I have a Dell optiplex 330 desktop PC which will boot alright, the
windows desktop with the (i'm using Win XP )icons will show but just
for about 40 seconds and it freeze for about 10 seconds and everything
will go off. just at about the time that it will go off the processor
fan will run at a very high speed. when it goes of like this, the
power light will change from green to amber and there will be some
weak cracking sound (presumably trying to give a beep) from the buzzer
on the mother board. At this stage powering it up again will not work
unless it is unplugged from the mains for about 20 minutes and it will
repeat the above problem.
I disconnected the hard drive just in case its a virus but the
same thing happened and even in setup mode.
please help

On Mon, 27 Sep 2010 15:39:18 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

I have a Dell optiplex 330 desktop PC which will boot alright, the
windows desktop with the (i'm using Win XP )icons will show but just
for about 40 seconds and it freeze for about 10 seconds and everything
will go off. just at about the time that it will go off the processor
fan will run at a very high speed. when it goes of like this, the
power light will change from green to amber and there will be some
weak cracking sound (presumably trying to give a beep) from the buzzer
on the mother board. At this stage powering it up again will not work
unless it is unplugged from the mains for about 20 minutes and it will
repeat the above problem.
I disconnected the hard drive just in case its a virus but the
same thing happened and even in setup mode.
please help

Is the air coming from the rear fan cold, warm, hot, or very hot?

Open the box and try to figure out what is getting hot? CPU, RAM,
plugin cards, power supply, etc.

Make sure the CPU is properly seated and that the heat sink is
properly attached to the CPU. You symptoms sound very much like an
overheated CPU.

Look at the electrolytic capacitors surrounding the CPU and see if any
of them look scorched, melted, leaking brown goo, or have the tops
bulging. If that's the case, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague
http://www.badcaps.net

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558
# http://802.11junk.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS

On 27/09/2010 23:39, wrote:
I have a Dell optiplex 330 desktop PC which will boot alright, the
windows desktop with the (i'm using Win XP )icons will show but just
for about 40 seconds and it freeze for about 10 seconds and everything
will go off. just at about the time that it will go off the processor
fan will run at a very high speed. when it goes of like this, the
power light will change from green to amber and there will be some
weak cracking sound (presumably trying to give a beep) from the buzzer
on the mother board. At this stage powering it up again will not work
unless it is unplugged from the mains for about 20 minutes and it will
repeat the above problem.
I disconnected the hard drive just in case its a virus but the
same thing happened and even in setup mode.
please help

Check the cooling arrangements, particularly the processor heatsink/fan
combo. Check the fan is working correctly and the heatsink fins are
clear of dust. Then have a look that the clamping mechanism is holding
the heatsink tight to the top of the processor. While you've got the
heatsink off, clean off any gunk and add new thermal paste.

Finally check all fans are working and there are no obstructed vents.

It might help, it sounds like an overheating issue. Is it overclocked?

Hi!

Check the power supply fan. You may need to replace the power supply
at this point. I had a slimline Dimension E521 cross my bench that was
doing the same thing. The PSU fan had quit running and things got so
hot that the supply was barbecued.

Dell's power supplies are typically good quality, although they have
been cheapening them as of late in the "home grade" Inspiron and
Studio models.

I was given a Dimension 8100 recently that ran fine in every regard,
although the longer it ran, the more regulation noise could be heard
from its PSU. I didn't give it too much thought until I put my hand
back there and felt no air coming out. The PSU fan had stopped. Even
so, the system ran normally for as long as I cared to use it. I was
even more impressed when I opened the supply to repair the fan--it
hadn't suffered in the least.

They sure don't make 'em like they used to...

William