20 Most Recent Dell OPTIPLEX 960 MT Desktop Computer (Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 250GB2GB) (BO5SC306) - Page 5 Questions & Answers

It is likely a wire hitting the cooling fan. If you open the case and look withing it will be fairly obvious. Otherwise, sometimes clicking noises can come from the CD tray, or the hard drive. If the hard drive is grinding, (and that would be more of a grinding noise) you would be wise to back data up, as that can mean your hard drive is on its way out.

Is there a specific error message? In any case, you may need to boot from the original CD and choose "repair"

Try starting your computer in Safe Mode To do that Turn off your computer then turn it back on and immediately press and tap the F8 key on the keyboard even though there's no display yet on the screen the one that will appear on the screen should be "Windows Advanced Boot Options" and safe mode is there you just need to choose it by the arrow keys on the keyboard then once you selected it just press enter you computer will go to Safe Mode

What Virus Program is It? Need more info

Hi The symptom you describe indicates a power issue, the most likely cause the PSU in the unit is failing, if you have a lot of USB devices connected try removing some of them, You could also try removeing all connected devices other than monitor keyboard and mouse and see if this will allow it to boot, but the most likely fix is going to be a new Power Supply unit. Cliff C MCP

Dear Anonymous, BEST PRACTICE: Buy an anti-static wristband before going "under-the-bonnet! Many people will advise that it is ok to delve around the insides of a computer without one, but that can be an expensive mistake...when they only cost a couple of bucks & can save you the trouble & expense of zapping ex$pensive hardware. Your computer box contains extremely sensitive chips & the human body can store up to 50,000 volts of static electricity... TURN POWER OFF AT WALL SOCKET! [But leave plug in wall socket - this will extend power-system earth to the box.] Then press & hold power-on button on front of box case. (This will "earth" the system.) Open computer box: Most Dell tower/mini tower boxes have a slider on the back panel: hold slider open & slide side of case backwards. Find a non-painted - (bare) - metal connection point for wristband alligator clip inside box. Attach clip. {N.B.: if you do this procedure WITHOUT an anti-static wristband, be sure that you "earth" your body, by holding on to the bare metal connection point for a few seconds!} Locate the cmos - (or "BIOS") - battery. It will be a button-shaped battery. Check "Polarity" - (which way up) - of old battery. 'Eject old battery from holder. Check battery TYPE - (make sure that new battery is identical/equivalent. Push new battery into holder. Remove wrist clip. Replace side-cover. Power on. Reboot computer. N.B.: If asked during bootup - restore BIOS settings to "default". That's it! I hope that this solves your problem. Kind regards - 'b'ye - Bruce.

Ultimate Boot CD for Windows can be downloaded from the following link. Download UBCD4Win MajorGeeks

You need the bios/operating system disk to start, and then you would need a full version of windows to install.

If removing CMOS battery did not help, you need to do the BIOS reset from jumper on motherboard.

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Products/desktop/optiplex_desktop READ THE MANUAL.

Here's how you can defragment your disk: Windows Vista, 7:

1. Open Disk Defragmenter by clicking the Start button . In the search box, type Disk Defragmenter, and then, in the list of results, click Disk Defragmenter.
2. Under Current status, select the disk you want to defragment.
3. To determine if the disk needs to be defragmented or not, click Analyze disk. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. Once Windows is finished analyzing the disk, you can check the percentage of fragmentation on the disk in the Last Run column. If the number is above 10%, you should defragment the disk.
4. Click Defragment disk. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Disk Defragmenter might take from several minutes to a few hours to finish, depending on the size and degree of fragmentation of your hard disk. You can still use your computer during the defragmentation process. Windows XP:

1. Open My Computer.
2. Right-click the local disk volume that you want to defragment, and then click Properties.
3. On the Tools tab, click Defragment Now.
4. Click Defragment.

For more information refer to these links: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-in/windows/improve-performance-defragmenting-hard-disk#1TC=windows-7 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314848 GuruAid.com

1.check connection cables
2.graphic card may have fail

provide more info about your computer's configuration.Does it have an external graphic card ?

OK...so what is your question exactly? all that info and i cannot figure out what you need?

A steady or Amber blinking power button indicates a low voltage problem. This can be caused by a defective power supply or a defective motherboard. Just to make sure that nothing else is causing the problem, remove any PCI cards like modem, video card, sound card, etc... Remove the memory modules and disconnect cables to CD/DVD drives. Look at the USB ports to see if any are damaged.

seems like a video driver issue power on your computer and when you see the Dell logo start tapping on the F8 key. keep tapping On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight the safe mode with networking option, and then press Enter. Go to support.dell.com either put your service tag or select desktop and All in ones- choose optiplex model you have then select Get drivers and downloads. under operating system select which on your using xp,or vista scroll down to Video(blue lettering) and select the intel driver download it and run it . restart once it is complete .

You replaced the power supply and still Amber(orange). Your motherboard is probably bad. An Amber blinking power button indicates a low voltage problem. This can be caused by a defective power supply or a defective motherboard. Since you replaced the power supply, my guess is that the motherboard has a problem. Just to make sure that nothing else is causing the problem, remove any PCI cards like modem, video card, sound card, etc... Remove the memory modules and disconnect cables to CD/DVD drives. Look at the USB ports to see if any are damaged.

I need to know what KIND of Dell Desktop that you have in order to analyze your problem.

That means that the available memory in your computer is tapped out. You need to install video card with it's own memory.

Yes the software driver will be different.

Why? You will probably screw up your display if the video card is Nvidia. If you have an ATI card then you need software drivers for that type of card.