# dell dimension 3000



## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

i have an older dell dimension 3000 tower that im trying to work on. i picked it up from a friend and it wont run properly. it says it runs windows xp professional with an intel pentium 4 processor and its missing its ram. when i turn it on it makes beepcode 1-3-2. it does not even display an image on the screen. besides acquiring ram what else needs to be tone. i removed the bettery and then it wouldnt even turn on for 5 seconds. all origional parts
anything will help.


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

and welcome to the Forum

It has to have Memory so that would be the first thing to get . . until you have memory in it you can't do any more testing


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

so i got the RAM installed and it booted up fine. i could not remember the passwords anymore and i wanted to start with a new computer (even tho its 5 years old) and tried to reformat it with my windows xp home eddition cd. it di not work at all and now it try to boot it and it says NTLDR is missing. if i try to format again it says there is no disk in the drive. any suggestions?


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

i just ran an ide diagnostic scan and it says i have no primary device and the secondary is not supported


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Is there a hard drive in there?

You can run diagnostics on the hard drive by downloading the diagnostic tool for the hard drive brand and making a bootable disc.

Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.

See this for how to make a bootable cd:

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f149/how-to-burn-a-bootable-iso-file-341778.html


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

there is a hard drive but i cannot get past bios now so i wouldnt know how to install that. i tried a new drive but its not working either


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

lakowako said:


> there is a hard drive but i cannot get past bios now so i wouldnt know how to install that. i tried a new drive but its not working either


thoughtb i should add that as i boot from drive, the blue screen setup comes up. i press enter to set up windows xp and agree to liscense agreement. then it says it cannot find a previous version of windows. could the problem be i only have an upgrade cd?


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

That could be the problem . . a upgrade version will first look for an older version before it installs


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## darfvayda (Apr 9, 2012)

yeah only having an upgrade CD would be a problem. especially if the drive is empty, sounds like it may have been wiped. You should try installing a linux operating system on it, like ubuntu or lubuntu(If it has 512mb of ram or less.. how much RAM did you put in?) or booting GParted from a Live CD/USB so you can look at the HDD's partition table.

Download this GParted .iso GParted - Browse /gparted-live-stable at SourceForge.net

Then burn it to a CD/DVD with a program like CDburnerXP or something, or better yet, if you have a USB stick, burn it to USB using something like Universal USB Installer
Universal USB Installer – Easy as 1 2 3 | USB Pen Drive Linux

Then boot from USB or DVD drive into GParted and look at your HDD's partition table and see if there even is an NTFS partition. The hard drive may have been wiped.

you could use the same above methods to make a lubuntu DVD/USB and boot into that and install Lubuntu to your HDD. lubuntu | simplify your computer

or go with Ubuntu if you have 1GB of RAM or more
Home | Ubuntu


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

i only have 512 mg of ram, and the hard drive is completely wiped


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

If it has the sticker on the side with the installation key, you can borrow any Dell XP reinstallation disc and use that to reinstall. It must match the version on the sticker . . Home, Pro or MCE


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

lakowako said:


> i only have 512 mg of ram, and the hard drive is completely wiped


also i could not find a way to download the lubuntu os. and im not sure which one to download.


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

Old Rich said:


> If it has the sticker on the side with the installation key, you can borrow any Dell XP reinstallation disc and use that to reinstall. It must match the version on the sticker . . Home, Pro or MCE


so if i borrowed that cd and format the computer would that fix it?


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## darfvayda (Apr 9, 2012)

On lubuntu | simplify your computer you just click where it saysGet lubuntu or [Download lubuntu (Intel x86) desktop CD]

your processor is 64 bit so it can run 32 bit or 64 bit OS, but I suggest 32 bit since the main benefit of 64 bit is being able to use more than 4GB of ram, which you're not even close to  and 32 bit drivers are generally better supported.

How many RAM sticks are in that comp? 1 x 512mb? or 2 x 256mb? If you can, try and find some more ram to bump it up to 1GB. Then you can install Windows 7 32-bit on it in trial mode for 120 days, or Windows 8 Consumer Preview 32-bit. If not, just run linux. That's all you need to surf the web and email and everything, and learning how to use linux is a great thing. The tools available are much more powerfull than in windows, and it's all free and open source.


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

the comp im trying to fix has 2 256mb ram sticks and since its so old im not sure it can handle 64 bit. if i dont have cds, can i use dvd's?


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## darfvayda (Apr 9, 2012)

yeah, makes no difference. 

2x256mb kinda bites since you only have 2 ram slots. if you just had 1 512mb in 1 slot, you could add another 512 to get 1gb, but like that, you'd have to get 2x512 or 1x1GB. I just recently scored a 1GB stick of PC-3200 off Ebay for $11.50, so that's about the going rate. I added mine to an old system with 1x512mb so now it has 1.5gb, and I'm dual booting windows 8 and lubuntu on it.


