Solved! Dell Vostro won't boot- goes straight to black screen with blinking cursor

[schevs]

I've seen similar posts regarding this issue, but none of the solutions have worked so far for me. I've tried booting off Windows 10 recovery disk, and original Windows 7 DVD. None of the Troubleshooting methods worked, including various command prompt entries, and I couldn't do a upgrade or custom installation (custom installation says at the end that it couldn't boot into the next phase of installation). I can't get into safe mode. Did a diagnostics test, but no problems were found. Tried also removing the battery and pressing the power button, etc. but that didn't work either. Is there anything else I haven't tried yet?

 

[Robert Ban]

Try to remove HDD sata cable and connect it to other sata.