Blinking Cursor on Black Screen (Moved from XP)

fish826 · 03-02-2009, 04:51 PM

Hi Everyone,

O n my brothers computer which is an outdated dell inspiron i almost always get a blinking cursor immediately on power up. No splash screen, or POST. If i hold the Power cord in a certain position sometimes it works. Other times it freezes during test and cuts to the blinking cursor. Any ideas for fixes, I would like to return this to him functioning! Thanks Guys!!

elf · 03-02-2009, 05:02 PM

Do you have another power cord you could try? The way you described the problem it sounds like the power supply may be failing. Since it is a DELL, and an older one at that, it will almost certainly use a proprietary power supply, which means that standard ATX power supplies will more than likely not work.

I am going to move this to the Hardware Power Supply section. If the PC won't even POST, then it is almost certainly a hardware problem, and not a software one.

**wrench97** · 03-03-2009, 01:15 PM

What model Dell?

03-02-2009, 04:51 PM	#1 (permalink)
fish826 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1 OS: XP	Blinking Cursor on Black Screen (Moved from XP) Hi Everyone, O n my brothers computer which is an outdated dell inspiron i almost always get a blinking cursor immediately on power up. No splash screen, or POST. If i hold the Power cord in a certain position sometimes it works. Other times it freezes during test and cuts to the blinking cursor. Any ideas for fixes, I would like to return this to him functioning! Thanks Guys!!

03-02-2009, 05:02 PM	#2 (permalink)
elf Manager, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Knoxville, TN or Austin, TX depending Posts: 7,038 OS: WinXP Pro SP3 and Windows 7 My System	Re: Blinking Cursor on Black Screen Do you have another power cord you could try? The way you described the problem it sounds like the power supply may be failing. Since it is a DELL, and an older one at that, it will almost certainly use a proprietary power supply, which means that standard ATX power supplies will more than likely not work. I am going to move this to the Hardware Power Supply section. If the PC won't even POST, then it is almost certainly a hardware problem, and not a software one. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! I do not subscribe to threads, so if I stop replying, PM me with a link to your thread so I can find it again.

03-03-2009, 01:15 PM	#3 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,459 OS: Win7	Re: Blinking Cursor on Black Screen (Moved from XP) What model Dell? __________________ Power Supply and Selection