E-Mail, Modem, And Internet Problems; Cd Drive Problems; Dvd Drive Problems; Hard Drive Problems - Dell Dimension 8250 Series 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.
l
Ensure that the sound is not muted by clicking any boxes that are checked.
l
Test the drive with another CD —
Check the speakers and subwoofer —
Ensure that Windows recognizes the drive —
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.To access help files, see
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.
Turn off Standby mode in Windows before writing to a CD-RW disc —
help file or search for the keyword standby in Windows Help. To access help files, see

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 —
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. To access help files, see
Check for interrupt request conflicts —

Hard drive problems

Run Check Disk —
1. Click the Start button and 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

HINT: Connect the modem to an analog telephone jack only. The modem does not operate while it is connected to a digital telephone network.
Check the telephone line connection —
label or a connector-shaped icon next to it.) Ensure that you hear a click when you insert the telephone line connector into the modem.
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 click My Computer. If the CD drive is not listed, perform a full scan
Insert another DVD to eliminate the possibility that the original DVD is defective.
Click the Start button and click My Computer. If the DVD drive is not listed, perform a full scan
See "Resolving Software and Hardware
Verify that the telephone line is connected to the jack on the modem. (The jack has either a green
For information on power conservation modes, see the Tell Me How
"Finding Help Information."
Incompatibilities."
"Finding Help Information."
"Finding Help Information."