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A question for ye ole' techies.
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Tora_Frogg
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Joined: 05 Oct 2007
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Location: King George, VA

PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 2:38 pm    Post subject: A question for ye ole' techies. Reply with quote

I'm kind of in and out of this place at random at this point, but I was hoping that maybe you guys could help me help my Mom out.

She's got a Dell Optiplex GX270.

It runs decent for having low RAM and a small HDD.
Windows XP loads right up on it and aside from being a bit slow runs fairly smoothly.

But there are two issues with it that I just cannot seem to find a solution to.

1) When you shut down the computer the power button and status light in the front blink green then amber. Back and forth . . . constantly. The thing doesn't shut down completely. I opened the case and find that the fans are still running, although slowly and quietly, and the hard drive is clicking like a car trying to turn over.

2) Although it will boot to windows and go past the dell splash screen just fine, I cannot access the boot menu, the safe mode options, or the BIOS. I can ONLY allow it to boot directly to windows. When I do hit the necessary keys to reach those options (BIOS, etc.) the screen goes blank. And that's all it does.


I would very much appreciate if you guys could help me fix this for her, because if the computer is ok and these are fixable, I have a Hard Drive and RAM upgrade that I want to install for her for her birthday.

Thanks again in advance.

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princeben07
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 10:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Okay, first off, the Dell Optiplex is a very, very OLD computer. While you would have to do a few things to get it up and running like new, I've some tips and secrets TO that particular model that will help you get it to sailing.

DELL Optiplex GX270 or Better

1. The Processor for that particular model is very fast; it's just that noone knows how to FULLY utilize its speed.

2. The BIOS is tricky to get into.

3. 512 Megabytes to about 1 Gigabyte is about all that you need for an Optiplex Series.

4. I'd recommend Windows XP Professional if you do not have it installed already.

5. If the screen is going blank while trying to get into the BIOS Setup to check out the Specs, then chances are that the video Card might be having some issues as well.

6. If the RAM is DDR1 or Even PC-133, that Kind of RAM is very INEXPENSIVE to purchase.

7. A hard Drive or 160 Gigabytes or better is always a good solution to an older computer. The reason being is that smaller hard drives use up space quickly, even for Windows XP. If you have a very large hard drive, you are less likely to have the computer slow down during loading and while it runs programs. The free space will be managed better, and Windows XP can create a larger paging file, which is simply free space that is allocated as if it were actual sticks of RAM.

8. Consider buying a NEW Video Card for an old computer. As long as you have PCI Slots on the Motherboard, then putting in a good video Card will also help to speed up you computer as well. A GOOD Video card can be purchased for almost nothing, and this a whopping 512 Megabytes of DDR1 ON the Card itself. That will improve pressing power, and take a LOAD off the RAM as well.

9. Run a GOOD Anti-virus and Registry Cleaner everyday to keep the computer from being filled with junk files.

I could list a few hundred things to do about your mother’s ol’ Optiplex, but that would be a certain pending doom of boredom, lol. You should follow these 9 rules and SHOULD get you on your way to a NEW Optiplex in NO time!!!

One last thing: ALL Dell Optiplex and Dimension computers have a power saver mode. You have to MANUALLY go into Control Panel, then find the "Power/Battery Options" in order to change how the computer will act once you power it down. It is probably STILL on either Hibernate or Sleep mode, and you have to MANUALLY change that. Hope all of this helps.

And for the BIOS Menu, just hit either the F2 key, or the delete key or f1 RIGHT when you see the Dell Splash Screen. Just press it repeatedly until you see the word "Entering Setup."

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Tora_Frogg
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:

5. If the screen is going blank while trying to get into the BIOS Setup to check out the Specs, then chances are that the video Card might be having some issues as well.

And for the BIOS Menu, just hit either the F2 key, or the delete key or f1 RIGHT when you see the Dell Splash Screen. Just press it repeatedly until you see the word "Entering Setup."


Thank you for your help. I do know how to get to the BIOS Menu, but the problem, as you stated above is that the screen is going blank while trying to get into BIOS. I haven't noticed any other issues with the video card, but I'll take a look into that. Is there anything else that may be the problem?


Quote:

One last thing: ALL Dell Optiplex and Dimension computers have a power saver mode. You have to MANUALLY go into Control Panel, then find the "Power/Battery Options" in order to change how the computer will act once you power it down. It is probably STILL on either Hibernate or Sleep mode, and you have to MANUALLY change that. Hope all of this helps.



