I have a new Dell Inspiron 530s that will not boot: it does not get beyond showing the manufacturer's logo. I suspect the hard drive is not spinning up. I could, of course, contact Dell and it would no doubt be replaced. However, having just finished setting it up and transferring all files from its predecessor, I am wondering if there is anything I can do to try to get the hard drive going again.
Simon Detre
It could be a hard-drive problem, but it may just be a loose cable or a failure in another component. PCs run a POST (power-on self-test) when booted, so you should get one or more beeps to help you find out what has gone wrong. There's a guide to what the beep codes mean here. You can also try pressing F12 as soon as the Dell logo appears, to see if your PC will run the Dell Diagnostics pre-boot test routine. If it does, write down any error codes, then contact Dell for advice.
An alternative is to try booting your PC from a "live" version of Linux, ie one that runs from the CD. If the hard drive works, this should enable you to make a backup copy of your installation. If not, you will probably have to install all your software again.
