My windows vista machine is having trouble booting up. During the bootup process the screen shows Dell , bios 1. something and F2 for setup or F12 for boot menu. The machine will allow me to choose either F2 or F12, but of course I don't know what to do from that point. If I don't choose f2 or f12 the computer will continue to boot up and start running Windows Vista but the screen shows basically black and white dashed lines over a green and blue back ground. It's as if the basic DOS part is working but the Window overlay, at least the video presentation part is corrupted. So, my question is, is this problem just a Windows Vista software problem? Maybe just SIMPLY reload the operating system type of thing? More likely the Hard Drive is starting to fail. If it is slow to spin up up, the boot can fail. AS for Vista, you should be able to make a repair to the OS itself without the need for a fresh install.

Here is good tutorial on Vista repair.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/repair-windows-with-windows-startup-repair/
Read it over fully before you try it. Done correctly, it should help, not hurt. The site the like above has a good reputation for giving correct advice.

Please not the above e is only for repair to the OS. It does not really fix a weakness of the hard drive itself.
In a stark bit of coincidence, I have only just gotten a Dell Inspiron 531S system to fix up.

In an even bigger coincidence, I'm seeing nearly the exact same issue.

First I found the HDD had failed, which prevented it from trying to boot at all. So I swapped in a different drive and WENT to install Linux Mint. It is very unstable however and very SHORTLY after getting to the GUI it will show a bunch of dashes going down the screen and the system is unresponsive.

So far my suspect is the graphics adapter, since it is built into the motherboard and uses the System RAM, I have been performing a Memory test. It has not shown any problems so far but has yet to COMPLETE a full pass.

I'll try to remember to update this thread if I make any progress, however my prognosis so far hasn't been very good.

For your case I would suggest running a Memory Test. you can use memtest86 for this- you'll need another system that can burn a CD-R disc, but from there you should be able to boot your Inspiron to the disc and run the test. general rule of thumb is to allow it to run overnight. If it shows any errors than the Memory is bad, and you may want to have somebody take a look at the system to determine which memory modules need replacing or to further diagnose the problem. I'm sure myself and others would be happy to help via the forum, but of course I understand that such things are often a colossal bother for those not interested in the field.An update on the system I am dealing with.

The memory test was clean. I was able to get it to start installing KUbuntu; though the graphics were incredibly glitchy. It was late so I ended up going to sleep figuring I'd deal with the installed system in the morning. In the morning, however- the system was off, and it no longer turns on.

Turns out the Power Supply failed. I was able to get it to power on with a backup power supply (which is of course not small enough to fit in the case itself, because the system uses a TFX form factor)

My suspicion is that this was also causing the Graphics issues. My "solution" is to replace the Power supply. I'm replacing it with a new TFX form-factor supply and I'll see if that resolves the issues I was seeing on the system- if they persist I will replace the graphics card, but I think the PSU was failing and that was causing the issues on the system.

Anyway, getting back to the Original Posters Inspiron 531s, given the similarities, I'm apt to also suspect the power supply, especially given that, looking online, it seems that the 531s power supplies have a lot of issues with failure.

I don't mean to monopolize the thread with Inspiron 531s issues, but since I'm doing some research and testing with the exact same system that is having almost the same symptoms it can be useful information for deciding how to proceed with the system to get it working again.THANKS for the info. from my trouble shooting description, you can tell I'm not too savvy when it comes to working on computers. But i'll share yours ideas with our local computer repair shop guys. thanks