[nightstar]

Hi,

I have a Dell Dimension 5150, yesterday I returned to my pc (which was turned on and downloading files from the net) to find it had a flashing amber light on the front. Searching through forums, this is usually a hard drive or motherboard problem.
I have tried booting with the hard drive plugged in, but this fails. (flashing amber lights).
When the hard drive isnt plugged in however, i can boot to a usb key (with windows 98 boot files on it).
When i plug in the DVD-RW drive, the bios doesn't recognise this drive (i have 2 DVD drives and have tried both) although i can insert disks into these drives and can hear the disk being read.

I'm assuming this means that my hard drive has given up, but at the same time i am mystified as to why the DVD drives wont work?

Thanks,

Simon

[philthomas]

Try replacing the cmos battery ... and check for bent pins (shorting) on the USB ports.

[nightstar]

Hi philthomas,

Thanks for the fast response. I have already tried replacing the CMOS battery and there is are no visible bent pins, any other ideas?

Cheers

[philthomas]

Try hooking the HDD up as a Slave to another PC and see if it functions ok.

[artpart]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Amber light is my problem.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]I can correct it (see below) and the PC is up and running. The Pc runs perfectly for Hrs, Days or months. Then I try something out of the ordinary and whoops. have to open up and reset as described. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Power Problem: The power light (Centre of start button) is steady Amber.¬ Manual says: “A device might be malfunctioning or incorrectly installed[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]a)[/SIZE] [SIZE=3]Remove and then reinstall the memory modules[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]b)[/SIZE] [SIZE=3]Remove and then reinstall any cards [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]c)[/SIZE] [SIZE=3].Remove and then reinstall the graphics card, if applicable.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]When the light is steady amber the computer is completely dead, on occasions it returns to life after carrying out, a) above. Sometimes a) does not work and I go for a) and b). This also brings it back to life. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]As far as I’m aware there is not a graphic card installed.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Any body throw some light on this anomaly. I have a sound card installed. Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS. Could this be the problem? Although the music is great.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Cheers Artpart[/SIZE][/FONT]

[artpart]

Why do my posts reprint like this?

[artpart]

Re Post Today 07/11/09 at 17:47
Anyone tell me why my post appeared with all the additional information ie: Font and size???

Cheers Art

[philthomas]

Probably because you are cutting and pasting, instead of typing them straight in.

Try copying them to Notepad first and then copy/pasting them from there.