Starting the Dell Diagnostics From Your Hard Drive
The Dell Diagnostics is located on a hidden diagnostic utility partition on your hard drive.
NOTE:
If your computer cannot display a screen image, contact Dell (see "Contacting Dell" in your online User's Guide
for details).
NOTE:
If the computer is connected to a docking device (docked), undock it. See the documentation that came
with your docking device for instructions.
1 Ensure that the computer is connected to an electrical outlet that is known to be working properly.
2 Turn on (or restart) your computer.
3 Start the Dell Diagnostics in one of the following two ways:
•
When the DELL™ logo appears, press <F12> immediately. Select Diagnostics from the boot
menu and press <Enter>.
NOTE:
Microsoft
•
Ensure that the computer is powered down completely. Press and hold the <Fn> key while
powering the computer on.
NOTE:
Diagnostics from the Drivers and Utilities media.
The computer runs the Pre-boot System Assessment (PSA), a series of initial tests of your system
board, keyboard, display, memory, hard drive, etc.
•
During the assessment, answer any questions that appear.
•
If failures are detected during the Pre-boot System Assessment, write down the error code(s)
and see "Contacting Dell" in your online User's Guide.
If the Pre-boot System Assessment completes successfully, you will receive the message,
"Booting Dell Diagnostic Utility Partition. Press any key to
continue".
4 Press any key to start the Dell Diagnostics from the diagnostics utility partition on your hard drive.
Starting the Dell Diagnostics From the Drivers and Utilities Media
1 Insert the Drivers and Utilities media.
2 Shut down and restart the computer.
When the DELL logo appears, press <F12> immediately.
NOTE:
If you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue to wait until you see the
®
Microsoft
NOTE:
The next steps change the boot sequence for one time only. On the next start-up, the computer boots
according to the devices specified in the system setup program.
3 When the boot device list appears, highlight CD/DVD/CD-RW and press <Enter>.
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Quick Reference Guide
If you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue to wait until you see the
®
®
Windows
desktop; then, shut down your computer and try again.
If you see a message stating that no diagnostics utility partition has been found, run the Dell
®
Windows
desktop; then, shut down your computer and try again.