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I got Dell 2.4 P4 for free

It was collecting dust in my office and once we moved I decided to take it home instead of the trash it.

Okay, Once I turn it on I get two options. I don't remember exactly what it says but it was something like:

Which operating system:
1. Windows Xp
2. Windows Xp
Both option were identical, I went for number 1.
The thing seemed to start fine, but once it was almost done loading everything it shut down by it self.
The second option gave me an error right away

So I found the winxp cd that came with the machine and installed windows.... I was able to use the computer that night with no problems.

Then the next morning when I started the pc, I got the same problem that I had before... the computer was asking me which operating system I wanted to wrong (both were the same option , both gave me the same result than last time )

After that, something click on my head that when I was installing window, I notice there was a partition in the hard drive... I'm not use to play with brand name machines... but I imagine (or heard before) that perhaps that partition has all the info to install a fresh copy of windows and I didn't do a good job.

(So the problem) I came back, and I was planning to erase that small partition and install a fresh copy of window BUT the computer shuts down itself while loading the winXP cd install.

Why would my pc shutdown by itself??? bad power supply?
After having that trouble, I started thinking that my problem is perhaps not software but hardware


leo

...perhaps its overheating. ...check the fans etc are clean & working.

Yeah my guess is overheating as well.. open up the case and run the computer... dust the thing off and see if all the fans are turning. Check for any loose wires as well. Keep it running with the case open for a while, see if anything changes inside.
If it all seems to work fine, maybe you need to swap a power supply..

an easy way to get around the dual boot problem would be to put a new drive in..and start a fresh.

As Sampson says it could also be a fan. I had one once that shut itself down all the time, it turned out the fan on the processor had slipped and only half covered it, push it back and it worked fine afterwards..

i think you could override the dual thing in the boot.ini

check in the bois to monitor the hardware temps and see if something is getting a little too hot

Leo, ...if your going to be doing work on a strange machine ...you don't want to trust certain parts.

Make a little project and tear this thing down and rebuild it, ....replacing the easy/cheap parts[PS/cpu Fans] ....along the way. Also, ...the hard drive is likely to be at least 4 years old--- too risky. ...drop a new one in.

..that's my take.


All this should be well under $100.00

That's a socket 478 so this would work....
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... 54&CatId=0

PS:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=1077

PS2: ....also pull the ram and clean the contacts w/alcohol. I'll bet that it probably only has 512mb, ... you know what to do.

In addition to what ivox said, you might want to run a diagnostic on the ram. If there are two or more sticks, try removing all but one and see if it will boot.

I had a bad memory stick once. Windows wouldn't start and I couldn't reinstall XP because it holds all of that in ram.

People on another forum were giving me all kinds of dire predictions about having to trash the whole machine because it was obviously some kind of boot sector virus from another planet.

Sorry Fran ......and don't kill me.

It's doubtful the ram is bad. Ram usually starts off bad and rarely goes bad ---- although, it's possible.

Anyway, ...the factory would of discovered bad memory and fixed it. Dell's may suck, ...but they're still tested before leaving.
But, ....if it actually turns out to be bad memory, .....most RAM has a lifetime warranty and could technically be replaced.

Quoted from another forum:

It has happened to me once...on my PC. I noticed half my RAM wasn't posting. Good thing it was Crucial RAM. The RAM was over 6 years old...I still got a replacement stick for free

Leo,

Don't forget to become a master computer diagnostic person so that you can do all these things that they're proposing.

misterasset wrote:Leo,

Don't forget to become a master computer diagnostic person so that you can do all these things that they're proposing.

Yeah, .....he is, ....isn't he ?

Thanks guys... today I was thinking... hmmm, perhaps is the chip fan not working therefore the pc shuts down as soon as it get hot

I'll take a look at it when I get home Hopefully is a lose cable, I would hate having to buy a fan (Yes, I'm in a tight budget )


BTW, my dad is visiting and I got a free 120gb hard drive and dvd writer . I might be puting that hard drive in Dell machine if I make it work

leo

NEws... Well I'm typing from my new DEll P4 1.8G... I open it up check the connections and turn it on.... Both fans were working, so I left iton (it was about 1pm) until I came back at 8pm. When I came back the PC was still on and working, so I decided to connect the ethernet cable and ppfffssss the thigh shut down

Infact, if a just touch the box the this shuts down ..... I haven't found what it's lose yet


Any idea where to start??

I think I'm gonna disconnect everything and reconect it..... if I remember how

Take the entire board out of the case, place it on a piece of foam and boot it up and let it run, thats what manufacturers do when the do inital system tests, if that works you know then that the case is somehow shorting it out and you then would need to check the screw stems and make sure that you have paper washers between your screws and your mobo, it may seem anal but it works, make sure the screw stems are only touching the area immediately around the hole, also make sure there isnt any stray metal, (ex spare screw) stuck between the back of the mobo and the case.....after that its time to start drinking cause its gonna give you a headache

My money is on the video card.

Pull the card and use the on board video, or another card. I would do this first before checking all the other numerous possibilities. Sometimes resetting that card is enough to fix the problem.