No diagnostic utility partition found

mdean02

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Jun 6, 2010
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0
18,510
Hello,

Immediately after startup, my Windows 2003 shows a blank black screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left-hand corner. I was able to get to the BIOS screen by holding down F2 during startup, and it detects the processor speed and the RAM amount. I held down F12 during startup, and saw the five boot options. I somehow was able to run a Pre-boot system assessment Build 3012, and it says "No Diagnostic Utility Partition Found. Insert your "Drivers and Utilities" CD. This laptop (Latitude D505) was a gift. I don't have the CD. Please help.
 
Solution
Something is odd here, no such thing as Windows 2003, do you mean XP?

Do you see it trying to load Windows XP when you start the computer or does it go from the BIOS strartup to the blinking cursor?

If the BIOS sees the hard-drive, you probably just don't have an operating system installed, or possibly have something in the CD drive that it's trying to boot from. You'd need to find/buy a operating system and install it on the laptop. I'd suggest going to the manufacturer's web site and downloading all the drivers you need for the system as well before this so you can load them after installing the OS. Do it on another computer obviously and copy it over to a USB flash drive.


Try tapping Function 8 at startup and select Safe Mode or Safe Mode with Networking. [/#000ff]
 

mdean02

Distinguished
Jun 6, 2010
2
0
18,510


Saga Lout,

I tried a dozen times, and only get the blinking cursor. The only function keys that have an effect (either tapping or holding down) are F2 and F12. When I run diagnostics from F12, I get, "No Diagnostic Utility Partition Found."
 
Something is odd here, no such thing as Windows 2003, do you mean XP?

Do you see it trying to load Windows XP when you start the computer or does it go from the BIOS strartup to the blinking cursor?

If the BIOS sees the hard-drive, you probably just don't have an operating system installed, or possibly have something in the CD drive that it's trying to boot from. You'd need to find/buy a operating system and install it on the laptop. I'd suggest going to the manufacturer's web site and downloading all the drivers you need for the system as well before this so you can load them after installing the OS. Do it on another computer obviously and copy it over to a USB flash drive.
 
Solution