E-Mail, Modem, And Internet Problems; Cd Drive Problems; Dvd Drive Problems; Hard Drive Problems - Dell Dimension 4500 Manual

NOTICE: Do not attempt to clean drive heads with a swab. You may accidentally misalign the heads, which can render the drive inoperable.
Clean the drive — Use a commercially available cleaning kit.

CD drive problems

HINT: High-speed CD drive vibration is normal and may cause noise. This does not indicate a defect in the drive or the CD.
Adjust the Windows volume control —
Ensure that the volume is turned up by clicking the slidebar and dragging it up.
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Ensure that the sound is not muted by clicking any boxes that are checked.
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Test the drive with another CD —
Check the speakers and subwoofer —
Ensure that Windows recognizes the drive —
scan with your antivirus software to check for and remove viruses. Viruses can sometimes prevent Windows from recognizing the drive.
Clean the disc — See the Tell Me How help file for instructions on cleaning your CDs.
Problems writing to a CD-RW drive
Close other programs — The CD-RW drive must receive a steady stream of data when writing. If the stream is interrupted, an error occurs.
Try closing all programs before writing to the CD-RW.
See the CD-RW program's Help file for CD-RW recording instructions —
instructions on how to record CD-RWs.

DVD drive problems

HINT: Because of different regions worldwide and different disc formats, not all DVD titles work in all DVD drives.
Test the drive with another DVD —
Ensure that Windows recognizes the drive —
full scan with your antivirus software to check for and remove viruses. Viruses can sometimes prevent Windows from recognizing the drive.
Clean the disc — See the Tell Me How help file for instructions on cleaning your DVDs.

Hard drive problems

Run Check Disk
1. Click the Start button, and then click My Computer.
2. Right-click the drive letter (local disk) that you want to scan for errors, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Tools tab.
4. Under Error-checking, click Check Now.
5. Click Start.

E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems

Click the speaker icon in the lower-right corner of your screen.
Insert another CD to eliminate the possibility that the original CD is defective.
See "Sound and Speaker Problems."
Click the Start button, and then click My Computer. If the CD drive is not listed, perform a full
Insert another DVD to eliminate the possibility that the original DVD is defective.
Click the Start button, and then click My Computer. If the DVD drive is not listed, perform a
See the CD-RW program's online help information for complete