xps 400 junk

Hi everyone. I have a dell XPS 400, the light on the motherboard is green, everything seems to be working except when I try to install windows xp, it says there's a hard ware problem, I have replaced the the ram, modem, video card, and have tried two brand new hard drives, sata and ide. Does anyone have any idea whats up with this?????

iomega7 wrote:

My Dell XPS 400 is just 2 years old and the motherboard failed two days ago (solid amber light on the power button). Any suggestions on testing the motherboard for possible life?
If not, does anyone know where I can get a new or used motherboard for my computer?
Thanks.

Did you ever get response? I swapped power supplies and now it turns on; but no boot

Start with power supply?

I tried something today on the xps 400. I installed vista, and who would hae believed this was possible? But everything works fine, but when I format the hard drive and try to instal windows XP, still says hardware error or problem. So I installed vista again and everything works. What's up with that? Same hard drive by the way.
Any ideas anyone??

I have an xps 400 with upgraded PNY ram 2 1 gig sticks, an evga 8600gt card. Was wondering about the powersupply and if the mobo and all with accept most normal PSU's or if theres something gay going on. Also im mounting a few fans on the case as my temps are staying at a fat hot 59C. Ive come to the terms that dell likes to make theyre more important parts "special" in the ways that you cant just go out and buy a new part, it has to be a certain kind usually made from dell. I eventually want to upgrade the mobo but that will be forever from now lol but i really wanted to know about the PSU since i was TRING to get one this weekend along with a triple set of 80-100mm fans to set in there if they can fit. its been so long since anyone posted on this topic that i doubt illg et a reply /cry.

nevermind on the been so long part,found out tehre was more than 1 page.

Just a note to remind all of us about how Dell is a sorry company. Don't buy their stuff. Make 2009 hate Dell yaer.

I also have a XPS 400 and about a year after I bought it the LCD shut off along with all of the inputs and outputs, key board, mouse, both drives and the green light inside was still on and the power light on the front and the processor light were still on but nothing worked. The PC sounded like it was still running smooth but seemed to be frozen. I left the computer off for about 2 weeks and then it worked fine for about two weeks and did the same thing. then I replaced the graphics card and the computer worked fine for about 2 months and then did the same thing. Motherboard? I also completely pulled down the computer and cleaned all of the components and fans and it worked for another week and it seems as though something is overheating because if it sits off long enough it usually starts back up but who knows for how long. any ideas would be much appreciated. Oh and I have know idea how to overclock or any of that stuff, the PC is used for internet, music and pictures and almost all of that is on an external hardrive. LOST

Son's XPS 400, 2 years old, Blue screen with 0x0000008E KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HAND LED. Ran Merory diagostic, DIMM 1 failed tests. Swapped memory sticks, reran test, DIMM 1 still failed. I conclude MB is toast. Correct? Least expensive option? Seems new MB costs as much as a new computer. What would be worth re-using if anything?

TIFF wrote:

OUR MOTHERBOARD WENT OUT ON OUR XPS400 I NEED TO REPLACE IT WHAT SHOULD I BUY AND FROM WHO?? THANK YOU IN ADVANCE

Out motherboard went out, got it replaced by geek squad, like 40.00 dollars there. 2 weeks later, it went down again! I was talking to support for a microsoft game, they had me mess w/ the msconfig, and ever since i rebooted it, i lost sound, and it was stuck in a classic mode setting. this time we took it to a private pc thing, he couldn't get it to turn on, and he said the motherboard needed to be replaced! I'm like no way! this guy wasn't very friendly though, but anyways; we said no thanks, cause this computer was really bogged down and SLOW! we bought a refurbished Gateway GT5628 off of him and this pc has 4 cores and working awesome!

Curt wrote:

Son's XPS 400, 2 years old, Blue screen with 0x0000008E KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HAND LED. Ran Merory diagostic, DIMM 1 failed tests. Swapped memory sticks, reran test, DIMM 1 still failed. I conclude MB is toast. Correct? Least expensive option? Seems new MB costs as much as a new computer. What would be worth re-using if anything?

you would have to call dell support because once you buy dell, your stuck buying dell products for dell computers, except ram, video card etc...

