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When Dell’s Go Bad

 

I am responsible for keeping 250 PC’s up and running 24/7. Every single one of those PC’s is a Dell

So I can share with you the most common problems I have encountered and give you some advice on how to deal with it.

Remember chances are you will never have a problem with your Dell but if you do:-

In no particular order

1) Faulty Memory: Run the diagnostics from the Dell CD, Try re-seating the memory, try swapping the memory simms about. Try new memory.

2) Faulty Hard Disk: At the bios screen hold down Contol-Alt and Press D. This will perform a quick diagnostic test. If it fails contact Dell Technical support immediately. If your hard disk is making a loud clicking noise. Backup immediately and contact Dell Technical support.

3) Faulty Heat Sink or Fan: If your PC’s fan is unusually loud like Hoover loud your heat sink or fan cant keep the system cool enough. Contact Dell Technical support.

4) Motherboard Problems: In the picture below I have circled 4 Capacitors. Notice the first one is totally flat but 2,3 and 4 all all raised. Those capacitors are faulty and would cause the system to blue screen and eventually die.

cap

Tip: Always get 3 year warranty with Dell equipment as all the above items would be covered.

Tip: check out Dell’s Support Forums: Link http://www.dellcommunity.com/

If you would like to add to this article do so in the comments.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2007 at 8:46 am and is filed under Blog Entries, DELL, Tech Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “When Dell’s Go Bad”

  1. Sean McDonald Says:
    June 14th, 2007 at 11:45 pm

    Colin
    Thank you for providing effective tips and recommendations for Dell customers. Also I enjoyed the mention of Dell Support Forums. The Dell forum is one of the teams I manage and we welcome your feedback.
    Cheers
    Sean

  2. Colin DiPonio Says:
    June 15th, 2007 at 8:01 am

    Thanks for leaving a comment Sean.

    Because Dell is a big part of what I do (Supply & Support) it makes sense for me to talk about what I know.

    At the moment I think Dell are in a good place.

    Reaching out to the community (ideastorm and direct2dell)
    Cool Products (Like XPS and the like)

    But what has much improved is the Telephone Technical Support. A few years ago when the outsouce to india first happened The service was pretty bad. I am glad to say it’s got a lot better.

    The support forums are of course a fantastic resource. Keep up the good work.

    Colin

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