Member Avatar for Derek1974

I have a Dell Dimension 4500, About a year ago I decided to open the hinged case to clean some of the dust out. After she was all cleaned out I went to start her up. Well, she would start, but would not boot into windows. Just a yellow light on my monitor, but the motherboard light was on, and all the fans were working. I fiddled with her, opened the case, then restarted her. She started fine, then as I closed the case, she went to a blank screen, all fans running, but I couldnt do anything. I am not all that great when it comes to pc issues. I fiddled with her a little more, got her to stay on eventually, but only with the case cracked open about 3 inches. I said "Forget it!" and left her be, and she has ran fine EVERYDAY until today! Well, I decided it was time to clean the dust again. Got her all cleaned out (she was filthy) then went to close the case and start her up. Same thing as before, but now its worse! Right now she's running fine, but ONLY BECAUSE she's laying on her side, with her swing door wide open. When I go to close the door, she shuts herself off. Trust me, I have checked, re-checked, and then checked a few more times for something stupid (cords, wires, something getting pinched in the case) but theres absolutely nothing! Anyone have this problem before, or have heard of anything as weird as this?? I need help! I have been trying to get her to work with her case closed, or ATLEAST gapped open like before, but now she only wants to work properly laying on her side, hinged all the way open :( Can someone please help!!!??? I have been trying for the last 3 hours to get this working right, and I am beyond frustrated!

Thanks in advance!

-Derek

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack
Member Avatar for Derek1974

Ok, So now I am able to 'Sneak' the case closed. What a pain! Moving it VERY SLOWLY, inching it to the closed position, and it worked! UNTIL I tried to SLOWLY UPRIGHT the PC to put it back into the spot where it goes .. then ... guess what!? THE SAME THING HAPPENS!. If I merely tap the case, the computer shuts down. I looked at the manual for the case on the compaq website, and there is no mention of any sort of "Intrusion Switch". I am sooooo confused and irritated at this point! Is there ANYONE that can help!?!??! PLEASE??

Member Avatar for caperjack

maybe you need to remove all addin cards if any like video and network and modems and reinstall them to reseat the connection ,also you need to check all wired connection ,something is shorting out ,make sure a screw or something didn't get between the motherboard and case.
and stop calling it a she,IT'S a thing!! lol

Member Avatar for Derek1974

lol, Sorry, I refer to things as "She" :) Anyhow, I think I got the problem solved! After DAYS of fiddling with her, I took her to a friends house. We pulled all the cards, tried a new power supply, different cards, etc, but she kept shutting off when bumping the case. I was over her, so I left her at my friends house. He knows someone that works alot on Dell PC's so he loaded her into the back of his car, and took her on a little road trip. His friend looked at her, tried ALL the things that we did, and was convinced that she needed a new motherboard (He has never seen this type of problem). Then he decided to pull the processor out ..... WELL, one of the pins were completely bent, and was not even making contact in its hole! I have NEVER taken the processor out, and she was brand new when I bought her. Soooooo someone at Dell messed up when installing the processor! He said that the hole that pin was to go into was full of crud and dirt. He straightened the pin out, cleaned out the hole, cleaned the Processor goo, re-goo'ed it, slapped it back into the pc, and She's up and running like she did on day 1! You can bump her case, move her all around, heck, maybe even throw her into the air and catch her and she will not power off :)

Long story short, if you have this problem with your Dell, and its driving you nuts, check your processor because whomever is putting Dell's PC's together is in hurry :)

Member Avatar for moideenms

may be a magnetic flow in a case cover i thought ..........

Member Avatar for caperjack

Sheesss,what a problem ,weird how it didn't always do it .

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