used Dell XPS 420, Alert Low Power Wattage, won't load Windows

[totespcnoob]

Hey fellow PC enthusiasts,

Today, a buddy of mine gave me an old Dell XPS 420.. needless to say, it was missing the side... no HD, no video card... but everything else is in tack.

I swapped out the RAM (without inquiring what type/amount of RAM I needed), I took out the 2 512 sticks, and the 2 1gb sticks (2gb total), and threw in two 2gb and two 1gb (6gb total).. The ones I took out were PC2(?), and the ones I threw in were DDR2(?)..

I threw in a 250gb HD, which my buddy gave me, which had Windows Vista 32bit, and a Radeon HD (idk exact model right now) graphics card, as well.

A little note: the motherboard was missing its CMOS battery.. I threw the one from my old PC (obviously working, im on it now..) and booted the PC..

I get the Low Power Outage error with the 3 choices, with errors stating that its from my CMOS battery... even then, shouldn't my PC still start, and load Windows? when I press 1 to normally start, I basically cycle right back to this error/message... Windows doesnt start normally, wants me to run Startup Recovery... of course none of this works..I say of course, because I swapped out HD with my old one, the one Im on NOW... so its definitely not the HD/OS

I tried it with this new HD, I took out the RAM, and put the other back in... the only thing I cant do is remove the graphics card, because it has the only video output for my monitor (I assume it came with one, but it was removed)... Im on the card now, so Im SURE it works..

I'm really stumped what my problem could be... what little I read is that these things have weird batteries, hotfix: I tried to plug my PC directly to the wall, no change...

I'm LOST. I have no idea where to even begin... I mean other than the card, I took the PC down to the basics that I recieved it with.... it just wont boot.

PLEASE... if you have ANY input, I'd appreciate ANY input... Im not an idiot, Im familiar with PC hardware, but this has me stumped... I really don't know where to begin... I dont think a CMOS battery/holder would not allow Windows to launch? I dont know..

I'll be on here all night, tomorrow, and all week... this window will stay open... PLEASE... ANY insight is very helpful, I really want to get this gig running... I don't have much to go on as far as the spec.. Im pretty sure its the basic installation that comes with a Dell XPS 420


THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ANY AND ALL HELP!!!

 

[drtweak]

First

PC2 = DDR2. Just ususally when you hear PC2 they are talking about the bandwith ex - PC2-6400 (Divide that last number by 8 and you get the MHz speed so PC2-6400 is DDR2-800)

second

was this vista drive from that PC? Windows 8/10 are a lot more forgiving on swapping hard drives form PC to PC (I used my SSD from my work PC which was a AM3 socket 880 with a amd 555 CPU and tossed it in a brand new Dell Optipelx 3040 with a brand new 6th gen i5 then tossed it into my bench replacement which was a AM3+ 990FX which out issue). Windows 2000-Windows 7 Do NOT like to be moved around. More than like you MUST do a fresh install of windows. If you do not have a Dell Vista OEM disk I can give you a link to a Dell Vista Disk as my company is a dell reseller and i have all of this stuff.

otherwise you will have to buy a new copy of windows and do a fresh install.

 

[totespcnoob]

Well, I tried both a Windows Vista 32bit HD (no, this wasnt the one that came installed, this was a random one: the XPS came without a HD), and a Windows 7 64bit HD (the one from my working computer) ... both times, BIOS opted for a "system restore" when doing "Startup Repair", but I figured that was probably just the base solution for all problems. I would like to try this, as I do have a Windows 7 OEM CD (the Vista HD was a gift), but Im worried its not that. but i TOTALLY understand that you cant just throw around HDs and expect it just to take...

thank you for the lesson on RAM

Im gonna keep this thread open, and hopefully get a few more inquiries... I'm definitely considering your suggestion though, so thank you. Ill add that to the top of my list!

 

[drtweak]

Yea no using those drives it WILL NOT BOOT!

Install windows fresh. you WILL have to install it fresh unless it was the original drive or a drive that came from identical hardware specs.

 

[totespcnoob]

drtweak, I feel confident in your expertise. You have sound advice. I'm gonna throw my smaller HD in and format, reinstall Windows... based on your above advice on the RAM, I'd be safe throwing those 6GB of RAM in, as well? Thank You. If you're a moderator, and can close this topic, please leave a reply, and mark as "Solved".

Sincerely,
Pyff, Defender of the Light

 

[drtweak]

The ram you should be fine since you can't overclock. Just try it out. If you start to have issues with it pull the sticks out one at a time and see if you keep having issues.

Just pick one of my answers as the solution and it will be marked as solved