My wife's Dell Optiplex SX280 computer fails to boot up. the screen message which flashes on states
Previous attempts at booting this system has failed at checkpointThis message is only on the screen for seconds, then nothing. I have tried putting in the start up disc to no avail. Can you help??

Will it boot to Safe Mode. If so, once in Safe Mode, open a Commadn Prompt and run chkdsk as follows:

Click on Start then Run, type chkdsk /r and press Enter or click GO.

You will get a window that says:

The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be
checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)

You type Y and press Enter.

Reboot and go into Safe Mode again. Chkdsk should run. It can take quite a while depending on how large the hard drive is, so be patient and let it complete undisturbed.

If you can't boot to Safe Mode, do you have a Windows install CD? If not, download and run ARCDC by Artellos. It will download the required files from the Microsoft Web site and create a .iso file. It will also offer to burn the iso image to a CD for you. If you don't do it then, there is a good freeware burner called ImgBurn which will do it at a later time. If you're unsure how to do this, you can follow the tutorial here: How to Burn an ISO File

Boot the CD and at the first opportunity, enter R to start the Recovery Console.
Next, choose which XP installation you want to login to. Normally this will be 1.
Lastly you will be asked for the Administrator password. Just press the Enter key as the Administrator does not have a password (unless you gave it one, then you would enter it).
From the command prompt, enter: chkdsk /r
Allow it to complete undisturbed. It can take an hour or more depending on the size of the hard drive.

Remove the CD, type exit and the computer will reboot. Hopefully that will have fixed the problem (corrupted file system).

Hi
I have down loaded the ARCDC idsc, tried with no effect. I have followed the downloading instructions to the T. The original statement Re. failed at checkpoint still comes up.
Can't get any further. golfjack

Not sure what you did or didn't do.

Can you boot to Safe Mode?
Were you able to create the Recovery Console CD?
Were you able to boot it and did you run chkdsk?

Start hitting F8 as windows is booting up. If you are able to pull up the advanced boot options, scroll down to disable automatic reboot. Hit enter. Now scroll to safe mode with networking. If you are able to completely boot tell us. Otherwise tell us on which is listed last upon boot failure. If you do not get a list of files while booting up then you did not select safe mode. See this for me information

Hi
Still unable to boot any way. As I have said the screen only flashes on for about 1 second with the notice stating( This is the complete notice) Previous attempts at booting system has failed at checkpoint (ithr)
golfjack

Originally Posted by golfjack

Previous attempts at booting system has failed at checkpoint (ithr)

Oh that's a hardware error specific to dell.

Originally Posted by http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/topic/45171-dell-gx280-ithr-problem/page__p__235115#entry235115

Hi,

I'm currently investigating the boot-up problem known as a [ITHR] problem for my work.

ITHR refers to the Internal Thermal Probes on the CPU. These probes check the temperature of the CPU. When something's wrong with the probes (or when the system detects something wrong with the probes due to the possible problems below) the system stops booting and it just gives following errorscreen

"Alert! Previous attempts at booting this system have failed at checkpoint [Ithr].
For help in resolving this problem please note this checkpoint and contact Dell Technical Support"


What can cause this error?

Well, this is the problem since quite a variety of problems can trigger the error.

1: the bios can be malfunctioning (a bios reset or flash can give a solution)
2: the cpu can be malfunctioning (this requires a new cpu)
3: the cpu socket can be failing (this requires a new mb)
4: the problem can be with bad usb sockets
5: even a bad uplink to a usb hub can cause this error to appear.

I've already got quite some info on this error and possible solutions, but it would be great to learn more. Can anyone give some more info concerning this problem? Causes or solutions ... ? Anything is welcome. Thx in advance ...

Out of all those possible problems/solutions #1 (as well as it's "fix") concerns me the most. Lets start with the USB. I'm seeing multiple posts in that thread that mention that. Start off by disconnecting everything from the usb ports. Then turn it on and try it out. Tell us what happens.

Hi
I've disconnected keyboard & mouse with the same results and the statement still the same
Golfjack

Well the CPU can be replaced provided that you can find the socket number (I have been unable to do so). Doing so would be tricky due to it's size unless you are a computer technician. These processors aren't made anymore so you'd have to get it from ebay. However if it is a motherboard failure there isn't much you can do about it. You could try to flash the bios and that might fix it or, if that goes bad, it could permanently incapacitate your computer. At this point I'm not sure how much more I can help you but perhaps someone else will have something. Perhaps it's time to get a new computer.

Dear Townsbg
Thank you for all your advice, it is very much appreciated. It looks
as though I'm flogging a dead horse as the saying goes.
Golfjack