Just wanted to say sorry about the =COM= match. On a lighter note I got back from vacation yesterday to have my cable connection out until today. But before it went back up, I had the bright idea to install the intake fan on my computer. When it was all said & done, I restarted only to get a message saying my boot device can not be found. So, I am now on my other computer typing this. If you guys don't see me for a while that is why; on the other hand if you do see me, take it easy on me..this computer is so old it was actually used for dial up @ one time

I am waiting for a new hard drive from dell in the meantime, so hopefully talk to you guys later. Also, if anyone knows of any way I might be able to recover some of data I would appreciate any help.

Also, kipp your still gay & no one enjoys any of your B.S. so maybe you should take your lame crap to a forum down to your intelligence level. Maybe Bah, =7=, or {BOM}

QUOTE (Panzer @ Aug 16 2003, 01:27 AM)

Just wanted to say sorry about the =COM= match. On a lighter note I got back from vacation yesterday to have my cable connection out until today. But before it went back up, I had the bright idea to install the intake fan on my computer. When it was all said & done, I restarted only to get a message saying my boot device can not be found. So, I am now on my other computer typing this. If you guys don't see me for a while that is why; on the other hand if you do see me, take it easy on me..this computer is so old it was actually used for dial up @ one time I am waiting for a new hard drive from dell in the meantime, so hopefully talk to you guys later. Also, if anyone knows of any way I might be able to recover some of data I would appreciate any help. Also, kipp your still gay & no one enjoys any of your B.S. so maybe you should take your lame crap to a forum down to your intelligence level. Maybe Bah, =7=, or {BOM}

Dell sucks. On my previous Dell laptop, I had 7 - 8 hardware items replaced in 2 years. My previous laptop was a toshiba, no problems at all in 4 years (but you can't use a Pentium 120 anymore, can u ?)

I've always had Dells. Reccomended about 14 or so to date for friends. I had to call Customer Service twice - once for a fan and the other when I slammed my mouse down and broke it.

That's it.

QUOTE (realdeal @ Aug 17 2003, 01:04 AM)

I had to call Customer Service twice - once for a fan and the other when I slammed my mouse down and broke it. That's it.

My Little Pony can be challenging.

Typical.

QUOTE (realdeal @ Aug 16 2003, 11:04 PM)

I've always had Dells.  Reccomended about 14 or so to date for friends.  I had to call Customer  Service twice - once for a fan and the other when I slammed my mouse down and broke it. That's it.

Nice Epacy! Yeah, I have always had dells as well. I never knew anything about computers, so since dell's customer service was so great...(allegedly) I have always bought them.
After this happened, I thought it might be some setting I was not aware of, so I spent an hour on the phone with some lady I couldn't understand, who I could tell was reading tech support off of the internet. She told me that my hard drive was broken & they were sending me a new one. I went & hooked up my hard drive on my other comp as a slave & I could see all of my files, my damn operating system is pooched again.

QUOTE

(Panzer Aug 17 2003, 01:12 PM) I went & hooked up my hard drive on my other comp as a slave & I could see all of my files, my damn operating system is pooched again.

Ok, but that could happen with any computer.

I'd put my stock dell up against any home made AMD any day of the week. It may not beat a home built in every single category up to the last number but I guarantee it is close and that I have less problems with mine.

Granted, I just dislike the fact that the parts are cheap. And that in order to modify anything it really is a pain in the a$$. They also claim how good their tech support is, I could have called best buy & received better tech support then that!

Its possible it could be a static problem from the installation of the intake. IE, if you touched something in your computer and were not grounded out or plugged something in and board had electricity on it. Why not unplug the intake and see if it boots. Might want to try this and does work. Unplug the back of your pc and turn of the switch. Take a screwdriver to the back of your pc where the three MALE prongs are and touch two of them together for about three seconds. This will drain the excess electricity from your pc. Then plug it back in and boot. I dont know what kind of HD it is but there is a common problem with pc's these days having thier HD's jumper on single or master. Moving it to cable select is usually the best option if its not already thier. If all else fails then clear cmos. Its a simple process and usually the one that fixes a lot of problems. Good luck!

