New computer doesn't work??

[Skiz]

I've got a brand spankin new Dell sitting next to me, but when I turn it on, I get nothing on the monitor. This is the same monitor I've been using for years. I plugged it back into the old PC and it worked fine. Its an LCD with a DVI plug.

The screen just stays in sleep mode.

wtf??

[Virtualbody1234]

Does the computer power on?

Any LED(s) on the tower?

Any fans running?

Any beeping sounds?

[Skiz]

Let me first say that this PC has a bit of history. I don't know the history, but it has some indeed. I got it in a dark alley out of a car truck from a pretty lazy-eyed fellow. It's a Dell XPS700. 1000W PSU, TWO NVidia 7900GTX 512mb, 2gb of ram, etc, etc, etc.... I bought it for almost nothing, though it is new, in the box, and still has the clear wrapping all over it.

I got it home and things just didn't seem to work right from the get go:

Well, at first I was totally baffled. Everything seemed perfectly fine when booting the computer initially, but ultimately, nothing would even start. I took the side panel off (the computer is an XPS700). Whenever I would power up the PC, the two graphics cards fans would only spin maybe a half a revolution, then stop. I knew right there that this was a part of the problem.

I was at least halfway through typing a response to this around 6 hours ago when I had a thought. I remembered seeing brass showing on the video card terminals - A LOT of brass. I though maybe they weren't plugged in properly. Well, I was correct, they weren't. I got both cards set in their respective PCI slots properly and restarted the computer. Both graphics card fans began spinning and I thought my troubles were over. They were just beginning.

The moment Windows would start loading (perhaps 10-15 seconds in), an error would arise called lsass.exe and Windows would restart. It was an endless cycle if I let it go on. I tried more things than I could possibly name right now. Again, I've been at it for 6 hours.

The partitions were laid out as such:

The first was around 38MB. I assume this is the boot info.
The second was the C drive with Windows Media Center already installed.
The third was (if I remember) around 30,000MB.

What I realised after a while, is that Media Center is just XP Pro with extras. While I was doing these re-installs, everything was always labeled as XP Pro. I figure the F partition (third part) was the info that made it the Media Center.

Anyways, I tried deleting the XP Pro via the BIOS and re-installing. Nope. Blue screen of death appears eventually.

I tried uninstalling Media Center and installing XP Home. Nope. Blue screen of death appears eventually.

I tried re-installing, creating new partition, installing XP Home in an attempt to run that and un-install Media Center. Nope. Blue screen of death appears eventually.

I think tomorrow I'll try running LINUX and uninstalling everything that way, then buy a new Media Center key.

Any suggestions outside of mine??

I'm anxious to get this machine running.

[Virtualbody1234]

What do you mean by "eventually"?

[Neva]

What bluescreen did you see? Can you give us bluescreen stop code (its "stop 0xnumbers")

Another possible is that there is virus(like sasser or someother virus).. have you tried start win xp in SAFE Mode (press f8 at booting to get menu then select safe mode) if you can start it in safe mode then you can fix it.

Another possible its that your memorys are damaged you can check that they ok with memtest program get it http://www.memtest86.com (one or more errors and that means memorys are broken and should be replaced)

if that does not work or mems are ok then use partition magic or anyother hard disk partition tool to repartion you hard disk and format ->then install win xp pro
back

[tesco]

What do you mean installing xp pro via the bios?
Try using an XP Pro install disc if what you're using is a backup partition on the computer.

[peat moss]

Sorry but had to laff when I read the thread title . New Dell doesnt work . You get what you paid for ,maybe it was dropped off a truck literaly.

[Virtualbody1234]

Sorry but had to laff when I read the thread title . New Dell doesnt work . You get what you paid for ,maybe it was dropped off a truck literaly.

It sure sounds like it. How else do graphics cards pop out of their slots?

[zapjb]

How much did you pay the crackhead?

So safemode doesn't work nor recovery console & no driver & recovery discs?

If it's just a software problem. Then imo the only critical thing is having all the drivers.

If indeed it's just software & you do have all the drivers.

I'd do the following (different apps will work also):

1. Darik's Boot Nuke - nuke the HDD
2. Acronis Disk Director Suite - format choosing ntfs file system & active partition
3. Install XP
4. Install drivers

[suprafreak6]

yeah im eager to know the price you paid, id say anything over 150 isnt worth it