22 Quick Reference Guide
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 User’s Guide).
1
Shut down the computer.
2
If the computer is connected to a docking device (docked), undock it. See
the documentation that came with your docking device for instructions.
3
Connect the computer to an electrical outlet.
4
Diagnostics can be invoked in one of two ways:
a
Turn on the computer. When the DELL™ logo appears, press <F12>
immediately. Select Diagnostics from the boot menu and press
<Enter>.
NOTE: If you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue to
wait until you see the Microsoft® Windows® desktop. Then shut down your
computer and try again.
b
Press and hold the <Fn> key while powering the computer on.
NOTE: If you see a message stating that no diagnostics utility partition has
been found, run the Dell Diagnostics from the Drivers and Utilities media.
The computer runs the Pre-boot System Assessment, a series of initial
tests of your system board, keyboard, hard drive, and display.
• During the assessment, answer any questions that appear.
• If a failure is detected, the computer stops and beeps. To stop the
assessment and restart the computer, press <Esc>; to continue to the
next test, press <y>; to retest the component that failed, press <r>.
• If failures are detected during the Pre-boot System Assessment, write
down the error code(s) and contact Dell (see "Contacting Dell" in
your
User’s Guide
).
If the Pre-boot System Assessment completes successfully, you receive the
message
Booting Dell Diagnostic Utility Partition
.
Press any key to continue
.
5
Press any key to start the Dell Diagnostics from the diagnostics utility
partition on your harddrive.