# Dell Goes Black After Start-Up Logo

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dell-goes-black-after-start-up-logo/821713>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 22, 2018, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dell-goes-black-after-start-up-logo/821713 "2018-09-22T00:47:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dell-goes-black-after-start-up-logo/821713/1 "2018-09-22T00:47:36Z")

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I have a Dell Latitude E4310 that won’t boot-up. Once the Dell logo appears, the screen goes black and stays black. There is no way to access safe mode and the F12 “boot options” won’t respond either. Is there anything else I can try?

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dell-goes-black-after-start-up-logo/821713/2 "2018-09-22T02:26:23Z")

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The [bulk of the responses](https://www.google.com/search?q=Dell+Latitude+E4310+that+won%27t+boot-up) say take it to a repair shop.

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**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dell-goes-black-after-start-up-logo/821713/3 "2018-09-22T02:30:49Z")

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Can you open the case and see the motherboard? Some of them have LEDs that flash Alphanumeric codes that flash as they boot up, and can diagnose the issue.

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dell-goes-black-after-start-up-logo/821713/4 "2018-09-22T12:24:49Z")

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Some simple stuff to try:

Blow some canned air thru the slots for the CPU cooling fan. Try “backwards” first.

Take the cover off over the memory, take the memory out (note orientation, etc.), put it back. Ditto if there is any other item easily pulled out and put back in. Perhaps the disk drive.

Sometimes the keyboard/trackpad can be removed fairly simply. Take it out, blow some air around.

But don’t do anything that would void a warranty.

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**Author:** ![popomomo\_cocoyoyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@popomomo\_cocoyoyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/popomomo_cocoyoyo)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dell-goes-black-after-start-up-logo/821713/5 "2018-09-22T19:10:04Z")

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Take the battery out completely, wait a minute or two, then put the battery back in. I’ve fixed laptop boot issues a couple of times using this method.

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**Author:** ![popomomo\_cocoyoyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@popomomo\_cocoyoyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/popomomo_cocoyoyo)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dell-goes-black-after-start-up-logo/821713/6 "2018-09-22T20:10:39Z")

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Forgot to mention, in case it’s not obvious, first unplug the laptop from the AC adapter.