I went into the Power battery options and checked all the settings. Everything is set to Max Battery (No Standby for monitor, hdd, or system) and Hibernate is disabled. I shut down the computer after checking all of this and it still does what it did before.

1) Lights Blinking

2) Fans spinning

3) HDD Clicking

Anything else that might be the issue?
Maybe the case intrusion switch (which I was going to test by disabling in the BIOS, but I can't get to the BIOS)? I don't know what the hardware part of the case intrusion switch looks like as I've never had a system with one.

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hikaru
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 8:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Power supply may not be properly shutting down.

Personally, I'd re-image it with a fresh XP load. It could be something software causing wonky issues. If that doesn't fix it, buy a new computer. You can get killer kits from Tiger Direct starting for $200!!

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princeben07
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Joined: 06 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 5:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The power supply has absolutely NOTHING to do with what he/she is talking about!!!

Chasis Intrusion has nothing to do with it EITHER!! Why do these idiots keep putting in their two cents? We don't take that kind of currency; just pay ATTENTION now and later on, we'll re-imburse the fee.

Tell you what; do this;

Boot the computer up FULLY. And then, try holding IN the power button to see if Windows XP will shut DOWN. Don't hold it in TOO long, or it will just shut OFF, and you will damage the Operating System without it saving the settings.

Try that; if that doesn't work, we have other options to try.

Please, do NOT listen to the idiots who CLAIM they know something. I've been doing this for almost 16 years, so just keep cool.

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princeben07
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 5:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I went into the Power battery options and checked all the settings. Everything is set to Max Battery (No Standby for monitor, hdd, or system) and Hibernate is disabled. I shut down the computer after checking all of this and it still does what it did before.

1) Lights Blinking

2) Fans spinning

3) HDD Clicking


If it is a Desktop, then MAX battery should NOT be set. If it is a laptop, then that would be an issue we'd have to address seperately. ^_^

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anthony
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 7:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Optiplex is a Desktop.

The fact that the fan is still running indicates that it has not powered down completely. Probably just gone into some sort of deep sleep/hibernation.
Some computers may restrict access to BIOS/boot options if it has been woken up from a sleep/hibernation, to avoid data loss.

The case intrusion switch is there mostly for business use, in that it can be used to alert administrators that a PC has been opened and parts may have been nicked. (Yeah, people used to nick RAM out of PCs before, back when RAM was RAM and EDO was a dream)

In the Control panel, 'Power options' applet, go to the 'Advanced' tab, and check the setting for the 'On/Off-switch'
This must be set to 'Switch off'

If you're ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY CERTAIN that the PC has shut down, you could unplug the power cord for a moment or two.

Running regcleaner every day is just a waste of time.
Once every month is plenty, unless the computer is being used by someone who installs every crap piece of SW that comes around on Cover CDs(and buys lots of magazines with them)

A full defrag of the HDD may help speed it up.
Adjusting the page file to a proper size helps even more.
Moving all user files out of C:\documents and settings\userxxx\ REALLY helps.

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tijn
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 12:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

anthony wrote:
Adjusting the page file to a proper size helps even more.

System-controlled size usually works fine for me. Any reason I should set it to a fixed size? (2 x ram). I could not detect improvement. I've tried moving it to another disk, to another partition or even to other types of disk (logical disks, or those infernal spanned types that windows is so fond of). Didn't seem to make any difference (not noticable to me, anyway). You can't beat a fast disk.

However one should adjust (check) this setting after adding ram. Default after install appears to be 'fixed'.

anthony wrote:
Moving all user files out of C:\documents and settings\userxxx\ REALLY helps.
Why and where to?
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anthony
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 2:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Page file seems to work OK at the system suggested sie, but I have seen time and time again that if you upgrade your RAM, that the file doesn't change to reflect this, and that manually setting it will increase performance.
I use the 'suggested size'(listed furter down on the page) as the minimum size, and add a couple of GB to that for the max size.
The file must NEVER be set to a fixed size smaller than physical RAM.

