# [SOLVED] Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up



## DJLind (Nov 3, 2009)

I have a Dell Dimension 8100 (Windows ME) that I purchased new back in February 2001. Over the years I installed Window XP and an additional internal Hard Drive. I just purchased a new computer and am planning on having my daughter use this older one. However, yesterday I pulled out the second Hard Drive, leaving just the original one, and now the computer will not boot up. I reseated the memory once and retried but, after completing the progression bar, I get two short beeps and a message stating to either hit F1 to retry or F2 for the BIOS. On the back to the machine I have three green lights and a yellow in the fourth (D) position. Any insight on what I can do to fix the problem would be greatly appreciated. (Will putting back the second Hard Drive help?)

(Sorry for the lengthy description.)


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## Underclocker (Aug 13, 2007)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

Welcome to TSF.

I'm guessing your drive is IDE, check you drive's jumper setting. Should be set to Master, on some drives (most Western Digital) there are two Master settings one for with Slave present and one for without.


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## DJLind (Nov 3, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

Thanks for the reply. I totally forgot that about the jumper setting. I removed the jumper and got past that message. 

Now I am getting the following message: "Secondary Hard Drive 1 not found". When I hit F1 to continue I get "Error loading OS". 

This machine came with ME. A couple years ago I loaded XP. Do I need to reload XP? Any advice here is greatly appreciated.


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## Underclocker (Aug 13, 2007)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

Check the BIOS and make sure the drive detections are all set to auto.

Is your copy of XP upgraded from ME or a fresh install?


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## Horusrogue (Aug 31, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*



DJLind said:


> Thanks for the reply. I totally forgot that about the jumper setting. I removed the jumper and got past that message.
> 
> Now I am getting the following message: "Secondary Hard Drive 1 not found". When I hit F1 to continue I get "Error loading OS".
> 
> This machine came with ME. A couple years ago I loaded XP. Do I need to reload XP? Any advice here is greatly appreciated.


If you removed the OS drive, yes, you need to REINSTALL Xp. 
Also make sure your IDE drive is set to master and is the *first * on the 80pin ribbon cable.


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## DJLind (Nov 3, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

I am at work right now, when I return home this evening I will check the BIOS and make sure they are set to AUTO. Thanks for the feedback.

I am not sure if XP was a installed as a replacement or an upgrade from ME. I will also reinstall XP this evening and provide feedback on whether this was successful or not.

Again, thanks for the help. This is a GREAT site!!


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## DJLind (Nov 3, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

I did not get an opportunity to work on this last night but I did manage to locate my XP CD and docs. Back in June of 2005 I did an UPGRADE install from ME to XP. Does that matter on how to get past this error message "ERROR LOADING OS"? Will the CD even be read at this stage?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

You should be able to use the XP disc and do a fresh install. If your XP disc is an Upgrade version you will need a copy of an older OS.


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## Horusrogue (Aug 31, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*



Tyree said:


> You should be able to use the XP disc and do a fresh install. If your XP disc is an Upgrade version you will need a copy of an older OS.


In your case the ME disk that came with the dell.


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## DJLind (Nov 3, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

So, I should reload ME and then I can redo the upgrade to XP? I do have all the necessary disks.


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## DJLind (Nov 3, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

No luck. I can not get past the ERROR LOADING OS message. I put in the WME in the CD Drive but it does not seem to know to reference the drive. Is there something in the BIOS I need to change? HELP!!


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## Underclocker (Aug 13, 2007)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

I suspect the problem is that the system and boot drives that Windows assigned are not the same drive, one of them must have gotten assigned to the hard drive that you removed.

Don't forget to back up any data on your drive before you reinstall.

To boot off the CD, there should be a setting the BIOS that changes boot priority. Change that to floppy, CD/DVD and primary hard drive in that order.


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## Horusrogue (Aug 31, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*



Underclocker said:


> I suspect the problem is that the system and boot drives that Windows assigned are not the same drive, one of them must have gotten assigned to the hard drive that you removed.
> 
> Don't forget to back up any data on your drive before you reinstall.
> 
> To boot off the CD, there should be a setting the BIOS that changes boot priority. Change that to floppy, CD/DVD and primary hard drive in that order.


After this place WINME CD (shudder lol) into drive. Reboot system. 

Should throw you to a screen after initial POST that says: To boot off CD/DVD press any key now . . .

Boot off CD and install WINME. FULL CLEAN REINSTALL. Then upgrade to XP.


