Dell Dimension 5150 Impossible to boot from CD/DVD

I have an E510, which is identical.

Change the boot sequence in the BIOS so the CD drive is the first boot device and see if that helps.

BTW, only install Win 7 32 bit as Dell only supports Vista 32 bit (Vista drivers will work for Win 7).  Also, as 4GB of RAM is maximum in this model there is no reason to install 64 bit OS who's main advantage is being able to address more than 4GB of RAM.

Also, use the Dell SigmaTel sound driver (if you are using the integrated audio) as we have found that non-Dell drivers such as what Windows will install either does not work or does not work correctly.  Although Win 7 will install a lot of drivers you may have to install the Intel motherboard chipset drivers before installing device drivers such as the sound.  

Hi, Thanks for your reply. I have already tried changing the boot sequence, I've tried different drives and different drvie jumper setting, nothing works. Pressing F12 displays the boot options, I select CD DVD and press enter, the drive fires up and then the line 'press any key to boot from CD' appear. I press any key and nothing happens at all.

Thanks for the notes about the drivers.

I have checked the BIOS and boot from CF/DVD is selected as option 1

The only thing i haven't checked is the cable itself. Seems unlikely that this is defective!

Mike. A desperate DELL user.

The next question, is the Windows 7 disc good?  If it were a defective disc it wouldn't boot.  Do you have any other bootable DVD's that you can try? (I assume you have a DVD capable drive and not just a CD drive).  Ot at a minimum a bootable CD that you can test with.

As you have the Win 7 product key, you can download a copy (the same version), create an iso DVD (bootable DVD) and try that. 

http://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/14-windows-7-direct-download-links

Then it goes back to a possible defective drive or worst case a defective motherboard.  The CD/DVD drives in the 5150/E510 are PATA (IDE) interface drives.  The drive type should also be set to "Cable Select" (CS or CSEL) rather than Master or Slave.

However, just in case, reseat the IDE Ribbon data cable on both ends at the drive and the motherboard and then see what happens.  As you have been in the case, to replace the drive and to reset the CMOS memory, a cable may have been accidentally disturbed.

Hi SPECA,

Welcome to Dell community.

As you are trying to install Windows 7 on a Dimension 5150 which I believe was originally shipped with Windows XP, you may like to check if the computer was originally shipped with a DVD drive. Some of these computers were only shipped with CD-ROM or CDRW drives which would not allow you to install Windows 7.

Further, if you have a DVD drive installed on the computer, you may try to boot with Windows XP ( which as per you did not work ) or the drivers CD that was shipped with the computer to isolate the concern between the drive or the Windows 7 DVD.

Also, would recommend that you are sure about getting all the required drivers for Windows 7 for your computer because this was one computer that was manufactured before Windows 7 was launched and you might not be able to get all the hardware devices to work.

As you stated above that the Windows XP disc also did not work, you can try reseating the optical drive. If you have two optical drives, you can swap the connectors for both of them.

The last resort would be to replace the optical drive.

Regards

Amrinder D

Dell | Social Media Outreach | Global Social Media & Community

Hi, Not sure about the Windows disk, it is brand new and LEGAL. However I tried n XP CD that is also known to be good and that would not work either. Thanks.

Thanks,  changed the DVD for a CD drive known to be good, reseated the cables and retried with my XP boot disk. Nothing! It is odd that after pressing ANY KEY to boot from CD the system seems to hang and even pressing

CTRL ALT DEL does not restart. This machine uses a USB keyboard and there is no option to connect a PS2 device.

Regards,

Mike.

The keyboard works as you can access the BIOS  (F2 Setup).  But, it will not boot from the disc drive either with a "press any key" or directly from the BIOS as the first boot device.  This comes back to either a drive problem, but you have substituted a different drive, or a motherboard problem.  

The motherboard problem could be anything.  You need to decide if the old technology PC is worth $$ to try and repair.  You will need a Dell exact replacement as it is a Dell proprietary motherboard with a proprietary (and undocumented) front panel connection.  It is also a "BTX" style and even if you could find a non Dell motherboard it still would not fit.    

There were several part number motherboards used throughout the production cycle of this model.  The 0HJ054 part number board is the most desireable as it is upgradeable to the maximum D945 CPU and not detect an "incompatible CPU".  The other part number boards will accept the upgraded CPU's but will detect an error "Incompatible CPU" at power on and F1 must be pressed to continue with the boot.

I see many listed on e-bay.  I have no info on these as far as the sellers, if you opt to buy a motherboard you are basically on your own with any aftermarket dealer.

Hi SPECA,

We can try just one more step, before I suggest it is a bad optical drive / Optical drive port on the motherboard.

If your computer has 2 or more memory cards installed, Kindly leave only one memory card installed and then try doing the OS reinstall.

If this does not help, we can isolate the data cables connecting the optical drive to the motherboard by swapping them. The last resort would be checking this optical drive on a different computer just as you tried a good known optical drive on this computer.

If all works fine, we would only be left with replacing the motherboard.

Regards

Amrinder D

Dell | Social Media Outreach | Global Social Media & Community

If you have 2 Drives the Upper Drive aka the Master Drive must be used to boot.

Hi,

Thank you for your interest in my problem. I have one IDE port on the motherboard so I cannot try another. I took out three memory chips and tried it again; NOTHING. I did try using a utility called 'PowerSuite' by 'Spotmau' which is a "start any system" utility. Interestingly, the CD drive fired up and the 'PowerSuite' menu appeared.  I clicked the option 1 'PowerSuite' but it just went to a blanc screen. So, it appears that the CD drive is working and that the port on the Motherboard is OK. Perhaps I should try to book XP from a USB stick. what do you think?

Windows 7 is DVD media does not come on CD.

Yes I know, I am trying to go back to XP, but nothing will boot!

XP Requires Pressing Enter Just after it reads the Media.   CDRW or CDR copies will not read if recorded at 24X or 52X etc.   2X  4X 8X record speed works with most drives.  A WIN98SE startup floppy should be used then format C:  in ATA mode NOT AHCI mode.

XP setup can be run from msdos onto a formatted FAT32 drive.