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Need Help Dimension 4600
I am fairly new to the computer stuff, and i want to upgrade my dimension 4600 so i went to Dell and got suggestions for it. they gave me two types of memory and some hard drives, i got two sticks of the 512Mb ddr ram for my computer and i also purchased a 500gig hard drive which was supposed to be a eide but came to me as sata and my power supply does not have sata connections so i will need to purchase a new power supply i guess, but back to memory ....
the memory when installed shows in the bios, and everything is showing it added, but when i log onto the computer i am getting an error saying: Alert Os is in install mode virtual memory only 258Mb, press f1 to continue or f2 to go to set up.
J2Kidder
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November 1st, 2009 22:00
Dparkfamily - Jeff here - you stated "I am fairly new to the computer stuff", so lets slow down a bit. Adding multiple NEW components to a computer at the same time is never a wise choice. No offense intended. You want to get the Memory working first, then the new hard drive once you are satisfied the memory is working OK. DO NOT purchase a new Power Supply yet. You may not need one. That would create another huge variable. I am NOT a Dell-Certified technician, however I do have 37-years experience in Computers, Mainframes & PC's. (not bragging)...
Rule # 1 in computers is "do not introduce/upgrade more than 1-thing at a time".
Let's back up...Memory first. That will give you the biggest performance boost of anything! Then we can deal with the other upgrades in a phased-approach, after that is stable. I like to begin at the basics: What Operating System are you running - XP- I suspect: What year did you purchase it? How much memory do you already have (the Dell specs indicate 512 MB with a 2.0 GB (max) ? Please also tell me if you are running an SP1, SP2 upgrade. You can quickly see all that by going to Control Panel=> System icon.
The DDR Ram is correct but could you look at a memory stick and reply with the Dell part-number? I want to check the speed, etc. I trust the Dell folks but I like to check for myself.
Please reply while l do a little more research...be in touch - Jeff
Dparkfamily
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November 2nd, 2009 11:00
Smiles, thanks for responding, first .... i am running xp home with sp3 and the specs say i can go to 2 gig max, i had a 128Mb, I replace the 128 with the 512. This is when i got the error i mentioned. I have taken a look to make sure they are seated, that are ok. so witout even thinking of the hard drive what can we do to fix the memory problem. oh and it wasw purchased 2004
like i said i am learning about this stuff, but i have not installed the hard drive was gonna do that later, i just realized when i opened the package to inspect it that it was a sata and not eide.
J2Kidder
43 Posts
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November 2nd, 2009 14:00
By pressing the F2 during a boot you can get into the SET UP utility. As I call there is BIOS setting called OS Install Mode. If it is On / Enabled,
set it to Off / Disabled and Save & Exit.
Let me know. Jeff
Geek77
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January 6th, 2010 00:00
Thank you very much Jeff. I had a similar problem with my Dell 4600 where I upgraded my RAM and the computer didn't recognize it. I followed your advice tonight and bingo, it worked! Now do I Enable it again or leave it Disabled?
And If your still answering questions, perhaps you can help me with my Inspiran 6400 too?
Thanks again!