lists the computer's currently detected hardware and some of the relevant settings.
Two lines at the bottom of the screen make up the menu area (see "Advanced Testing Help Menu"). The first line lists the categories you can select; press the left- or right-arrow key to highlight a menu category. The second line gives information about the category currently highlighted.
The diskette disk drive device reads and writes data to and from
diskettes. Diskettes are flexible recording media, sometimes
contained in hard shells. Diskette recording capacities are small
and access times are slow relative to hard disk drives, but they
provide a convenient means of storing and transferring data.
This test verifies the drive's ability to position its read/write
heads. The test operates in two passes: first, seeking from the
beginning to ending cylinders inclusively, and second, seeking
alternately from the beginning to ending cylinders with
convergence towards the middle.
When you boot your computer from your Drivers and Utilities CD, the diagnostics checks your system configuration information and displays it in the Device Groups area on the main screen.
The following sources supply this configuration information for the diagnostics:
The system configuration information settings (stored in NVRAM) that you selected while using the system setup program
Identification tests of the microprocessor, the video controller, the keyboard controller, and other key components
BIOS configuration information temporarily saved in RAM
Do not be concerned if the Device Groups area does not list the names of all the components or devices you know are part of your computer. For example, you may not see a printer listed, although you know one is attached to your computer. Instead, the printer is listed as a parallel port. The computer recognizes the parallel port as LPT1, which is an address that tells the computer where to send outgoing information and where to look for incoming information. Because your printer is a parallel communications device, the computer recognizes the printer by its LPT1 address and identifies it as a parallel port. You can test your printer connection in the Parallel Ports tests.
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. The
computer automatically
runs the Pre-boot System
Assessment.
immediately. If you wait too long and the Microsoft® Windows® logo
appears, continue to wait until you see the Windows desktop. Then
shut down your computer and try again.
.
; to continue to the next test, press 
; to retest the component that failed, press 
. 
to navigate the screen.
.
, or press the key
that corresponds to the highlighted letter in the category you choose.