Well, not exactly sure what’s happened now, but i went to download the driver you had listed, the 2016 one. the link to me to the dell page and it popped up that i could scan the pc to see if any updates were necessary so i installed an official dell application to do some updates it had listed. they all had downloaded and so i restarted my computer.
Now it’s seemingly not displaying whatsoever. The monitor is hooked up properly and there were no real issues before i did those updates. Previously i would have issues with having to turn my monitor on and off a few times in order for it to start displaying properly but it always eventually displayed. Now, it’s not displaying at all no matter how many times i turn it on and off, switch inputs, i even gave the cable a little wiggle to see if that would maybe do the trick, no luck there.
If you have any further advice, i would greatly appreciate it! You’ve been such a big help this far and i’m very thankful and grateful as well!
*update: the power button on the tower is now flashing a yellow/light orange.
@kelpiimilo The manual for your computer says a blinking amber light can mean a few different things depending on the pattern of the blinks:
So the important question is what that pattern is.
So i looked over the manual, and the blink pattern is 2,7… which according to the manual that means:
“Memory modules are detected, but a memory power failure has occurred. If two or more memory modules are installed, remove the modules, then reinstall one module and restart the computer. If the computer starts normally, continue to install additional memory modules (one at a time) until you have identified a faulty module or reinstalled all modules without error.“
Not really sure what that means, I tried to switch to a different hard drive from a previous computer i had, but the hookups weren’t a match. Tried taking the hard drive out and just having a toshiba or crucial hard drive in, still the same issue. I’m hopeless at this point :/ All i wanted to do was play sims 4…
@kelpiimilo Memory is RAM; hard drives are storage. The instructions are to remove all the RAM modules, which are these long thin sticks inserted directly into dedicated slots on the motherboard, typically in the upper-right corner. This guide to upgrading RAM should give you an idea:
https://www.crucial.com/articles/about-memory/how-to-upgrade-desktop-memory
Your computer's manual has more specific instructions. Start here:
Each section has its own page, so proceed to "removing the memory" in the table of contents on the left and go from there.
If you can't get your computer to boot with even one RAM module inserted, and please try each module in each slot to be thorough, then it's time to take the computer to a repair shop. Many services will charge nothing, or a nominal fee, for diagnostics, so you can decide whether the repair is worth the cost ahead of time.
RAM is cheap, especially these days, so if one or more modules are failing, that would be a relatively simple fix. (A quality 2x8 GB DDR3 1600 kit is around $30, and you could install it yourself.) If the motherboard is broken, that's somewhat more expensive to replace and much more complicated.
