Help Please...computer Stuck

teenage_Drama

Hi
im having problems with my Dell Dimension XPS T600
computer..its not one of the latest computers and when i turn it on ..it gets stuck on where it starts..the screen that says DELL in giant blue letters and https://www.dell.co.uk underneath. I have tried to restore it with my windows xp cd but it doesnt work because it doesnt say press F2 for settings or anything so i cant get the cd to play. I have even tried to leave it on for an hour to see if i get a message screen after that but i dont.


What should i do? Any ideas ?

Gadge_2

Can you get into the BIOS, it should say something like press f2 or del to enter setup, it looks like your dell may be having problems seeing the hard drive and therefore cannot boot

teenage_Drama

Nope i cant get into BIOS ..doesnt say anything about setup

Browntoa

have you tried CTRL F11 on boot to see if it has the restore partition ??

edit take that back.....too old, would be Dell restore disks

looks bad if you cannot go into BIOS ??

Tallymanjohn

I'm guessing it's running Windows 98 or ME? If so, have you got/can you get a boot disk & see if you can start the system with it. Once you're at a DOS prompt, first see if your c: drive exists & then run chkdsk /f. Forget that - didn't read your post properly - as others say, getting into your BIOS is a priority so you could try unplugging it, remove the battery for a few minutes & then put it back. This should force the system to start by getting you to reset date etc. in the BIOS - you can then set the boot priority to access your CD drive.

teenage_Drama

Its windows xp.. i dont think there is a battery in da computer : \

Gadge_2

Are you using a USB keyboard or a PS2 one, of so try removing any usb bits and bobs and get it back to a pure desktop with PS keyboard and mouse and then turn it on again

is there a A03 number on the screen that you can see under the DELL bit

if I am right your dimension should be at A10 bios and this may need to change
but we have to get it up and doing something first


if this does not work then open the tower ,remove the battery for 20 minutes and replace it and start again but remove power when playing inside


Good Luck

Gadge_2

Here is a link to the Dell dimension Txxx tech page which shows the error LEDs on the back of the machine

basically see what lights you have on, look them up and carry out the action

Continue the post if you get stuck!!

http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dkub/codemess.htm#diagnostic_codes

teenage_Drama

Gadge wrote:

Are you using a USB keyboard or a PS2 one, of so try removing any usb bits and bobs and get it back to a pure desktop with PS keyboard and mouse and then turn it on again

is there a A03 number on the screen that you can see under the DELL bit

if I am right your dimension should be at A10 bios and this may need to change
but we have to get it up and doing something first


if this does not work then open the tower ,remove the battery for 20 minutes and replace it and start again but remove power when playing inside
Good Luck

ah u know what..just yesterday i connect a new usb HUB to my pc..actually i had a BELKIN wireless usb so i took that out and connected the usb HUB into where the belkin wireless usb was connected (not the back of the tower) and connected my belkin usb and my phones usb(just for a few minutes cos i had to upload sum piccies) ...since then the computer has stopped working..
im not using a ps2 keyboard or a usb 1

Gadge_2

I am of a thinking that the USB devices are causing the machine to get confused with itself,

I think you will need to remove as much of the USB "accessories" and try booting the machine with a known USB working keyboard/mouse, if this does not work then borrow a PS2/normal keyboard/mouse and get the machine up

Once you have it back up you can try again

BUT WHAT was the BIOS version number on the screen typically A02 or something like that, I just checked the website and the BIOS release for a dell dimension Txxx is A10

Updating a dell bios is a breeze follow the instructions when you download the executable

I believe that the revisions of BIOS tend to allow the motherboard to interact better with the newer items that could be expected to plug into it.

So I think a BIOS flash will/should sort it out

johnmc

Don't mess with the BIOS, even if you know what you are doing.

The problem appears to be a conflict.

Unplug everything except the monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Start the PC and once in there remove ALL the USB devices from the Hardware list (control panel). Don't worry, it will still hold the drivers.

Restart the machine and it will *usually* sort itself out.



John.