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

well iguess i gotta work on getting more ram


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## darfvayda (Apr 9, 2012)

Just work on getting lubuntu installed for now, but yeah I think being able to install windows 7 or 8 is worth the price of a stick of ram.


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

lakowako said:


> so if i borrowed that cd and format the computer would that fix it?


Yes . . You can get a reinstallation guide specific to your Dell here:

Dell Operating System Redirector | Dell


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## darfvayda (Apr 9, 2012)

you can also compile your own dell installation .iso following this guide 
Windows XP Pro OEM/SP3 Archive (Untouched ISOs)

but to be honest, not worth it... not when you can run win 7 in trial mode or win 8 CP. XPs a dinosaur and everything it can do, you're better off doing in linux.


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

thanks to the both of you i will post my results after i acquire the cd an downloads


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

i installed xp pro and it has successfully booted, however it will not let me install any programs because it says it "encountered a problem and needs to close". also because of this i cannot install the service packs and without those i cannot run updates.:banghead:


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Did you install the Chipset and other motherboard drivers?

You can go to the Dell support site, enter your Service Tag Number and download the drivers. *Be sure to use IE and do not use the Dell Download Manager!*

Just download the driver file, save it to the desktop and double click to install

On the list of drivers, click on the driver file:










Then be sure the "For Single File Download via Browser is selected and click the Download Now button here:










See this for the order they should be installed:
How to Download and Install Drivers in the Correct Order | Dell


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

i thought i installed all of them but.. i used download manager:facepalm:


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Please post a screenshot of Device Manager . . see the link in my signature for how


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)




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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Click on the + on Other devices and post what is there . .


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)




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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Looks like your drivers loaded ok . . You can delete the Universal USB controller and reboot to see if windows loads the drivers, but that is not an issue that would cause your problem. 

Look in Event Viewer to see if it logged an error when you tried to install the programs


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

found em


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Doubleclick and they will expand with an explanation of what the error was


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)




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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Looks like you need to set the time on the system . . but that is not problem . . What did you install from? . . The Dell Reinstalaltion disc?


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

i dont have a disc i dont think, i installed off a TDN OS disc. all the drivers were installed off dell.com


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

What is a TDN OS ? It sounds like the system is compromised


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

technology distribution network. thats the company name. should i reformat and just install home edition?


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

That is what I would do . . where did you get that one?


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

a friend that works for army logistics


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

It may well be designed for their specific restrictions . .


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## lakowako (May 13, 2012)

probably... ill reformat after i find the disc


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

. .be sure to delete all the partitions and start over


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## chatilingus (Mar 14, 2012)

on those older units and no orginal CD factory disks, i have used a set of 6 floppy XP install disks. i have had to go in and hook up a floppy on a number of them that had no floppy drive. anyways, i run the 6 disks and then it prompts for the cd. the neat thing about using these old XP install disks, is that it bypasses the OEM stuff and lets me put say a DELL or HP or whatever OS on a computer that is none of the listed...so in other words...i run the floppies in an HP and then put the XP disk in (whether Dell or HP or Gateway...whatever) and it picks up and installs just fine. Funny though, that when it's done, it has the OEM logo for the CD disk on the screen whether you used a DELL disk on an HP...it shows DELL, or HP disk on a Dell, it shows HP. The floppies only work for XP professional. I've had these floppies for since XP came out and you could get or download the floppy set. I've done this for now prolly 5 or 7 years and never had a problem. but like i said...my disks will only work for XP Pro. I used to have flops for Home but they long since crapped out...and i cannot find anybody that has them. The ones for Pro are real hard to find these days too. 

If you think these would help you, I'd make you some floppy copies and send them to you. If you take care of them and/or make back up regulary of them (since floppies are not very reliable unless kept very "high and dry", they'll last and believe me they are invaluble as a jump off when trying to get an OS on a system withought all the orginal stuff and/or you have a higher OS that won't install from boot for not being a IMG or OEM. Of course you're still screwed when it comes to drivers for periphs' but you just have to find them on the internt. 


i hope nobody jumps me for trying to help here. Last time I tried I got infracted so...take it for what it's worth.

Good luck


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## dellgagan (Jun 14, 2012)

Hello Lakowako

My name is Gagandeep and I work for the Social Media and Community Team at Dell. 
It seems like you need to install operating system on this computer.
DO you see the Dell logo when the system is turned on. If yes,then you need to reinstall the operating system on the computer. You need to have a windows xp operaitng system and a Drivers discs for this computer.
If you have the disc I can help you with the instruction you need to follow for reinstalling os.
We do have all the instruction available on Welcome to Dell Technical Support

Please reply for any more help from my end.

Thanks,
Dell-Gagandeep K


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