Dell 510m - crashed after inserting memory stick

floggg

I have a Dell Inspiron 510m (Windows XP, 1gb Ram, warranty long expired). I inserted a memory stick into it and when i tried to open it through "my computer" the laptop crashed and a blue screen popped up telling me windows had to be shut down. Now every time i try and start it up i i get the same blue screen, just after the windows is loading bit.

I ran a diagnostics check from the boot-up menu on the computer which told me i had the following error

DST Short Status Test
Result: Fail
Error Code: 100-0142
Message: Unit 4: Drive Self Test Failed. Status byte - 75.

Any idea what this means? Could it be a virus?

I'm not sure, but i think the autorun box which popped up when i inserted to usb stick had some version of run program as the first option on it which seemed unusual.

Help is much appreciated - please tell me its simple to fix - i can't afford to fix it!!!!

x in the city

I hate to bring bad news

but, your hard disk is fubared.

I think...

you can get a new 2.5" drive cheap so get one, and also get a drive caddy so you can back up your old disk onto your new one,
I think you can still salvage your data but some sectors or platters are f*****.

its quite an easy thing, no need to get a shop to rip you off, just order a new drive and caddy and fix it up yourself, get a gig of ram also..1 gig is not alot..;)

spannerotoole

Here's my experience

I have a couple of contracts in the west of ireland in Kerry, where apparently there are no tech shops that will go to another town, so every now and again, I get called in to fix stuff when it goes wrong. I should say at this point that I am Qualified to Open up computers. Have it on paper and everything. A Client had purchased a couple of Dell Servers to help his business run more smoothly. These machines would handle all of the financial part of the business. When he turned it on, the power supply went bang. He rang me, I went down and tested with a separate power supply. It worked fine. I Tested the voltage on the faulty power supply and as I thought, the 12V Rails were not working. So the machine being brand new and on site for not more than 8 days I called dell. The first tech told me that because I wasn't a Qualified Computer Technician, that the warranty was void. I hung up, I dialled again, I got this other "Thickie" who was following the script. I figured this out when he asked me to remove the USB KEy from the computer, I politely informed him there was none, he told me that unless I co-operate he would have to terminate the call. I assured him there was nothing plugged into any USB Ports. Then it hit me, he's reading a script that tells him it's not booting. So he's Troubleshooting that. I told him to ignore the script and to arrange for a replacement power supply for this server. Incidentally, These PSU's are not cheap. he told me he couldn't help me as he didn't have authority to do that. So 20 calls later (1/20 dell CSR's are technichal if this is anything to go by) I got someone who put me through to the warehouse people. A woman there told me to wait for 2 days (In Ireland support at the time came wholly from limerick, i.e down the road) and it would be shipped by courier, Also he would have a box to put the old PSU in. Everything would be documented. Surprisingly, all this happened the next day. New PSU worked fine and dandy. Customer happy. Until he started getting letters from dell looking for €127 for a power supply. I went back down called dell finance to query this. they said they would check and get back. The lady who called back said that yes the item was received and to ignore and letters in future as the system sometimes screws up. We can live with that. Until we start getting letters from collection agencies based in the states. we called them and informed them of this error. They said "OK". Still the letters come. Recently we were invited to settle out of court for €50, but this will not happen. If it goes to court we have all the documents scanned and saved offsite. all this over €127. We will also countersue for extortion and harrassment, loss of business also. We'll see what happens

jimmycrackcorm

Why didn't the business get the next day on-site support for their servers?

Alanstrainor

Can we keep on topic. Posting a rant like the above is not accpetable in a completely unrelated thread. Consider yourself warned "spannerotoole".

spannerotoole

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Why didn't the business get the next day on-site support for their servers?

Price wise it wasn't feasible, 4500 Euro's for onsite support, to do exactly what I did for 300 euro and a week's accomodation in Kerry, The onsite support from what I hear, could be doing better.

spannerotoole

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Can we keep on topic. Posting a rant like the above is not accpetable in a completely unrelated thread. Consider yourself warned "spannerotoole".

Sorry about that, but when a techie tells you do stuff that you can't do, and won't listen, it gets frustrating, this was not intended to come off as a rant, but rather as a warning that if you do call Dell for support, that you should have some Neurofen Plus standing by.

Bebop

As a server admin I cant say that I have had any trouble with Dell support, if you buy a server from Dell it comes with next business day on-site support, I have always found the Scottish based techies friendly and knowledgeable, in cases of hardware failure Dell usually come out and fit a replacement without any fuss, spannerotoole seems to be dealing with Dell (Bangalore) support which would suggest that he is using a desktop PC as a server,

Gonzo_Fiend

floggg wrote: »

I have a Dell Inspiron 510m (Windows XP, 1gb Ram, warranty long expired). I inserted a memory stick into it and when i tried to open it through "my computer" the laptop crashed and a blue screen popped up telling me windows had to be shut down. Now every time i try and start it up i i get the same blue screen, just after the windows is loading bit.

I ran a diagnostics check from the boot-up menu on the computer which told me i had the following error

DST Short Status Test
Result: Fail
Error Code: 100-0142
Message: Unit 4: Drive Self Test Failed. Status byte - 75.

Any idea what this means? Could it be a virus?

I'm not sure, but i think the autorun box which popped up when i inserted to usb stick had some version of run program as the first option on it which seemed unusual.

Help is much appreciated - please tell me its simple to fix - i can't afford to fix it!!!!

Your harddrive is dead and all the data on it is effectively lost. If you ask tech support to transfer you to the spare parts sales line they will quote you a price for an exact replacement. You dont need an engineer to replace it. Its simple and only takes 3 minutes. Dell will talk you through it. Also request media disks in order to reinstall your Operating System and drivers. Dell can send you instructions how to do this.

spannerotoole

It was a Tower Server with a opteron chip, I don't know of any desktop machines from dell that use opteron chips. that said the machine was a refurbished machine (customer bought it, I had no say in this, Personally I would've gone with IBM BladeCentre but the customer was under the impression when I asked him, that IBM only did Big Business.

nickthevick

(floggg's problem)
I also have an old inspiron 510m with XP2 and want to extend the memory. My search on 'memory stick' took me to this page among others.

How can I be sure floggg's problem won't happen to me also? I need the extra memory but want it on a computer that works, of course...

Torqay

nickthevick wrote: »

(floggg's problem)
I also have an old inspiron 510m with XP2 and want to extend the memory. My search on 'memory stick' took me to this page among others.

How can I be sure floggg's problem won't happen to me also? I need the extra memory but want it on a computer that works, of course...

flogg was talking about a USB flash drive, you'll be looking for DDR SO-DIMM memory, type PC2700, 333 MHz, you can buy them here.

duckysauce

spannerotoole wrote: »

Price wise it wasn't feasible, 4500 Euro's for onsite support, to do exactly what I did for 300 euro and a week's accomodation in Kerry, The onsite support from what I hear, could be doing better.

300e to change a psu ?? thats a bit pricey?

nickthevick

Thanks Torquay, for putting me right on what kind of memory. ok now.