Why won't my Dell Venue 8 Pro Windows Tablet turn on?

Anonymous

I was using my new Dell Venue 8 Pro Windows tablet with 32 GB (I got it this Christmas) when all of a sudden the screen went blank and turned this almost black color, with a slight glow to it. I tried turning it back on, pressing the power button and the Windows button, but it refused to respond. I plugged it into the charger and let it charge overnight, no change whatsoever. The screen still had a slight glow to it and it stayed blank no matter which buttons I pressed. I've tried unplugging it and plugging it in again, no response. The only thing that happens when I plug it into the charger is that the white battery light comes on. I tried plugging it into the computer, no difference. I had been sorting through eBooks in my virtual library on my tablet when the screen went blank on me, could this be a factor? Honestly, I have no idea what the cause for this odd behavior is, if anybody has some hints or ideas as to this problem, please respond to my question. I'm really at my wit's end! Thank you in advance, graceSGZ

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Anonymous

Ok, so I searched up a bunch of help articles on the Microsoft site and the Dell site, and I found an online manual for my tablet. I finally got it to turn on by pressing and holding the power button for ten seconds and then another ten seconds. Based on my research, I'm guessing that somehow I managed to shut off the screen on my tablet without turning the tablet itself off, and that I shut it down. Because when I got it to turn back on, it was like I had shut it down, where I had to sign in and everything. Whatever the cause, I'm glad I fixed it, and I hope that if anybody else has this same problem, my question and how I fixed it will help them too.

UPDATE: If you're still having trouble, you can try scrolling through the comments; I have posted more detailed instructions in one of the comments. :)

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147 additional answers

Anonymous

2015-09-11T02:56:04+00:00

Thank you thank you thank you!!!!

I have found my Venue in the exactly the same state, same glowing screen and no response. Only I spent about 5 min with it and then ran across your post. That's it! The tablet is working again.

Thank you for your most considerate post. You helped me a lot!!!!
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Anonymous

2015-09-11T21:06:36+00:00

You're welcome. I was literally getting ready to trash both devices, as they'd just both gone off warranty. Glad I was able to help you :-). /Alan
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Anonymous

2015-09-12T05:04:19+00:00

Having the same problem and the 10 second hold not working for me.??
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Anonymous

2015-09-17T11:48:42+00:00

I had the same problem with my Venue 8 Pro 3845 with Windows, but no amount of pressing/holding the power button would produce anything more than a brief flash of the DELL logo after about 6 seconds. I also tried the power + vol up approach, which briefly showed the pre-windows loading screen (with a progress bar at the bottom and a note that said to press f12 or hold the power/vol-up buttons to enter the BIOS), but it never actually took me into the BIOS. It just shut off again.

What finally allowed me to access windows on this device was to take off the outer case, disconnect the battery, then reconnect the battery and replace the case. I'm going to try to update to Windows 10, and I'll also look into any potential BIOS updates.

I have to say that between the crummy battery life and problems like this, my wife absolutely hates this tablet and I regret giving it to her. I can clearly see why DELL was giving it away for free. What a piece of garbage.
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