Something most people don't know.. and most people do far to often.. is turn their computer off and on. Which is actually BAD for them. Thermal expansion can cause parts to wear out prematurely. I practically never turn my XPS 400 off. It's been running for a good couple months now with the occasional restart when i install something. I've owned the computer for 3-4 years. Never one problem. It does run a little hotter then i'd like but nothing that's going to hurt it. I've put 4gigs of ram in it and an Nvidia 8600GTS. Runs beautifully. In fact my parents have an older "Hyperthreaded" P4 dell from a few years before i got mine. Still runs perfect. I don't know what the hell you guys do to your computers. Take care of them they'll take care of you. My only qualm is that i can't upgrade the Mobo to support SLi easily. But a single good video card negates that and would be about the same price as a mobo and card.

I am working on a dell xps 400 for a friend. It will not power on. I replaced the power supply but did not help. I have been told it is probably the motherboard. All I get is a light on the motherboard. Does anyone have a suggestion or solution that they are relatively sure of since I am going to have to pay a restocking fee on the power supply and I don't want to keep spending money on restocking fees and shipping. the only reason I want to get it running is to retrieve pictures of their children.

rdmiller58 wrote:

I am working on a dell xps 400 for a friend. It will not power on. I replaced the power supply but did not help. I have been told it is probably the motherboard. All I get is a light on the motherboard. Does anyone have a suggestion or solution that they are relatively sure of since I am going to have to pay a restocking fee on the power supply and I don't want to keep spending money on restocking fees and shipping. the only reason I want to get it running is to retrieve pictures of their children.

Junk the computer. The XPS 400 is a piece of sh#@! This model is prone to overheating & the motherboard is usually the victim. I've only had my XPS for 3 years & it recently died on me. If retrieving the family pics is your objective, then simply convert the internal 3.5 SATA hard drive into an external by purchasing a hard drive enclosure. Converting will give you access to all of the physical files, but you won't be able to boot from it. You can shop at amazon for enclosures. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_1_13...

I had my dell xps 400 3 yrs and by the 2nd year, I had to get the computer cleaned and now it's the mother board, with absolutely no warning of dying. Dell Computer's Suck. Big Time. Their putting their products together to quick and don't want to hold responisblity for it.
I had a Compaq that lasted 8 years, I upgraded the windows, due to the new printer and I gave that away, for this one. Sorry.

Hi All
I'm doing research on a power-on message that the internal battery is low. I recently replaced the hard drive on my xpx-400 and now this. Having read all the messages posted, I've reaffirmed my decision to junk the xps and move on when the system finally collapses. Calling Dell and paying for their tech support is somewhat fruitless, they seem to be more interested in selling additional parts or services than providing good technical support. What I've spent in tech support and parts so far would have bought me a new replacement. My advice is "junk it when problems start and move to another vendor".

Bad Motherboard on XPS 400. I am unable to use my keyboard after spending 5 days troubleshooting using my four years computer IT skills and with the help of every forum member from Graceland to Timbucktoo. I can't even re-load Windows because I am unable to type the product key. I was able to locate a Dell technician and he said replace my Motherboard. Any one got suggestions before I purchase another M-Board.
PS. I have 4 Dells. Two have failed but two work great! The two that work I would not give up for the world, but the two that don't work are $3,000 boat anchors! Luck of the draw I guess. Thank you.

XPS 400 after 3 previous Dell repairs....fixing it for a friend. KBD works only on one port and the mouse does not work in any of them. Dell on-line tech support cut me off after no resolution. ;^) Fortunately still 53 days left on service contract. So I am having her contact them. I have never bought Dell or Gateway - they are all made in the same country - China. You just pay more for their crap! Buy Compaq/HP much more reliable and they cost a lot less.