Faulty Power Button on Dell Optiplex GX755 Desktop PC

[#1]

Can you remove the battery and check it`s voltage using a meter?  if it shows a low voltage.. perhaps leaving it plugged in and charging, but not unattended ! !!   will be the answer... maybe after a couple of hours (doing nothing).. it may have enough voltage to eliminate the "warning message" and be usable from that point onwards.

[#2]

Hello shutter,

At the moment, I don't have access to a multimeter. I may be able to borrow one later today. The battery in my pc was a Panasonic CR2032, and I cannot find anything on Google that states whether it is rechargeable or not. I have now changed that battery for a Duracell battery, but the problem remains. Therefore, I think the problem is more than just a battery problem.

Bearing in mind I changed the motherboard but have used the original hard drive without modifying the software, could I have done something that causes the pc to think there is a problem? The built-in diagnostic test that I get when I select F5 doesn't find anything wrong. Is there a setting that I need to change?

Thanks for your help

[#3]

I've solved the problem of the low battery voltage, but not the full bootup.

I managed to borrow a multimeter, and the old battery had 195mV. I removed the new battery from the pc to check it and found it had a label on the underside. I don't get to change these batteries very often (probably 10 years ago for the most recent one), and you cannot see that side of the battery when it is in the packaging, so I didn't think of a label on it when fitting it. I held the battery by the rim so didn't feel the label either. Anyway, now I get to the Win XP window, but as soon as the moving squares on that view get to the right-hand end, the pc reboots, so I still have that problem to solve.

Any suggestions please

[#4]

@penneck  Maybe a bit "out of the box" thinking....but... download a .iso file of Linux Mint 19.1    and burn it to a USB stick, with UNETBOOTIN.

Takes about 30 mins.... then you can "boot up" on the Linux Mint 19.1 in your usb slot... it does not "install"...but you can run it to test if to see if you like it...etc... 

If you don`t want it... you don`t click the "install" icon on the desktop... but you can keep it on the usb stick for future problem solving. just close the machine down... remove the usb stick and all is "as before".. 

but at least you will have "proved" or not  your boot up process,

If it works.. then you may need to format the Hard Drive... and re-install your windows for the new MOBO..

When Linux Mint is on the desktop.  you MAY be able to access the files and folders on the Hard Drive ( find "browse C drive" in the menu of Linux MInt ) .

[#5]

@penneck  As you have found out, desktop computer batteries don't recharge. They are just normal batteries. Once dead, throw away jobs.

Have you tried going into safe mode? Press F8 immediately after post check. Does it bleep at any point?

Edit 2! Have you got a genuine Windows XP install disk? If so, use that to boot with and it will repair any problems with XP on the drive.  If not, go into the BIOS and make sure the bios has the correct settings for your HD etc.

[#6]

Shutter,

You are taking me into new areas (to me), so a few questions before I do it:-

1. Is UNETBOOTIN what I use to burn the Linux onto my stick, or is it an additional file to the Linux on the stick so is what causes the USB stick to be able to boot up the pc?

2. Once on the stick, do I have to do something to get the pc to boot from the stick rather than the hard drive?

3. Once it is on the stick, if I don't like it, can I remove it?

[#7]

idonno,

I have tried going into Safe Mode - it listed Win XP as a selectable OS (on a list of 1), from which I have tried both 'Enter' and F8. Both took me back to the Dell screen.

I have tried using my genuine Win XP disk. That made no difference either.

If when the Dell screen is visible, I select F2, I can see what I assume is the BIOS, but haven't seen one for many years so I may have been looking at some other kind of list. What this list did show me is that my hard drive was identifiable on SATA0, and the DVD Drive on SATA1, and they are both identifiable on the Boot Up Order list.

[#8]

@penneck   go to this page...   https://linuxmint.com/download.php

scroll down to  Mate    32  or 64 bit.. click on whichever.  takes you to another page.

scroll down a bit  to the list of "mirrors".. find the UK one (university of kent) 

you then get a download window... click on  "save" .. and OK  .

while that downloads... go to this page     https://unetbootin.github.io/

and choose WINDOWS  ( if that is your o.s. )

Again.. you get the download window   click on "save" and "ok" ..

Once the Linux mint has finished downloading. and it is in your downloads folder...

Get hold of your USB stick..pref with 8 or more GB free space when empty.

Format it... Leave it plugged in.

Find the UNETBOOTIN download, and click on it..

You then get a small window open, with various boxes to fill in...  hopefully , you should have no problem with that. look out for the "persistence file size"  (its a slider thing ..... )   and make that 4 gb , so that any work you do on the desktop (like saving documents, or installing a program) will be saved to the stick and be available the next time you use the stick...

When you have finished with the UNETBOOTIN.. ( it`s kinda like downloading and installing a program, all in one go... the window shows activity of files and stuff , and eventually it will say it is completed.  

