This section provides general guidelines for analyzing software problems. See
"Finding Information and Assistance"
for a list of software resources available to you from Dell, including drivers,
utilities, documentation, and operating system backups. For detailed
troubleshooting information on a particular application program, see the
documentation that accompanied the software or consult the support service for
the software vendor.
If your computer is behaving erratically, back up your files immediately. If
your computer has a tape drive installed, see the documentation that came with
the tape backup software for instructions on performing a backup operation.
Otherwise, see your operating system documentation for information on backing up
data files.
Basic Checks:
Ensure that the application program is compatible with the operating
system installed in your computer and that your computer meets the minimum
hardware requirements needed to run the software. For more information, see
"Operating System Compatibility."
If you have dual microprocessors
installed, ensure that the application program is compatible with multiple
microprocessors. Many older applications cannot use multiple processors. For
more information, see "Multiple Microprocessor
Compatibility."
Ensure that you properly installed and configured the application program.
Reinstall the program if necessary.
Consult the software documentation or contact the software
manufacturer for detailed troubleshooting information on a particular
application program.
Ensure that you have not made an error while entering data.
Ensure that problems are not caused by a virus Use a virus-scanning
application program to check the software installation diskettes or CDs
before using them.
After you have checked the software installation diskettes or CDs with a
virus-scanning application program, you should disable the virus- scanning
application program before installing the software. You should also disable
any other application programs that are "hidden," or operate in
the background.
Verify that the program's device drivers do not conflict with certain
application programs. For more information, see "Device
Drivers."
Confirm that a problem is software-related by running the Dell
Diagnostics. If all tests run successfully, the error condition may be
related to a software problem.
Ensure that the use of TSR programs has
not resulted in a memory conflict.
Remove or confirm the possibility of a program conflict by rebooting your
computer.
Ensure that the computer's operating environment is set up to accommodate the
application programs you use. Whenever you change the operating environment
parameters, you may also affect the successful operation of the application
programs. Sometimes, after modifying the operating environment, you may need to
reinstall a program that no longer runs properly.
If dual microprocessors are installed, verify that all application programs
will operate in multi-processor mode. Many older applications cannot use
multiple processors.
If you have verified that your applications will support multiple processors
but the problem still exists, perform the procedures in "Microprocessor
Problems."
If a specific key or set of keys is pressed at the wrong time, a program may
give you unexpected results. See the documentation that came with your
application program to ensure that the values or characters you are entering are
valid.
Error messages are produced by the operating system, an application program,
or the computer. "Messages and Codes"
discusses error messages that are generated by the operating system. If you
receive an error message that is not listed in "Messages
and Codes," check your application program documentation.
Programs that use specialized subroutines called device drivers can
also cause problems with your computer. For example, a variation in the way the
data is sent to the monitor may require a special screen driver program that
expects a certain kind of video mode or monitor. In such cases, you may have to
develop an alternative method of running that particular program the creation
of a boot file made especially for that program, for example. Call the support
service for the software you are using to help you with this problem.
Many utilities and supplementary programs load either when the computer boots
or from an operating system prompt. These programs are designed to stay resident
in system memory and thus always be available for use. Because they remain in
the computer's memory, memory conflicts and errors can result when other
programs require use of all or part of the memory already occupied by these TSR
programs.
Typically, your operating system's startup files or folder contain commands
to start TSR programs when you turn on your computer. If you suspect that one of
these TSR programs is causing a memory conflict, remove the commands that start
them from the start-up file. If the problem you were experiencing does not
recur, one of the TSR programs probably created the conflict. Add the TSR
commands back into the start-up files one at a time until you identify which TSR
program is creating the conflict.
Some programs may leave portions of their setup information behind, even
though you have exited from them. As a result, other programs cannot run.
Rebooting your computer can confirm whether these programs are causing the
problem.
Memory address conflicts occur when two or more devices try to access the
same address in the upper memory blocks. For example, if a network expansion
card and an expanded-memory page frame are assigned an overlapping block of
addresses, a memory address conflict arises. As a result, when you try to log in
to the network, the operation fails.
To resolve this type of conflict, you can change the address of one of the
devices. For example, in the case of the network expansion card and
expanded-memory page-frame address conflict, you can move the network card to an
address block in the range of CC000h through D0000h. To reassign the expansion
card's address block, refer to the documentation for the card.
Problems can arise if two devices attempt to use the same IRQ.
To avoid this type of conflict, check the documentation for the default IRQ
setting for each installed expansion card. Then consult the following table to
configure the card for one of the available IRQs.
NOTE: The following
table lists default IRQ settings. In computers with Plug
and Play capabilities, you can modify the defaults. If you install a
Plug and Play card in a Plug and Play computer, the computer automatically
selects an open IRQ if any are available.
If your computer loses power and beeps constantly but does not boot when
power is restored, the BIOS settings may be
corrupted. However, these symptoms can be caused by several different problems.
Before you restore the BIOS, check the beep codes
and diagnostic lights to see if a specific
problem is identified. Otherwise, perform the following steps to restore the
BIOS:
Turn off the computer and disconnect it
from its electrical outlet.
Go to a different computer that is working
properly, and download the BIOS update utility for the computer from the
Dell support website.
NOTE: After you
download the BIOS update utility, generate the BIOS recovery utility. To
generate the recovery utility, you can use any functioning computer. You
do not have to use a computer of the same type or model as the
malfunctioning computer.
Go to http://support.dell.com.
If this is your first time to use this website, complete
the one-time registration.
Click Downloads for Your Dell.
Enter the Service
Tag Number for the computer or select the appropriate Dell system.
Select the appropriate OS
and language for the malfunctioning computer.
Select FlashBIOS Updates for the
download category.
Click Go.
Follow the instructions on the screen to
download the BIOS update utility.
NOTE: For some Dell
systems, you are given a choice to create a diskette containing the BIOS
update files or to download a file you can use from the hard drive. Select
the choice to use the file that requires no installation mechanism, or
application. This allows you to download a file that you can use from the
hard drive.
Go to an MS-DOS prompt.
Change to the drive and file path where
you downloaded the utility.
Type the command xxxxx
-writehdrfile (where xxxxx is the name of the BIOS update executable
file on the diskette) and press <Enter>.
This generates a file with an .hdr extension, and a
message appears indicating that the .hdr file has been written.
Copy the .hdr file to a blank,
formatted diskette.
NOTE: This diskette
does not have to be bootable. All operations for the recovery utility are
performed by the BIOS, and no boot files are required.
Insert the diskette into the diskette
drive of the malfunctioning computer. Then turn the computer on.
The computer automatically regenerates the BIOS from the
diskette.
Remove the diskette from the diskette
drive so that the computer does not boot from the diskette the next time you
start the computer.
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