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SoHoITPro

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Video problems on Dell Inspiron One 2330

There is no video when machine boots into 'normal' Windows mode - Win8.1/10.  There is video in Safe mode, and there is video on an external monitor if connected to the VGA connector. The machine scores 100% in the pre-boot diagnostics.  The main display shows a very dark color for 15-20 seconds, goes completely black for 3 seconds and then shows the same dark color again for 15-20 seconds. We can also get video in normal mode for a short while by uninstalling the display adapter driver - Intel HD Graphics - and rebooting but 1-10 minutes after that, the video will disappear again. It feels like the video hardware is having a tough time mode-switching but no problems have been detected in diagnostics.

The machine, purchased from Amazon, will not be serviced by Dell because we can't tell them who the original purchases is(!). It feels as if the machine was sold as grey market or refurbished but don't really think that should be our problem.
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Edward Pamias
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Sounds like the resolution is off. In safe mode go to device manager, remove the video card from there and reboot. Let it reinstall itself and it should be ok.

Right click computer and click manage. You can get device manager from there.
Is the "machine" a laptop or a desktop?
Can you tell us what model Dell it is?

What is the normal video connection Display port or DVI?

Did you make sure that the downloaded video driver is the correct driver?
@Rob Its an all in one according to the dell website.
@SohoITPro you can also go to the dell support site and autodetect which drivers you need. Or just enter your service tag from the back of the machine and a list of drivers will appear for that machine.

REF: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19?c=&l=&s=
Try what I originally said and see what happens. You can always go to safe mode to add the drivers.
Oh I see said the blind man as he walked into the room with shavings and saw dust...

Sorry about that, I didn't read the subject close enough, was looking for the model type in the body of the question.

To rule out problems with the actual onboard video...I'd try booting to a thumb drive, then see if the video is working normal.

Just thinking, did the video settings change to only display the video via one of the other type video outputs? Is there a hotkey on the keyboard to only display the video via on of the other video out ports?

Does this AiO computer have that option in the BIOS or via Windows?
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☠ MASQ ☠

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@Rob LOL!  I do that all the time. Then again I am old. :)
@MASQ lets think positive! Lets hope its a simple fix.
From a Dell forum:

You can try this:
1.Power off and remove (unplug) the power cord from rear of the PC
2.Press/hold power button for ~30 sec
3.Reconnect power cord to rear of PC and see if it boots now
@Rob sounds like one of my helpdesk agents. LOL!
And another similar problem:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19540481

I thought I'd reply to my own post because I did manage to solve this after several hours' effort.

I managed to get into Windows Automatic Repair by doing the following. After switching on, the Dell logo appears then the swirling circle. Immediately hard power off by holding down the power button until it switches off. Repeat 2 more times, at which point the computer should decide that Windows is failing to boot up, so it should start Automatic Repair.

The automatic repair feature spotted that there was a problem with the video driver (as I suspected) and disabled it. I could then reboot normally and use System Restore to go back to a safe set of drivers, before I ran Windows Update.

MASQ is most likely right, but maybe you can resurrect it a few times before it fails completely.
@Ed yep, true, MASQ has the answer, but the AiO might be temporarily resurrectable a few times before it bites the dust permanently...bleeding the systemboard of all power sometimes works...but not a real solution.
Ahhh yes. I had to do that with my old IBM Thinkpads that wouldn't boot. Remove all power and battery and hold the power button down for 30 seconds. Once all was done the laptop booted.
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SoHoITPro

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This sounds exactly like the problem.  The system tag is 2GCDTX1.

Dell won't support it unless we tell them the name of the Account Holder...Which was somebody who bought the machine in 2014. It didn't come into our possession until 4/2015 so the Amazon seller didn't get this machine in a completely kosher fashion.

Dell won't support us with the 'accountholder' and we have no way of knowing who that owner is. Effectively the machine is blacklisted and broken until we repair in some other manor.

Shame...The support.dell.com record for this machines says it has Premier and Onsite support until 2017.