Dell NF161 manual Starting the Dell Diagnostics From Your Hard Drive

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).

1Shut down the computer.

2If the computer is connected to a docking device (docked), undock it. See the documentation that came with your docking device for instructions.

3Connect the computer to an electrical outlet.

4Diagnostics 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.

bPress 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 CD.

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.

5Press 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 CD

1Insert the Drivers and Utilities CD.

2Shut down and restart the computer.

When the DELL logo appears, press <F12> immediately.

If you wait too long and the Windows logo appears, continue to wait until you see the Windows desktop. Then shut down your computer and try again.

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.

Quick Reference Guide

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