Dell laptop won't boot....media test failure...

[mofugly13]

My Dell....which has never been a problem, just started giving me the attaches screen when I try to turn it on.

Is this something I can try to fix myself? Have someone fix it? Is it bricked?

I really just want to save the co tents of the hard drive.

Unlike precious laptops I've owned..where there were a few screws to remove so.i could physically remove the drive...this doesn't seem to have that kind of compartment.

There is a connector on the back however.....

I'm not dumb....but im not super IT savvy either....

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

[jrara]

That connect is for a dock.

Basically, your computer can't find the harddrive.

Could be a loose connection, bad cable or maybe bad hard drive.

Media test failure means that it can't find a network connection.

[DolphinFan]

Try booting from disk

[CheapBloke]

Did you get a blue screen of death on your last use of the computer?

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[sigstroker]

Last resort, search for a manual on that model on Dell's website. You might have to open it up if you want to get the drive out.

Also try calling Dell to see if you can still get support. You might have to use chat support.

[Striker62]

[Mongo68]

Ultimate boot disk can run on a usb stick. You might be able to run some diagnostics. External disk adapter can probably get the data once you get it out unless the drive itself is toast.
You can make a dell recovery usb to reinstall the OS and stuff once you get a new drive.

[SactoDoug]

If that screen is any indication of the age of your laptop, it is from 2013. A hard drive failure, especially if it is using the old platter drives is very likely.

Have you ever opened up your laptop before? You can replace the drive, but you will have to reinstall Windows and all of your apps. If you do decide to replace the drive, get an SSD.

If you need tools to open up your laptop, I would recommend getting a kit that comes with a silicone mat. The silicone mat gives you a nice clean work surface and makes it much easier to find screws that you might drop. You will want a screwdriver with lots of bits since there are a lot of different kinds of screws that go into a laptop and other electronics. I bought this kit myself which has come in handy when I opened up my laptop a few times and when I do soldering.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HH9CS3B

[mofugly13]

If that screen is any indication of the age of your laptop, it is from 2013. A hard drive failure, especially if it is using the old platter drives is very likely.

Have you ever opened up your laptop before? You can replace the drive, but you will have to reinstall Windows and all of your apps. If you do decide to replace the drive, get an SSD.

If you need tools to open up your laptop, I would recommend getting a kit that comes with a silicone mat. The silicone mat gives you a nice clean work surface and makes it much easier to find screws that you might drop. You will want a screwdriver with lots of bits since there are a lot of different kinds of screws that go into a laptop and other electronics. I bought this kit myself which has come in handy when I opened up my laptop a few times and when I do soldering.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HH9CS3B

Yes. Seems like all the laptops my work provides me fail at some point. I've successfully removed the hard drives before and recovered files. The other laptops had a specific cover over the HDD making it easy to remove the drive only.

This one it looks like I have to pull the whole back of it off.

I do have it backed up. To a point...I think it had been several months since I backed it up but I dont really use it much anymore.

Thaysnks for all the responses.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

[SharedShots]

All Dell PCs/Laptops have a self diagnostic program, it's available when the lapyop first starts, usually F12 or DEL keypress at start up.

Before you go down the rabbit hole with disks and voodo, check the hardware using this program. In that firmware you can have the laptop check to see if the HD is functional.

Lots of people take a recoverable situation to FUBAR because they dpn't do the simple things first.

If the HD can't be found by the laptop, all the recovery disks, ultimate this or that won't do anything. If the HD can't be found, make sure the physical connection is there or everything is for nothing.

Look at the laptop carefully, you'll probably be able to find where the HD is located and by removing a plastic cover or plate, make sure the HD is properly seated. They can sometimes come slightly disconnected. After that, check via the firmware again. Make certain before messing with hardware that the laptop is shutdown and the battery is out and the charger is not connected.

If the problem remains, a best practice is to download the service manual from Dell and go through the troubleshooting. For many models they have a procedure published on their site. Dell has an on-line service where you can enter the service tag number/serial number on the laptop to help.

Do that before you start fumbling around with 4rd party downloads, floppies and all of that and take what might be a simple fix and really screw it up.

Start here: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/e...-dell-computer








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