[SOLVED] Another No POST, no BIOS thread - Dell XPS 8700 desktop (2015)

[Bwv565]

Hi, I just joined in order to post this thread because I’m trying to figure out what’s going on.

I have a Dell XPS 8700 tower from 2015. Config is:
32GB SSD boot
2TB SATA HDD (C
8GB DDR RAM (4x4 DIMMs)
ATI RADEON R9 GPU connected to monitor via HDMI
Intel i7 4670 (4th gen)
DVD drive

Windows 10 Pro

I recently installed Norton 360 for my firewall, anti-virus, etc. I walked away from the machine after doing some stuff and when I came back around an hour later, there was a HUGE red Norton error message on the screen, almost took up the whole page. I went to move the mouse to read what it said, and poof! The machine shut down, and hasn’t restarted since. So I have no idea what the error message was, which of course might be the crux of the issue. So now, It does not POST (no video signal error). This is what I’ve tried:

1. Connecting monitor to another PC (works fine)
2. Connected computer to another monitor (no luck)
3. Reseated RAM, all power cables. (No luck)
4. Plugged directly into the wall instead of power strip (no luck).

Couple of other things: since the machine is 5 yrs old and is large and has been sitting on the floor, when I opened the case it was filled with dust. I unfortunately don’t have a compressed air blower so I just did what I could to remove what I could. It’s still pretty dirty.

The machine powers on, the fans spin (2 fans on PC and 1 on ATI card). The computer does not shut down, I.e. power is constant. When booting, I do not hear anything from the HDD (ever since it was new, I used to hear something indicating the machine starting up; no beeps, though, ever).
Anyway, I have NOT yet done anything else as far as testing. Some places I’ve read say it’s probably the GPU, others have said MoBo, others HDD/SSD, others power supply (I don’t think it’s the power supply), others have said RAM.

If anyone here has a good recommendation for my first next step to try to fix this, I’d be grateful. I am kind of thinking maybe since it’s 5 yrs old and outdated specs, I may see if I can save the HDD (last backup was unfortunately months ago; lesson learned) and buy a new one. That’s another issue altogether (I am looking at another XPS, the 8930).

Thank you.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

If you're not feeling/hearing the hard drive spin up then it's either the drive or the power supply. Can't be anything else. You can test the drive by connecting it to a known working system and see if it spins up.

 

[Bwv565]

If you're not feeling/hearing the hard drive spin up then it's either the drive or the power supply. Can't be anything else. You can test the drive by connecting it to a known working system and see if it spins up.

Thanks. Forgive my ignorance in this, however, in the boot process, what is the sequence of steps that occurs from pressing power until arriving at the OS? In other words, power on goes to BIOS to determine system config, etc., then the HD > GPU > OS, etc.? I'll try connecting the drive to another machine and see if it works that way. I haven't tried that yet.