Dell Dimension 4500S - Manual (Page 33)

CD drive problems
Problems writing to a CD-RW drive
DVD drive problems
Hard drive problems
E-Mail, Modem, and Internet Problems
NOTICE: Do not attempt to clean drive heads with a swab. You may accidentally misalign the heads, which can render the drive inoperable.
Clean the drive — Use a commercially available cleaning kit.
HINT: High-speed CD drive vibration is normal and may cause noise. This does not indicate a defect in the drive or the CD.
Adjust the Windows volume control — Click the speaker icon in the lower-right corner of your screen.
l Ensure that the volume is turned up by clicking the slidebar and dragging it up.
l Ensure that the sound is not muted by clicking any boxes that are checked.
Test the drive with another CD — Insert another CD to eliminate the possibility that the original CD is defective.
Check the speakers and subwoofer — See " Sound and Speaker Problems ."
Ensure that Windows recognizes the drive — Click the Start button, and then click My Computer. If the CD drive is not listed, perform a full
scan with your antivirus software to check for and remove viruses. Viruses can sometimes prevent Windows from recognizing the drive.
Clean the disc — See the Tell Me How help file for instructions on cleaning your CDs.
Change the write speed to a slower rate — The CD-RW drive must receive a steady stream of data when writing. If the stream is
interrupted, an error occurs. Try closing all programs before writing to the CD-RW.
See the CD-RW program's Help file for CD-RW recording instructions — See the CD-RW program's online help information for complete
instructions on how to record CD-RWs.
HINT: Because of different regions worldwide and different disc formats, not all DVD titles work in all DVD drives.
Test the drive with another DVD — Insert another DVD to eliminate the possibility that the original DVD is defective.
Ensure that Windows recognizes the drive — Click the Start button, and then click My Computer. If the DVD drive is not listed, perform a
full scan with your antivirus software to check for and remove viruses. Viruses can sometimes prevent Windows from recognizing the drive.
Clean the disc — See the Tell Me How help file for instructions on cleaning your DVDs.
Run Check Disk
1. Click the Start button, and then click My Computer.
2. Right-click the drive letter (local disk) that you want to scan for errors, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Tools tab.
4. Under Error-checking, click Check Now.
5. Click Start.