Dell Dimensions 3000 boot Problems

wee493

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I have an older Dell dimensions 3000 series and I'm having problems with it booting. There is no OS installed on the hard drive, and i want to boot from the windows Install CD. When I turn it on I get the Dell splash screen then after that is done it says, "Strike F1 to retry Boot, F2 to enter setup utility" F1 just reboots into the same message and F2 enters the BIOS. I think the computer is fine hardware wise. I have tried resetting the BIOS and I have tried different Hard Drives and Different OS Install disk (including Ubuntu, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2003) Any suggestions or Links are Welcome! :)
 
Have you tried setting the cd rom to first boot device in the bios??

yes and I still get that message, I have also tried switching the IDE cables around. From what I've read online Power Supply Failures/Corruption is common with this model. I will try to put in a different power supply and see if that changes any results, but i doubt it.
 
Weird that it won't boot from a bootable cd, then it is a Dell after all is said and done lol

I'm out of ideas, good luck.
 
Weird that it won't boot from a bootable cd, then it is a Dell after all is said and done lol

I'm out of ideas, good luck.

Inoticed on the Back It has A-B-C-D Lights and the A & D Lights where yellow so I looked it up online and it says. "A possible floppy or hard drive failure
has occurred." For the solution it says "Reseat all power and data cables and
restart the computer." I have tried that many times, Dran you Dell :mad:
I wan to get this running so i can Move my IRC bot to it and use it as a file server.

~EDIT~
Somehow through a hodge podge of messing around, right not it is loading the Windows Installer where it copies the files to the Hard Drive:) , But it still has to boot off the hard drive once its finished copying the files.:( And there is no garentee on that.
 
Press F2 to enter your BIOS.

Find the option 'Boot OS from' or something similar. Usually under the BOOT tab.

Usually you have an order with which the BIOS will boot from. I.E. HardDrive 1st, Floppy 2nd, etc.

Select CD ROM as the 1st option and disable the rest in the list. Save the settings pop the CD in the drive and re boot.

When you've installed the OS make sure you go back to this option and set the 1st option with the Hard Drive the has the OS so that the BIOS will then boot from the HD.

Sometimes you have to do this with certain mobos. Most BIOS's have an option during POST to boot from an optical drive, hd, network etc and usually you press a function key to access this option.
 
just run a diagnoises

When I try to Run a Diagnostics I get the same message.

BUT, I have gotten it to boot into the windows CD, but it takes a long time. When it gets to the actual first screen after loading all the files...It freezes. I am going to try a different Disc just to see if it is the disc or the computer. I bet it is the computer.
 
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