I have a XPS L-701X. It's been pretty much great since I bought it. Just this morning, I got to the computer (I usually leave it on) and the screen was black with a pointer cursor, and nothing else. The cursor moved, but there was no other signs of life. Powering the machine off then on, it brought up screens that there was a problem with the computer and it proceeded indicate that it was searching for solutions, then went into a screen indicating disk errors were being repaired - and that this might take over an hour to complete. After this screen would clear, the computer restarts, the black screen and cursor appears again, letting that cook for a while, the computer goes back into disk repair mode. Looping through this.
???
I'm running Win 8.1 Preview, and the Synapse touch pad and Nvidia drivers are versions beyond the final updates logged for the L-701X.
I can't get into the restore mode by pressing F8. I can't get into Safe Mode, either. I've looked at Microsoft's tech notes on this, and it seems that you can only access Safe Mode by restarting from the OS, which requires an operating OS.
I'm thinking it's a graphics driver crash. If I could get in somewhere to reinstall that, I might be fine. Just a guess.
Any thoughts?
I'm going to go and get drive enclosure, another hard drive, get the data off drive, and start rebuilding - unless I hear otherwise.
Thanks!