dont know about that I have had my home built main rig for 1.5 year (upgraded CPU 2 times MB once and added 2 extra HD 1/2 a tyrabyte ) its been running for all that time 24/7 and been restared every couple of weeks I have never had a problem

my file server is my old comp home built as well its been running for almost 3.5 years 24/7 and almost never restarted damm things a trooper I dont think it will ever die

and my sisters comp is the oldest one I still have running its a AMD 350 and its been runing forever with no probs other then the shit my sister downloaded and fucked up the OS but as soon as I reinstalled the OS she fired back up and is running strong(thats why shes not on my network LOL)


in fact the longest my comps have ever been down is during that power outage they were down for a wooping 28hrs I am a die hard home builder and all I have to say in my best stoner dell kid voice is "Dood I am never getting a dell" LOL

QUOTE (=C O M= Bouncer @ Aug 17 2003, 02:46 PM)

Its possible it could be a static problem from the installation of the intake. IE, if you touched something in your computer and were not grounded out or plugged something in and board had electricity on it. Why not unplug the intake and see if it boots. Might want to try this and does work. Unplug the back of your pc and turn of the switch. Take a screwdriver to the back of your pc where the three MALE prongs are and touch two of them together for about three seconds. This will drain the excess electricity from your pc. Then plug it back in and boot. I dont know what kind of HD it is but there is a common problem with pc's these days having thier HD's jumper on single or master. Moving it to cable select is usually the best option if its not already thier. If all else fails then clear cmos. Its a simple process and usually the one that fixes a lot of problems. Good luck!

I unplugges the computer b4 I touched anything, I touched the metal on the case to ground myself out. I immediately tried unplugging the fan and hooking it back up to how it was with no luck. I kept getting a message saying "boot device not found" The jumper was already on cable before I did anything. The HD is a seagate baracuda 80GB.

how is the fan connected to the MB or to the power supply

QUOTE (Panzer @ Aug 17 2003, 06:36 PM)

QUOTE (=C O M= Bouncer @ Aug 17 2003, 02:46 PM) Its possible it could be a static problem from the installation of the intake. IE, if you touched something in your computer and were not grounded out or plugged something in and board had electricity on it. Why not unplug the intake and see if it boots. Might want to try this and does work. Unplug the back of your pc and turn of the switch. Take a screwdriver to the back of your pc where the three MALE prongs are and touch two of them together for about three seconds. This will drain the excess electricity from your pc. Then plug it back in and boot. I dont know what kind of HD it is but there is a common problem with pc's these days having thier HD's jumper on single or master. Moving it to cable select is usually the best option if its not already thier. If all else fails then clear cmos. Its a simple process and usually the one that fixes a lot of problems. Good luck! I unplugges the computer b4 I touched anything, I touched the metal on the case to ground myself out. I immediately tried unplugging the fan and hooking it back up to how it was with no luck. I kept getting a message saying "boot device not found" The jumper was already on cable before I did anything. The HD is a seagate baracuda 80GB.

Judging by the techie comments of most players using this Forum, most of you are probably more knowledgeable than Dell's support staff. Whenever I've called Dell's tech support, the wait times for a representative are long (they used diffent service centers in Canada than the U.S), and they aren't helpful. As Panzer said, they read you information which is posted on the Internet. Of my 7 - 8 hardware problems, the worst was when my hard drive crashed, and everything had to be reinstalled. Total time to get my system up & running required 15 hours of my time.

I'm happy that most folks seem to have had good experiences with Dell. I just think that they've got a lot of room for improvement.

P.S. my problem was with a laptop - I understand the reliability of their desktops is substantially better. My P120 Toshiba laptop was great - even dropped it a few times, and it kept on ticking !

