Dell 7500 manual Setup Options, Boot Routine Indications

NOTE: Before you begin any of the troubleshooting procedures, make sure the Quiet Boot option is set to Disabled in the Main menu of the Setup program. See Appendix B, “Using the Setup Program,” for information on using the Setup program.

Table 3-1. Boot Routine Indications

Look for:	Action
An error message	See Appendix C, “System Messages and Beep Codes.”
The power indicator	If the computer’s power status indicator does not come on, see
	“Troubleshooting a Power Failure” found later in this chapter.
The keyboard status	Press the <Num Lock> key, the <Caps Lock> key, and the <Scroll Lock> key to
indicators	toggle their respective status indicator. If the indicators do not light up, run the
	PC-AT Compatible Keyboards device group in the Dell Diagnostics (for
	instructions, see “Running the Dell Diagnostics” found later in this chapter).
The diskette-drive access	The diskette-drive access indicator lights up when data is accessed on the
indicator	diskette drive. You can test this indicator by inserting a diskette into the drive,
	typing dir a: at an MS-DOS prompt, and pressing <Enter>. If the
	diskette-drive access indicator does not light up, see “Troubleshooting the
	Diskette Drive” found later in this chapter.
The CD-ROM/hard-disk	The CD-ROM/hard-disk drive access indicator lights up when data is accessed
drive access indicator	on the CD-ROM drive or the hard-disk drive. You can test this indicator by
	typing dir c: at an MS-DOS prompt and pressing <Enter>. If the CD-ROM/
	hard-disk drive access indicator does not light up, see “Troubleshooting the
	Hard-Disk Drive” or “Troubleshooting the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Drive” found
	later in this chapter.
A series of beeps	See Appendix C, “System Messages and Beep Codes.”
An unfamiliar constant	Make sure the sound is not caused by the application program that is running.
scraping or grinding	The sound could also be caused by a hardware malfunction. See Chapter 5,
sound when a drive is	“Getting Help,” for instructions on obtaining technical assistance from Dell.
accessed
The absence of a familiar	When you turn on the computer, you can hear the hard-disk drive spin up, and
sound	the computer tries to access the boot files from the hard-disk drive or the
	diskette drive. If your computer does not boot, call Dell for technical assistance.
	(See Chapter 5, “Getting Help,” for instructions.) Otherwise, see “Running the
	Dell Diagnostics” found later in this chapter.

NOTE: For the full name of an abbreviation or acronym used in this table, see the Glossary in the system Help.

Setup Options

You can easily correct certain computer problems by verifying the settings for Setup program options. When you boot the computer, it compares the system configuration information with the current hardware configuration. If the computer’s hardware configuration doesn’t match the information recorded by the Setup program options, an error message may appear on the display.

3-6 Dell Inspiron 7500 System Reference and Troubleshooting Guide