I just bought a new Dell Dimension 8200 computer with all of the bells and whistles and Windows XP Home Edition (NTFS).  It worked beautifully right out of the box. I've had the machine about two weeks now and was in the process of installing the printer.

 

I followed their instructions and did not add the printer until other things were up and working. I first installed an HP OfficeJet 500 and all went well, Removed that printer and added the one I really wanted, an old HP LaserJet 3P. It too installed without a problem. 

 

I then lost my cool and tried to install an HP 5100C scanner.  Once I did that, the computer started cycling between booting up and shutting down. It would do it all day if I let it. I looked at everything. I checked the values in F2, F8 and F12 without success.  I put the Windows XP disk in the CD drive and changed the boot sequence to "CD first" without success. Tried to run the CD that claims it has diagnostics on it without success. I tried to get a startup disk from Microsoft and they say the link is closed. The only progress made was that it now goes to a dash in the upper left-hand corner and goes dark



Since my original message I called Dell and they had me run the Reinstallation disk in the top CD-RW drive (it doesn't work in the lower DVD drive) and after several tries, I'm back up. I really wonder if there isn't a simpler way to get the system up to where I could troubleshoot. XP allows for booting from a diskette, but I haven't found where you can create one.

 

Thanks,



Ed Whitnall

 

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