Dell Inspiron 3700 - Manual (Page 49)

support.dell.com Basic Troubleshooting 3-5
NOTE: Inconsistencies in the manufacturing of CD-ROM media may cause some
higher-speed CD-ROM drives to vibrate more than others. Such vibration and
associated noise do not indicate a defect in the drive or the CD.


Double-click My Computer and check to see if the drive is recognized by the
computer. Most of the common boot sector viruses cause the CD-ROM or
DVD-ROM drive to “disappear.” Use virus-scanning software (if Dell installed
Windows 98 on your computer, you should already have virus-scanning software)
to check for and remove any viruses.


Clean the disc with a soft, lint-free cloth and isopropyl alcohol.


Clean the drive as described in the next subsection, “Cleaning Diskette Drives.”


Try another CD or DVD title.
NOTE: Because of different conventions currently used in the industry, not all
DVD titles work in all DVD-ROM drives.


Run the IDE Devices device group as described in “Running the Dell
Diagnostics” found later in this chapter.


Refer to “Troubleshooting the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Drive” found later in this
chapter for further troubleshooting information.
If you have hard-disk drive problems, perform the following checks:


For Windows 98, run the ScanDisk utility by clicking the Start button, pointing to
Programs—> Accessories—> System Tools, and clicking ScanDisk.


For Windows NT, run the error-checking utility by opening the property sheet of
the affected volume(s) and clicking Check Now in the Error-checking section of
the Tools tab.


Run the IDE Devices device group as described in “Running the Dell
Diagnostics” found later in this chapter.


Check the settings on the IDE Configuration submenu of the System Setup
program as described in Appendix B, “Using the System Setup Program.”

 
 

You can clean a diskette drive using a commercially available cleaning kit. These kits
contain pretreated diskettes to nonabrasively remove contaminants that accumulate
during normal operation.
If the kit does not contain instructions, insert a pretreated diskette into the drive and
turn on the system. After 20 or 30 seconds, remove the diskette from the drive.

%


 $   
   A  
 
 
  "  
 $