Comments on: More Dell woes

By: dean

dean — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 21:14:21 +0000

I have a 4550 that I replace the power supply, still no startup, then replace with a different Dell MB and still no startup. I replace the memory still no startup, replace video card, still no startup. Jumper the PS and the fan run! How can I jumper the push button switch to see if this is the problem?

By: dave

dave — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 14:49:33 +0000

Posted earlier about a power supply problem with my Dell dimension 4500. Talked to another computer guy and he suggested i have a Trojan problem and that i should reformatt my hardrive. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Could this be the problem or is it a hardware problem. Anyone else tried doing this and were successful? I would like to know.

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 01:45:56 +0000

Hey Guys,
I’ve got a bad 4600 Power supply also, my idea is to box it up with a nice letter informing Dell of the crappy PS there putting out. I figure if they get all there bad PS’s back and a big influx of crap maybe they will see the light. It’s gonna cost me $3 to ship it. What do you all think?

By: dave

dave — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 04:26:01 +0000

Hoping someone can help. I have a Dell Dimension 4500 ( bought in 2003). After the first year a new hard drive was installed. Experienced the blue screen of death. And just before christmas this year (2005) the machine would just shut itself down. Sometimes it would restart and sometimes it wouldn’t. Had to shut down using the power switch and then restart. Took the machine to a computer guy. Said it sounded like a power supply problem. It sat on his bench for 8 hours and the machine shut down twice with the original power supply. He attached his own power supply and it sat for 5 hours with no problems. We purchased a refurbished power supply from Dell ( couldnt get a new one- even though we paid the same price for it.) I was told we couldn’t use another type of PS because Dell machines were periphial. Computer guy installed the PS , but it still does the same thing. What is the next step to repairing this computer. Hoping it doesnt cost too much. I’m thinking we just might have to live with the problem until the machine just dies.

By: PSU_Replacer

PSU_Replacer — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 02:23:17 +0000

The PSU in my 4600 died this month, exactly a year after it was bought. DELL only ships “refurbished” supplies now, with a 90-day warranty. Given my experience, and yours, I’m going to buy a new ATX supply at Compusa. Thanks, everyone.

By: Budget_Comp_Repair

Budget_Comp_Repair — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 04:05:17 +0000

I just wanted to say that I too have a 4600 and I have ran it 15-24 hours a day since new. Air cleaned system once a month and have not had a glitch out of it. I am very impressd with my DELL !

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 20:25:36 +0000

Add one more PSU dead on 4600. co-worker asked me to swap out a motherboard for him. being a fool i agree. he told me the problem(push the button & nothing) i asked if it was power supply? he said he paid geek squad 50 some dollars to diagnose the problem, they told him MOBO was dead. and PSU checked out ok. So he calls DELL (warranty expired) they send out a refurbished board, and tell him he needs a new video card also!!!!!???? Without thinking (google’n) I rip out the mobo put in the new one, with original vid card (cause i knew it should be fine) NO BOOT!!! i see the light on the motherboard, and tell myself it has power…this is where i should have run a search and found this site! i pulled the wires out of the front panel switch, thinking the switch had worn dead
cross the wires and nothing!! ok now im scratchin my head.. run a search finally..AND FIND THIS AWESOME SITE THANK YOU!!!! i had a Thermaltake 420w power supply just hooked up the 20 pin and 4pin, crossed them wires and blammo! posted and fired up (erred due to no drive power) solution found. called coworker told him to order a switch and get a RMA on this new hardware he didn’t need..

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 18:15:01 +0000

Same problem as everyone else: Computer would not start, even though the little “flea” light was lit up on the motherboard. I purchased a new power supply from:

http://store.911forpcs.com/911forpcs/dedi2446posu.html

and got it the next day! After installing it, it still would not start; but after investigating further, I discovered that I had plugged the wrong 4 pin socket onto the motherboard. After connecting the right one, everything was fine and the computer works better than ever. One caveat regarding this replacement power supply from 911forpcs-it’s VERY noisy.