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## DJLind (Nov 3, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

I was able to get past the ERROR LOADING OS message by rearranging the Boot Order in the BIOS. I put in the WINME CD (Shuddering here as well) and a message came up asking to select where I would like to boot up from, either the Hard Drive or the CD. I selected the CD and it takes me to a blank black screen with the cursur blinking in the top left hand corner. It just sits there at this point. It does not recognize any keyboard responses at this point. Just sits quietly. Any thoughts? Thanks for all of the advice to this so far. I feel I am making progress and am almost there.


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

You can do a clean install from an upgrade disc. Assuming that's what you're looking 
to do, give this a read.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html


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## Horusrogue (Aug 31, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

Also: Are you using ps/2 or usb keyboard?


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## DJLind (Nov 3, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

I am using a PS 2 connection for my mouse and keyboard. 

Still can not get past the blank screen with the cursor flashing in the upper left hand corner AFTER responding to the Boot from the CD option. I have the WINME CD in the drive but it does not appear to be attempting to read it. Any key stroke at this screen results in nothing up until the 10th time or so, then a beep emits for any stroke attempt. 

I am thinking that I still have something defined incorrectly in the BIOS but I am not sure what that would be at this point. Again, any ideas on how to get past this issue would be greatly appreciated.


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## Horusrogue (Aug 31, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*



DJLind said:


> I am using a PS 2 connection for my mouse and keyboard.
> 
> Still can not get past the blank screen with the cursor flashing in the upper left hand corner AFTER responding to the Boot from the CD option. I have the WINME CD in the drive but it does not appear to be attempting to read it. Any key stroke at this screen results in nothing up until the 10th time or so, then a beep emits for any stroke attempt.
> 
> I am thinking that I still have something defined incorrectly in the BIOS but I am not sure what that would be at this point. Again, any ideas on how to get past this issue would be greatly appreciated.


Have you already reset CMOS? I forget. (Nether do I see it in the thread)

If so do it again and set it to fail safe defaults. Reconfigure anything (if need be) from there. ESP THE BOOT ORDER.


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## DJLind (Nov 3, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

Thanks Horusrogue. I was not aware of having to reset CMOS. I will do that this evening and make another attempt to boot. I appreciate your time with this issue!


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## Horusrogue (Aug 31, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*



DJLind said:


> Thanks Horusrogue. I was not aware of having to reset CMOS. I will do that this evening and make another attempt to boot. I appreciate your time with this issue!


Its not that you have to, its just at this point it might solve something for some unknown reason. Having defaults in place means nothing you ever did IN BIOS up to this point will be taken into account. 

Cleaner slate.

So do that and change boot order. Then retry. Check if the CD itself has scratch marks. It could simply be faulty or dirty.


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## DJLind (Nov 3, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*

JACKPOT!!! All is well. I was able to reinstall Windows ME and then run the upgrade to XP without any issues. I now have a fresh system that I can turn over to my daughter. I really appreciate all of the help. I feel I have learned a ton during this process as well. Consider this case closed!


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## Horusrogue (Aug 31, 2009)

*Re: Dell Dimension 8100 will not boot up*



DJLind said:


> JACKPOT!!! All is well. I was able to reinstall Windows ME and then run the upgrade to XP without any issues. I now have a fresh system that I can turn over to my daughter. I really appreciate all of the help. I feel I have learned a ton during this process as well. Consider this case closed!


Clearing the cmos helped?


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## DJLind (Nov 3, 2009)

Yes, resetting CMOS appeared to have resolved all problems.

What I did was I pulled the battery out of the motherboard for about a half an hour, replaced it, went in and updated the time and boot sequence to Diskette, CD-ROM, Hard Drive, put in my WinME CD and it reloaded everything without any issues. It reconfigured the Hard Drive in the process. I then ran the upgrad to XP CD and that worked perfectly. 

I never could have done this on my own. Thanks to all that offered up tips within this site!


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## Horusrogue (Aug 31, 2009)

DJLind said:


> Yes, resetting CMOS appeared to have resolved all problems.
> 
> What I did was I pulled the battery out of the motherboard for about a half an hour, replaced it, went in and updated the time and boot sequence to Diskette, CD-ROM, Hard Drive, put in my WinME CD and it reloaded everything without any issues. It reconfigured the Hard Drive in the process. I then ran the upgrad to XP CD and that worked perfectly.
> 
> I never could have done this on my own. Thanks to all that offered up tips within this site!


Np! Take care and come back if you have any issues.


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