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August 23rd, 2009 02:00
Problems with XPS 410
My XPS 410 "gaming computer" and I are having a falling out! It won't play games! I've been with 3 different tech support persons by phone, 1 by chat, over the last two and a half days. NONE of them can agree to what my problem is. First of all, the first six months with the computer was problem free, after that boom. The issue I am trying to resolve is the fact that the computer no longer recognizes any pc game. I have attempted to play a variety of them, believe me. I have no problems with either audio cd's or movies, they work like a charm. I have done every diagnostic program they have asked me to do, plus some I've found (everything short of wiping the hard drive and starting over), which one of the suggested (lol, even though his computer was down and couldnt even access my account!). To top it off, I have a personal friend, who owns a computer repair business, who though hasn't laid eyes on the computer says that it's a problem with the cd driver. Wouldn't want to let him open it and void my warranty now would I? My question is simply this. Anyone have a problem of a similar nature? If I could fix the problem with simple tech support that would be great. If Dell would acknowledge there was a problem and fix it, also wonderful. My problem is I'm in limbo with a $2000 computer that doesn't do it's primary job, and that's a hard pill to swallow. Any and all suggestions are thoroughly appreciated.
fireberd
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August 23rd, 2009 06:00
First, opening the case won't void the warranty.
However, since your tech friend thinks it's a disc driver problem I have to question his diagnosis as the ONLY driver for CD or DVD drives is the bult in Microsoft driver, there are no 3rd party drivers and I've never seen a disc driver go bad unless the Operating System is corrupted and I seriously doubt that is the case. Does it recognize any CD? e.g. a commercial audio cd? a data cd?
Go to the Device Manager and check the status there. If it has an error code, such as 19 or 10 that can indicate a registry issue. If there is no error listed, uninstall the drive in the Device Manager then restart the PC and Windows will detect and reinstall the drive. If this does not fix it, suggest you repost on the Drive section of the forum so the CD/DVD drive experts can work with you.
keithg2
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August 23rd, 2009 08:00
Since you mentioned you "..have no problems with either audio cd's or movies...", I doubt your CD drive or driver is the culprit.
You didn't mention what games you're trying to play and how you're trying to play them. Are they on a CD and you run the game from that? Are they installed on your computer? Have you tried the Windows games? Have you tried uninstalling a game and reinstalling it?
Personally, I would backup all of my data/movie/music files, format the hard drive, reinstall Windows, applications and restore my data/movie/music files. It's time consuming but sometimes it's the best solution.
fireberd
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August 23rd, 2009 13:00
I missed the part that it will play audio cd's (must have been early in the day).
Best suggestion is to repost on the Gaming section of the forum, since Games are the problem. Let the Gamers help you with the gaming problems. List the games you are having problems with.