By: Nate

Nate — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 13:59:53 +0000

Add me to the 4600 list. I bought two 4600’s and one died 6 months ago when it was just 1 month out of warranty. Since i wasn’t going to pay Dell stupid money to fix it i just started using my second one. Then yesterday that one failed too. Same problem. The flea light on the mother board is on but it just won’t turn on. Given all these issues, there should have been some kind of recall on the 4600. So i guess its off to COmpUSA to buy a power supply this morning.
Seems like these guys (www.lieffcabraser.com) are researching a class action but there is no info on where they are with that.
Glad i found this website.

By: Big_Al

Big_Al — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 05:13:06 +0000

I have a Dimension 9100 which lacks parallel, serial, and 1394 on board IO. Any suggestions for a motherboard that will fit the Dimension case?

By: Mike_G

Mike_G — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 02:22:51 +0000

It’s a darn shame, what an opportunity miss by Dell: I have a nice 3 year old Dell 4600 that stopped working New Year’s Day. When I went through the Dell Diagnostics and emailed their support folks I received a response in 2 hours (very impressive !!). Unfortunately, the mis-diagnosis was “the motherboard needs replacement”. After reading this forum I simply replaced the PSU with an Antec ATX 350W Smartpower from Best Buy and I was back up and running in 15 minutes. Now if Dell had simply said “the PSU is bad, you can replace it with any standard ATX model” I would have been delighted with the response.

By: Dan_O

Dan_O — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 14:10:03 +0000

I had a Dimension 4600 with the same issue.

1) Just would not power up one day.
2) After being plugged in for an hour or so would make a Vroom noise an cycle power to the fan. If you pushed the power on switch during this cycle, the PC would actually power on.

3)On shutdown, the power would keep cycling and the lights on my CD and DVD drive would keep lighting.
4) Small light on Mother Board was still lit.

Solution:

1) Replaced power supply with an Antec 350W Smartpower 2.0 – Purchased at Comp USA. It was about $60 and took 10 minutes max to install. Fit like a glove!

1) Took off left side cover of PC.
2) Released processor cooling baffle.
3) Used black spring clip to release the processor cooling fan to gain better access to the cooling fan.
4) Removed old PSU and noted location of all connection
5) Slid new unit in secured with screws. Plugged in all devices and wire tied extra leads. The main connection to the motherboard suuport both 20 and 24 pins. tou can released 4 pins if you don’t need them, which is what I had to do.

6)Buttoned unit back up and it is running Great!

After this experince and the poor support, I will NEVER buy a Dell computer again!!

By: crazzjack

crazzjack — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 04:00:52 +0000

Well can you believe this one??? I bought a Dell 8400. I ordered it with everything they could put in it. Paid almost $1,800 for it. Had problems with it since day one. I call tech support and they want a credit card # so they can bill me for support. I even purchased the extended warranty.I got a $1,800 piece of junk that I cant even get tech support for.

By: craig

craig — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 18:22:56 +0000

new Antec 350 watt PSU from best buy, and we’re up and runnin.

went to the lieffcabraser.com website to file my complaint

By: Richard Lamoureux

Richard Lamoureux — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 18:22:49 +0000

As a favor to a friend I checked a Dell Dimension 4600. No power. Told them to get PS from Dell. Replaced PS but when I hit the start button it just blinks. It does not have the LEDs on it. I watched and the Motherboard has a light that comes on but the fan doesnt respond and the computer just blinks…I would think that the replacement PS, which was purchased from Dell, would work, even with the horror that I’ve just read about. So what would you recommend as a follow-up. I’ve seen suggestion such as jumpering the green wire to the black wire and pulling out all cards with just the motherboard left and than trying to turn it on. All of this sounds a little much and I would think that there is some easier way.

Anything you might suggest would be appreciated.

By the way, I enjoy Microsoft Windows XP Inside-Out. It is very informative.