The rule of the swap file placement is 'On the most used partition on the least ued disk. The theory is that by being on the 'most used partition', the heads are closer to the file, and on the 'least used disk' so that it's free when the OS needs it. Saves you from all kinds of suck when some sort of 'quick-starter' is loaded when you log in, and it starts loading .DLLs which mostly goes directly into Swap-space...

Ideally, the file should live in it's own disk, but if it is destined to go on C: because you don't have an alternative, it should really be set to a fixed size as soon as the OS is installed. If not, you may end up with a fragmented file, later. (A system-controlled file can shrink, and as we all know, Windows throws files wherever it can... )
A couple of fragments doesn't do much damage, but in a nearly-full disk... OUCH!

The 'documents and settings' problem...
Anything in the folder 'usersxxx'(or whatever the username is) is counted as the 'User Profile'
Windows tries to keep special track of anything in the Profile, and the more files you have, the more physical memory is used continuously.
Feel free to test this out.) As the profile size increases to more than the amount of RAM, shit happens. Get it large enough and the user may end up with problems logging in.
(Profile size can be found in Control Panel/System/'Advanced' tab')

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princeben07
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 2:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"The Page file seems to work OK at the system suggested sie, but I have seen time and time again that if you upgrade your RAM, that the file doesn't change to reflect this, and that manually setting it will increase performance.
I use the 'suggested size'(listed furter down on the page) as the minimum size, and add a couple of GB to that for the max size.
The file must NEVER be set to a fixed size smaller than physical RAM."


Probably the SMARTEST answer I've seen in this thread thus far.
And if only ONE person is using the computer and really doesn't have that many programs running in the background, then defragging a hard Drive really is a good idea, JUST for maintenance, but I wouldn't recommend it. I've seven hard drives and they run incredibly fast, though they are Almost full of music and software.

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Styx
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 2:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Assuming your using the power button to turn it off and not going through the start menu.

Go to the Control Panel (Classic View) Go to Power Options, click the Advanced tab and make sure the power button option is set to "Shutdown" not Sleep or Suspend.

Also getting to BIOS on a Dell or any OEM machine can be tricky if your used custom built boxes you got to find out which key or key combination it uses something like the "F2" key or "Ctrl+F2"

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JediFur
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

princeben07 wrote:
The power supply has absolutely NOTHING to do with what he/she is talking about!!!

Chasis Intrusion has nothing to do with it EITHER!! Why do these idiots keep putting in their two cents? We don't take that kind of currency; just pay ATTENTION now and later on, we'll re-imburse the fee.


princeben07 wrote:

Please, do NOT listen to the idiots who CLAIM they know something. I've been doing this for almost 16 years, so just keep cool.


You may have been doing this for almost 16 years, but you obviously haven't learned any manners along the way. Hikaru is a properly trained server administrator that has probably got just a TEENSY bit of experience doing what he does.

Might I suggest that you refrain from rude comments and antagonistic behavior - especially when you don't know who you're insulting?

Oh - and for what it's worth, my experience has told me that someone who replies to a post with "I've been doing this for X years..." usually indicates that they're a technician I can't trust. I certainly hope you're the exception to the rule, since this person is relying on your advice.

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Tora_Frogg
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 2:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've changed the setting from Max Battery to Home/Desktop.

All Standby settings are 'Never'

Hibernation is Disabled.

Power Button is set to 'Shut Down' (But I don't use that to shut it down.)


I shut down the computer by going through the start menu and selecting 'Turn Off'

Windows Logs Off
Monitor Shuts Down

Still Blinks, Fans Spin, and Drive Clicks.


(I'm also taking note of the information not directly related to my problem, as I rather enjoy learning.)

Again thank you all for your help.

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Syrius
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not forgetting what Beno said, about the power supply...

A normal power supply wouldn't do that. But this is Dell we are talking about. Kings of the Proprietary Design So You Have To Buy THEIR Parts At THEIR Price. Can you try a regular, generic power supply and see if that works? (Unless the connector is also proprietary.)

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hikaru
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My brain must be frozen stiff or something.

Those old Dell computers are notorious for having bad capacitors. Look on the board for the big barrel looking suckers sticking out of it and see if they look nice and smooth/round, or are they bulging in the middle? If they're bulging, you have a bad motherboard and it's time for a new computer.

TigerDirect.com is selling a QuadCore computer kit for $200 right now. You might check them out and build her a new one. Or build yourself a new one and give her your hand-me-down. Smile

Cheers!!

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