QUOTE (Panzer @ Aug 17 2003, 06:36 PM)

QUOTE (=C O M= Bouncer @ Aug 17 2003, 02:46 PM) Its possible it could be a static problem from the installation of the intake. IE, if you touched something in your computer and were not grounded out or plugged something in and board had electricity on it. Why not unplug the intake and see if it boots. Might want to try this and does work. Unplug the back of your pc and turn of the switch. Take a screwdriver to the back of your pc where the three MALE prongs are and touch two of them together for about three seconds. This will drain the excess electricity from your pc. Then plug it back in and boot. I dont know what kind of HD it is but there is a common problem with pc's these days having thier HD's jumper on single or master. Moving it to cable select is usually the best option if its not already thier. If all else fails then clear cmos. Its a simple process and usually the one that fixes a lot of problems. Good luck! I unplugges the computer b4 I touched anything, I touched the metal on the case to ground myself out. I immediately tried unplugging the fan and hooking it back up to how it was with no luck. I kept getting a message saying "boot device not found" The jumper was already on cable before I did anything. The HD is a seagate baracuda 80GB.

PANZER, you ought to quit your day job and become a supervisor in Tech support for some hardware company. You seem to know more than most tech support staff.

Only problem is, I would have to pick up a foreign language! LOL

I thought it was funny when you said they didnt speak english well. Its well known that dells phone support hardly speak english.
Have you tried clearing CMOS? Normally its done by changing the CMOS pins 1/2 to 2/3 for about three seconds or removing the battery and putting it back in. You would have to locate your manual for the location of the jumper. Also, there is a trick that works with most motherboards and thats holding down the insert key while booting. It forces optimized defaults to load in CMOS while booting.

QUOTE (=C O M= Bouncer @ Aug 17 2003, 09:50 PM)

I thought it was funny when you said they didnt speak english well. Its well known that dells phone support hardly speak english. Have you tried clearing CMOS? Normally its done by changing the CMOS pins 1/2 to 2/3 for about three seconds or removing the battery and putting it back in. You would have to locate your manual for the location of the jumper. Also, there is a trick that works with most motherboards and thats holding down the insert key while booting. It forces optimized defaults to load in CMOS while booting.

I was trying to be polite..sort of, it sounded like I dialed Pakistan. No, truth of the matter is, is that rather then waste my vacation doing that crap, I brought it in to get taken care of..one way or another. I didn't lknow you could do that through CMOS, I will have to remember that.

Thats the response everyone gives is that they sound like they are from the middle east.
Well, you sent it in so I guess its just about the wait now. You willl be back up and running soon then.

here you go, everyone

QUOTE (Kipp Da Pimp @ Aug 18 2003, 02:10 AM)

here you go, everyone

Kipp, keep it on topic please.

Whoa, kipp you need that more then we do. Use it man!!!

yea just reset the bios, you might have to get into it by pressing delete or f1 or what ever dell uses. Cause if you said you can still see your files on another computer, then the hd is fine. So try that out and let us know how it goes.

I could get in through the BIOS and tried running diagnostic on it, but, it wouldn't respond..it just hung.

QUOTE (realdeal @ Aug 17 2003, 08:38 PM)

QUOTE (Panzer Aug 17 2003, 01:12 PM) I went & hooked up my hard drive on my other comp as a slave & I could see all of my files, my damn operating system is pooched again. Ok, but that could happen with any computer. I'd put my stock dell up against any home made AMD any day of the week. It may not beat a home built in every single category up to the last number but I guarantee it is close and that I have less problems with mine.

I accept your challenge

Email me AOBTC @ realdeal@mobclan.com and we'll discuss how we will measure.

You guys could just bench off of 3dmark03

Upadate: Received my new hard drive tried to install XP & after a series of tests the drive they sent was bad as well. Once I pulled it out I realized that they never put the plate on the back that protects the drive. Good old Dell, btw I found out that most of their calls get routed to a call center in India.

QUOTE (Panzer @ Aug 22 2003, 07:28 PM)

Upadate: Received my new hard drive tried to install XP & after a series of tests the drive they sent was bad as well. Once I pulled it out I realized that they never put the plate on the back that protects the drive. Good old Dell, btw I found out that most of their calls get routed to a call center in India.

Dell builds good stuff but this one seems to be a rare instance. My only problem with them is that they do not offer AMD processors in there boxes.

Zillah

Yeha, dells are good if you don't mess with them from what I gather. I am back @ square one, so if any techies out there have any bright ideas, hook a brother up.

I will give dell one bonus; they build very quiet pc's



I don't care for their proprietary motherboards and power supplies though.

AOBTC

3dmark03 is a bad test, run something like a burn in test for a full day