What PC Model Number?  What Operating System?   Too many different Dell's and we can't give you specific advice without it.

Many Dell's have diagnostic "beeps" at boot up if there is a problem, do you get any beeps?   Also, many have diagnostic lights either on the front panel of the tower or on the rear of the motherboard.  In addition the color or flashing color of the power indicator light can also aid in troubleshooting.

The error message about previous attempts at booting.... suggest a corrupted (or possibily a failed) hard drive.

Operaitng system:windows xp Home edition (service pack 2)

Model: dell workstation 360 serires

Model #:DHM.....

is that enough,sorry I'll post more later,I have to go school.

There are many possibilities for a Dell "DHM" model. 

Do you have an Optiplex 360?

It's a precision worstation 360 series....

Well the message was......"Alert! Previous attempts at booting this system have failed at checkpoint {EMem}. For help in resolving this problem please note this chekpoint and contact Dell Technical Support."  =3

HELP PLZ PPL!

I added MORE INFOS,please check it out,

I hope someone can really help me with this,pleaseeeeeeeeeeee.............

Power off an unplug from the wall. Press/hold power button on tower for ~15. Open the case and remove the motherboard battery. Press/hold power button again for ~30 sec. Reinstall the battery (right-side-up!) and see if it boots with only mouse, monitor and keyboard connected.

Ron

Yehs it worked!!!!!!!!

I was able to get pass the splash screen....(DELL STATUS TIHNG AT THE BEGGINING)..Then right after that it did the "Performing automatic IDE COnfiguration thing...Then it listed all the primary device and tuffs(ex.primary master:cd-rom etc)...

After everything loaded,I gon another ALERT! error, stating that Previous thermal processor failure.SO I then checked tthe system event log(set up utility thing)...and it said "CPUO TEMPERATURE" like 10 times.It also said CMOS BATTERRY error,but I think that's because I reinstalled the battery....So I think it really is an overheating problem..but what's causing it?

After that I was able to load into windows....But then after about 5 minutes it freezes, and dies off again( just like before)..when I turned it on,it went to the splash Dell screen(bios screen),and shutted off after 3 seconds.SO then I just kept repeating this process(reinstalling battery and so on) SO what exactly is causing my computer to freeze and shut off by itself? I checked the fans(I opened it while its on) and both fans work(idk if theres more)....so I don't really know what the problem might be.

HELP PLEASE

Either the fan isn't working, the heatsink

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

isn't properly attached, and/or the heatsink failed. Don't run it too much more until you figure out the problem or you might fry the CPU. 

Ron

First thing I would is to confirm that all fans and ducting including heatsink are clear of dust and debris. A computer from 2003 especially one that is a server is bound to have collected dust bunnies over the years. Also remove heatsink and remove old thermal paste and reapply new compond. The old paste is bound to be dried up and thermally inefficient by now. Power back up and see how long it runs. Either it is good or there is a hardware malfunction with the mb temperature sensors or driver issues with all the different software loads you were attempting to install. You should not be loading HP home sp2 over xp pro in the first place. Use one version and reload all the drivers fresh. Complete all windows updates as well. Good Luck.

   Ok, THANKS!I'll try those ASAP but I like don't have any thermal compound haha,can I get it from longs?

oh and I don't really know how to remove the heatsink and fan...

and Ive checked the fans,the small one spins,and the big one(near usb ports),BUT is that all the fans?Also I don't reallly see that much dust...just some on there...

But yeah ,thanks a lot.

Please stay in touch,and I hope I'll be able to solve this problem...

Also do you think it could be caused by the reinstallation(since it was the wrong cd)?

SHould I reinstall ti first w/ the right CD?

Reinstalling Windows isn't going to help with an overheating problem. Besides, you wouldn't be able to keep it running long enough to install Windows, which may take ~1+ hours.

There's probably a fan on the CPU too. The link in my previous post is to the manual for this system. It tells you how to remove and reinstall the heat sink, with pictures, even! :emotion-5:

You probably want to ask a geeky friend to help you with this. Thermal paste such as "Arctic Silver" can be bought at PC shops and on line. You don't need to use very much so the smallest  tube is probably sufficient. Otherwise, you may need to take the system into a repair shop and tell them about that temperature error message.

BTW: The forum will be upgraded starting at midnight Central Time tonight until next Monday evening. So none of us will be able to post again (you can still read posts) until the upgrade is finished.  Let us know next week how you're doing.

Ron

echizen18

Directions for cleaning and applying thermal compound, are HERE.

Bev.

      Aite ,thanks...I don't think Irlly need a geeky friend....

I just learned about it,and I'm pretty confident that I can do it on my own...

SO I just replace the thermal paste right?and I'll check all the fans tooo....

Well thanks!!,Hope next week it's already fixxed 0-0

http://cgi.ebay.com/2Pcs-1g-CPU-Thermal-Paste-Heatsink-Compound-Grease-E023_W0QQitemZ220568804141QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item335aecdb2d

ALSO, do u think this is good::

Oh!!!!I din't check the fan in the power supply,if that one's working...

It's making a pretty  rough noise too.......

Could that cause the overheatting?

Yup!

Ron