Top 20 Dell PowerEdge 2500 Server Questions & Answers

are the hdd hot swapable?

you should start by re-seating the RAM first as this is a common problem. if that does not work re-seat the processor. If all that fails remove all add on cards and memory only leaving the processor and see if the beep codes change. Replace the components one-by-one to find the problem piece of hardware. HERE is a guide from Dell to tell you what the beep codes mean and also some troubleshooting tips.

Remove the cmos battery or look for where there is reset button and press to have it removed.

have you installed properly the wireless pci adapter in your dell. you could check from device manager first and make sure it is listed under network adapters and has no yellow exclamation mark. also check the range of you wireless network router. If you don't manage the access point or network, contact the network administrator to Make sure the router or access point is turned on and that the wireless signal light is illuminated. post back for follow up.

yes u need the key in order to power on the server

Call Dell with your Service Tag.
Lifetime support is included on all Dell servers.
Last time I called them I dialed (800) 945-3355
They can sell you the hardware you need and guarantee it will work with your server. They might even be able to help explain the process of installing the drives.

I recommend that you use Acronis' Imaging software (www.acronis.com) so that you can make an exact copy of your data and apply it to the replacement volumes. If you are using a RAID1 array make sure the new array is completely built before applying your image. Builds can take a long time. I created a RAID1 array with 2-320GB disks and it took 3.5 hours to build the RAID1 array.

I hope this helps.

Please vote for my solution if it helps.

Hello,

Make sure the hardware is compatiable with Server 2000. Most of the time you will run into a stale if hardware is not compatiable or windows does not have a compatiable driver for those devieces. If you have the drivers for your hardware, install those at the begining of the server install. (You will see at the bottom of the screen press F3 to install 3rd party drives. After the drivers are installed, you should be able to proced.

Good Luck,
C2Solutions

Sounds like the RAID controller has failed. I would replace this first as RAID controllers are less expensive than replacing the system board, or the server as a whole.

Suggested: PERC 5i (RAID 0/1/5) or PERC 5iR (RAID 1 or 0 only)

You can download it from a website and transfer from one drive to another. As long as all your cables are plugged in.. Set new drive as the slave drive to transfer

There isn't a power button as such on the motherboard. There will be a pin header that should say something like PWR SW beside it. The power button just shorts these two terminals out for a second to tell the PSU to switch on. You can do the same if you are careful. But as always: BE CAREFUL.

Replacing the drive does not remove the container on the RAID controller. If the drive has failed, and you had a RAID 5, simply replace the drive. If you had a RAID 0, your data is lost. Replace the drive, and start over.

Open the case of the server, and look on the side panel that you removed. It should have all of the server options detailed right on the inside of the case for you.

That "in-op" COM port is in fact, probably defective. Had many cases where 1 works/1 doesn't. Buy a cheap, PCI COM port board, install the software, and plug away!

Cheers,
gurutim

If the BIOS password, some dell's have a jumper to reset that.
A piece of software ERD commander may enable you to reset a windows account password.

Cable out ?

You can use Norton Ghost to copy your current hard drive to the new one. And when you boot the new drive, the only difference you will see is more hard drive space.

As for interfacing, since you say the drive in there already is a 30 GB, it is most likely an IDE connection. This can be identified by a ribbon cable about two inches wide running to the drive.

In this situation I would start by testing the hard drive then the RAM.
For the hard drive find out the manufacturers name and download their test program.
For the RAM test I have used a free program call memtest86 with very good results.
If the problem is the hard drive, you may be able to install a hard drive of the same size and using an imaging program copy the old drive to the new drive. Re-run the recovery program. My suspicions are that the old drive has developed bad clusters near the beginning where the operating system is and some of the files have become corrupt.
If the RAM fails the test replace the RAM and try again.

Just run Ghost in windows and follow the wizard to create a bootable floppy for your hardware

Hi, to partition a drive you would lose all information on it,
for example if i had

c: 40gb
d: 40gb
if i delete the c: partition i could make 2 partitions of for example 20gb without losing the information on d:
but for what you have you would be better deleting both partitions and recreating as one big one or to your preferences, either way you will have to install windows again, as windows will not work copying it from c: to d: .
Hope this helps

John

You can relocate any my documents folders to the D:\ drive using a right mouse click and properties to enter a new directory. When you are logged onto the appropriate account.

If you have items on the desktop (data) you can relocate them to a folder on the D:\ drive and place a shortcut to them on the desktop -- same functionality but the disk usage changes drives.

You can uninstall specific applications and reinstall them on the D:\ drive

You may be able to reassign the temporary internet folders depending on the version of Internet Explorer to the D:\ drive to reduce use of C:\ Likewise Temp if you change the JCW value.

If you are using older versions of Internet Explorer that have been updated you may be able to remove backups using the add/remove programs scenario -- do not backoff current versions there are buttons in some versions of IE to remove the backups created when updating.

Using add/remove programs to eliminate items not used. If this is a true server -- items like calculator and numerous accessories could be removed. There may be additional unused programs and services that can be removed to buy some additional space.

Anti-Virus software often keeps backup copies of signature files -- reviewing your software in that area could provide additional files that could safely be removed.

I do not know if windows 2000 had the indexing service. If it does is maintains a second directory and space of the search service is not required eliminating the associated data can reduce C:\ drive space requirements -- if necessary the associated files can be relocated to the D:\ drive.

In the end all of the above may not be much space but it could be some.