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Dell Dimension 3000
Hello people,I have a Dimension 3000 that is about 4 years old and has been thru many service Technicians.I feel that before I get a Labtop I should see if I could bring her back to life one last time.
So here's my problem....
First it was the internet that started acted nuts,I could not use any search engine or go to any blogs.Next thing you know I use system restore and it only let me back one day,that really puzzled me.So I decided to pull out the big guns and use my XP reinstallation CD,it starts working for one day then it goes sour.
This is when everything bad happens......
I try to install the XP CD once more only to be halted by a graphics error,I was peeved.It was then I realized that the only option was safe Mode,so I tried that and got the same results but worse.
Now my Computer chooses to take me as far as The Windows screen where I choose my sreen name,after that it just freezes.
I tried booting up the XP CD again but failed miserably....
Note:The Delll Resource CD works perfectly but does nothing.....
Please Help
The_Namek
2.8K Posts
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August 6th, 2008 13:00
44Reasons,
If that 3000 hasn't had a clean OS reinstall done on it in the 4 years you've had it then now is definitely the time. The internet problem you describe sounds like you may have had some malware or a browser hijacker of some kind. Not sure exactly what you did with the OS CD but it seems as if you may have reinstalled XP on top of itself (commonly known as a 'dirty' install...not recommended) twice.
Is this Dimension the only desktop computer you have? If not then you can try taking its hard drive out & installing it as a secondary drive in the other machine so you can get any important data you might have stored on there transferred off.
44Reasons
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August 7th, 2008 05:00
So how would I actually go about fixing the so called problem?
Since you mentioned something about a Harddrive,I'm guessing I have to replace it somehow.
I recently came across this item and thought what the heck,I might as well try to install it myself with the help of this community of course.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-40Gb-Hard-Drive-Dimension-3000-2400-4600-8200-8300_W0QQitemZ200244400941QQihZ010QQcategoryZ64460QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemTell me what you think,will replacing the harddrive work for my situation.....Please help......
The_Namek
2.8K Posts
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August 7th, 2008 12:00
Well that's definitely a hard drive. You don't really need to replace your current one though. What I was saying in my previous post is that if you have any important files on the hard drive that won't boot into Windows & want to retrieve them you can try taking that hard drive out & installing it as a secondary drive in another desktop computer (if you have one) so you can get that data off.
To actually fix the software problems you're having you need to format the hard drive in your Dimension 3000 and reinstall Windows, drivers for all your hardware devices & any programs you use. Instructions for how to do that are located on the Dell support site & tons of 3rd party computer help web sites.
ieee488
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4 Operator
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11.1K Posts
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August 7th, 2008 12:00
44Reasons
5 Posts
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August 8th, 2008 06:00
Allright I think I get the Jist of what your trying to say.I am going to go ahead and look into reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling the OS.
Thx for all the help The_Namek and everybody else....
Wish me luck......
44Reasons
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August 8th, 2008 08:00
Well I formatted(or partioned) my hard drive and I am still facing problems.The OS still won't boot from CD,I am about to give up as we speak.
Please help....
Note:The way I erased the files was I added my hard drive as a secondary hard drive on my other computer and went to My Computer...
I really think this comp is trashed,thats just my opinion.......
The_Namek
2.8K Posts
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August 8th, 2008 13:00
44Reasons
5 Posts
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August 9th, 2008 06:00
The way I am trying to get the computer to boot the OS is by pressing F2 at the splash screen and putting on the OS Install Mode.
Another way is I press F12 and pressing enter on the IDE CD-Rom Device.I even tried to just let it run by itself without pressing anything on the splash window but it just shows a blank screen for hours on end.
I'm really lost on this one.....
Thx for the Help
The_Namek
2.8K Posts
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August 9th, 2008 19:00
Turning on OS Install Mode in the BIOS isn't going to help you. All that does is limit the amount of RAM the system uses during the operating system installation to either 256 MB or 512 MB (can't recall which from memory).
Using the one-time boot menu you get to by tapping F12 during startup is the preferred way to go. Do you already have the OS CD in your drive when you choose CD-ROM Device from the menu? If so you should see a message that says "Press any key to boot from CD" appear a few seconds after you choose CD-ROM as the boot device. If you don't see this message (it only shows up for about 2 seconds) & you do already have the OS CD in the drive then you may need to clean the underside of the disc.