Once successfully completed.... take the usb stick to the duff computer... plug the usb stick in and "boot up".. if you have access to boot options... ( f8 or f12 maybe) .. choose USB  and let it boot up to Linux Mint..

the "menu " is in the same place as "start" on windows... if it boots up ok.. then you know your system is bootable.. and it`s probably the different mobo with the old hdd ( methinks) 

with luck.. you should be able to see that hard drive listed in the "computer" icon on the menu

Hope it works for you... ! ! ..

When you have finished with Linux Mint on the trial.... all you do is close the computer down, and remove the USB Stick... and it will boot up as normal to windows.

If you don`t want to keep Linux MINT  then you can format the usb stick and it`s gone...BUT>. it is a powerful handy computer operating system, that you can take to any computer, that does not boot up normally, and access the files and folders on it... so it is well worth considering keeping it as a standby......

[#9]

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@penneck wrote: I have tried using my genuine Win XP disk. That made no difference either. ....and they are both identifiable on the Boot Up Order list.

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Which order though? If the DVD is 2nd, it will attempt to start the HD first every time. Was the DVD in the drive when you switched it on? If it was and booted from it should have read the HD and either asked if you wanted to repair or reinstall XP. Used it myself several times in days gone by. Blow by blow account.

Its one reason I would always buy the Windows Disk, simply for that repair option. Pre-installed versions only take a computer back to an original shipped state, usually wiping out the info on the hard drive in the process, whereas the repair retains documents etc. If you didn't get the offer to repair etc it sounds like it didn't boot with it.

If you have replaced the battery, chances are the bios has lost its settings or gone back to defaults. XP might be having problems marrying up those in the bios to what it expects. Still @shutter idea will get you part way there.

[#10]

shutter,

I have created the Linux stick as you suggested, and tried it in my broken pc. It installed Windows Defender Offline, and ran a scan, but found nothing. I tried booting it again a few times from the stick, but each subsequent time the Windows Defender Offline stated that it required updating - the Fail indicator was red. Has the first run modified what is on the stick (or on the hard drive)?

I still cannot boot from the hard drive.

[#11]

idonno,

I powered up the pc so that I could insert the CD in the drive, then when the pc went back to the Dell screen, I clicked F12. That brought up a list of booting from the hard drive or the CD drive. I selected the CD Drive. Windows didn't give me a choice of installing or repairing. It went straight into loading several files, but then stopped on a blue screen stating it had stopped for safety reasons. It suggested I ran 'chdsk /F', but I couldn't figure out how to get out of this blue screen into the command screen, so haven't run chkdsk yet.

You might also like to look at the reply I sent to shutter after using his method

[#12]

If you can get to a

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@penneck wrote: I powered up the pc so that I could insert the CD in the drive, then when the pc went back to the Dell screen, I clicked F12. T It suggested I ran 'chdsk /F', but I couldn't figure out how to get out of this blue screen into the command screen, so haven't run chkdsk yet.

You need that disk in the drive before you power on, not afterwards. Afterwards is no good and you need to make sure the boot order is correct in the bios. i..e. DVD first.

chkdsk /f sometimes fixes problems. I have run it with chkdsk /r which checks for bad sectors etc as well as fixing.

I do wonder though if the HD settings are correct in the BIOS. Have you got info on the HD and checked against what is shown in the BIOS?

Have fun!!!

[#13]

@penneck   as @idonno  says.... you insert the usb stick... then power up the machine... then use the F12 or whatever to access the "boot order"..

If it says EFI... change it to "Legacy".. and you should be able to see the order of booting from devices.. like CDROM, USB, Internal Hdd, Floppy disc... etc..

You can alter the positions, so that the machine boots in the order   CDROM  USB   Internal HDD.. that way, next time it boots up.. it will "look" for bootable software in that order.. you will not need to use F12 ( or whatever on your machine) 

I don`t think it will have "modified" the USB stick.  

This you tube video may help  you to understand what is happening... and what processes you should be doing..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWO3vif7hTw

Up to about 6 mins 30 , is describing how to get the LINUX on to the USB STICK ...

From 6 mins 30 onwards is showing what you need to do, on "Boot UP".. to make sure that you are booting from the USB Stick...

Google  chdsk /f   and see what it says...    e.g... How to use chdsk /f   and you should get some idea of what it is and what to expect.

[#14]

On the Dell screen, I selected F2 which put me into the BIOS(?). I set the Boot Order to:-

1. CD Drive;

2. USB Device;

3. Hard Drive.

There were other selections, but I put them in positions 4 to 7.

I saved the BIOS, then put my XP disk in the CD Drive and powered down.

At boot up, the pc started loading loads of files, then got to that blue screen of death where it mentions chkdsk. It never asked whether I wanted to install or repair. Early on, it did say press F2 for something like 'Automatic Repair', but when I tried that, it asked for a disk (possibly a floppy) which I do not have. I still cannot access a cmd window, and if I try to boot up in safe mode, it just seems to rapidly run through a list of files then goes back to the Dell screen

[#15]

In addition, when I get to the list where I can start up in Safe Mode, if I select 'Safe Mode with Command Prompt', It does the same as 'Safe Mode'. Also those files it runs through are sys files