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Dell Dimension 2100 and Win XP Pro
I was just curious if anyone has had problems with a 2100 and windows XP. My friend originally had a 2100 with me, upgrade to XP home, and it started crashing, rebooting, then crashing again. This would continue several times and sometimes settle down to a point where the pc was usable.
I looked at several things in their OS, and determined the best solution would be to clean the HD and reinstall a different OS. They chose XP Pro. We installed it, and it ran good for a while, and then it started the same cycle again.
Why exactly does this PC do this? I've built a multitude of PCs and never encountered a problem like this. I currently run a AMD XP 1800 with 256 ddr and other goodies with XP pro, 2k pro and linux multiboot. I dont have a problem in any system.
It seems that Dell needs to release some Bios updates for the dimension series, that would help make it more compatible with windows XP. Can anyone suggest anything for me before tommorow night at 11 pm eastern time, for that is when I will install 2k pro on there computer unless I find a more reasonable explanation.
I've also considered the fact that they only have 128 MB of sdram. Could this be the problem? Would a chip or 2 of 256MB sd help?
Any help would be appreciated
thank you very much for your help. I appoligze for any rudeness I may have conveyed. This whole ordeal has been quite frustrating, as I've built several custom systems without an error like this.
A friend told me he had a Optiplex that started displaying similar symptoms and it ended up being a bad cpu. But I've also read about there being issues with older bioses and win XP.
I should also mention the dimension in question shipped with ME, which it never had any problems this one is displaying.
Anyhow, thanks again.
Karell
2 Intern
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2544 Posts
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Posted December 12th, 2002 15:00
Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.
Definately upgrade the memory, to at minimum 256MB.
For best performance increase to 512MB since you are using SDRAM.
Also open the system and reseat all the cables.
Make sure all cables are well seated and have firm connections.
You can download the latest bios update here.
Once you have downloaded the file, put a blank formatted disk in the system.
Double click the file, and follow the prompts to create the bios upgrade disk.
Once the disk is created, leave it in the system and reboot the system.
The Bios upgrade will occur as the system boots up, and reads the disk.
After upgrading the bios, reset the bios defaults:
**Entering System Setup Program:
Turn on (or restart) your system.
When the blue Dell logo appears, press Delete Key.
If you wait too long and the operating system begins to load into memory, let the system complete the load operation. Then shut down the system and try again
When you enter Bios, you will get a window that reads:
Dell Dimension 2100 Setup:
**Clearing NVRAM:
To clear NVRAM for all devices and restart the system, perform the following steps:
Enter the system setup program.
Press the right-arrow key to move to the Advanced menu.
Press the down-arrow key to highlight the Boot Configuration submenu, and press Enter.
Press the down-arrow key to highlight Reset Config Data. Then press the Enter key, and change the setting to Yes.
When that is done, press F10 to exit the program and restart the system.
You will want to choose YES to "Save Changes and Exit."
**Resetting the Defaults in BIOS.
Enter the System Setup Program.
Press F9, highlight Yes to Reset Default Configuration.
Press F10 to Save Changes and Exit.
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