Look And Listen; Table 1-1. Boot Routine Indications - Dell OptiPlex N Troubleshooting Manual

L
ook and Listen
Looking at and listening to your system is important in
determining the source of a problem. Look and listen for
the indications described in Table 1-1.
Look/Listen for:
An error message
The monitor's power
indicator
The keyboard indicators
The diskette-drive access
indicator
The hard-disk drive access
indicator
A series of beeps
An unfamiliar constant scrap-
ing or grinding sound when
you access a drive
The absence of a familiar
sound

Table 1-1. Boot Routine Indications

Action
If your system documentation contains an appendix titled "Beep Codes and System
Messages," see that appendix. Otherwise, see Chapter 2, "Messages and Codes," in
this guide.
Most monitors have a power indicator (usually on the front bezel). If the monitor's
power indicator does not light up, see "Troubleshooting the Monitor" in Chapter 5.
Most keyboards have one or more indicators (usually in the upper-right corner).
Press the <Num Lock> key, the <Caps Lock> key, and the <Scroll Lock
gle the keyboard indicators on and off. If the keyboard indicators do not light up, see
"Troubleshooting the Keyboard" in Chapter 5.
The diskette-drive access indicator should quickly flash on and off when you access
data on the diskette drive. On a system running a Microsoft
system, you can test the drive by opening Windows Explorer (in Windows 95 or
®
Windows NT 4.0) or File Manager (in Windows 3.x or Windows NT 3.51) and
clicking on the icon for drive A. On a system running MS-DOS, you can test the
drive by inserting a diskette into the drive, typing dir a:, and pressing <Enter>.
If the diskette-drive access indicator does not light up, see "Troubleshooting the
Diskette/Tape Drive Subsystem" in Chapter 6.
The hard-disk drive access indicator should quickly flash on and off when you access
data on the hard-disk drive. On a system running a Windows operating system, you can
test the drive by opening Windows Explorer (in Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0) or
File Manager (in Windows 3.x or Windows NT 3.51) and clicking on the icon for drive
C. On a system running MS-DOS, you can test the drive by typing dir c: and
pressing <Enter>. If the hard-disk drive access indicator does not light up, see
"Troubleshooting Hard-Disk Drives" in Chapter 6.
If your system documentation contains an appendix titled "Beep Codes and System
Messages," see that appendix. Otherwise, see Chapter 2, "Messages and Codes," in
this guide.
Make sure the sound is not caused by the application program you are running. The
sound could be caused by a hardware malfunction. See Chapter 7, "Getting Help,"
for instructions on getting technical assistance from Dell.
When you turn on your system, you can hear the hard-disk drive spin up, and the sys-
tem tries to access the boot files from the hard-disk drive or the diskette drive. If your
system boots, see Chapter 4, "Running the Dell Diagnostics." If your system does
not boot, see Chapter 7, "Getting Help."
If after looking and listening to your computer you have
not resolved the problem, continue with "The System
Setup Program" found next in this chapter.
key to tog-
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Windows operating
Checking the Basics 1-3