Dell XPS 400

Hey shooters!

I recently had someone ask me how to diagnose the startup problems that can happen when working with computers. It is impossible for any one human to know the steps to take for every model of computer on the market today, so I will show you how to come to a solution with a common dell model desktop.



In this case, the computer would power up, and the system would beep. No video would display on the screen. I first thing I checked was the beep codes. They can usually be found from the computer manufactur's website. In this case here: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps400/sm/adtshoot.htm



I then reboot the system and listen. It turned out to be a Video memory test error. So I proceeded to check the onboard video. There were no other video cards in the system when I opened the case, so i took another expansion video card and added it to the machine. Reboot and the beeping is gone and the system posts fine. In this case the onboard Video has malfunctioned and we must use the added video card to use the computer :(



This is one of the many things that can occur when troubleshooting broken PC's. For more info on diagnostics and flow charts this link can help. http://www.fonerbooks.com/pcrepair.htm

Happy Shooting!