I have a dell dimension 8200 with a power problem. When I push the start switch the motherboard light and both fans goes on but the hard drive light doesn't go on and doesn't spin. Also, the floppy drive light and DVD burner light doesn't turn on. help!

Rduy Cruz,
This error message references that your system Primary hard drive is not being Detected in the system. You can press F2 to enter the setup to see if the hard drive is even being seen. If not, exit out and shutdown the system. Unplug the power cable and open the computer to reseat the hard drive cables at the hard drive and at the motherboard connection. If that does not resolve the issue you may need to replace the hard drive IDE cable.If all this does not work you may need to replace the hard drive. Please post back if this does not resolve the issue.Below is a link to your online manual for your computer.

Dimension 8200 Online Manual

Thank You,
Dell-Jesse L
Dell Social Media and Communities

Test all power and data leads that attach to your hard drive IDE,SATA

the leads from your (motherboard to your hard drive) make sure they have secure dust free connections and are not faulty or just replace them they might be faulty

if its a 40 pin flat ribbon type it will be the first to fail

make sure all leads that are attached to your drives dvd\cd 3 1/2 inch floppy have secure connections and are not faulty

even something as small as a faulty electrical fan and its lead can cause you problems

computers need all power and data to continue through every working device and to have an end so any faulty leads will end up with a computer error

make sure your graphics card is securely seated with no dust built up or in the socket

if you remove your graphics check the socket to make sure its dust free

restart your computer then reinstall it this should activate found new hardware wizard

hope this helps

Check all below possibilties & see if it works.....

1. GGGY diagnostic lights can indicate a bad motherboard, or possibly a hard drive failure.You could try opening the case, then remove and reseat all the power and data cables, cards and memory and see if the system bootsCheck for burnt/charred power connectors on the motherboard and for any capacitors with bulging tops or are leaking, the tops should be perfectly flat.
2. Could you please check out if the you are not having a battery problem. This could be the source of all the trouble that you are having.
3. do the fans and hard drives spin

Please rate & vote, if you like solution
Thanks
Sandeep

The clinking sound could well be your drive heads snapping back into parking location if your power supply is going out. Since the 8200 comes with a pretty weak power supply those tend to go out shortly after you've upgraded to a better graphics card or added another drive to the system. I've replaced mine a few times and now have a 450 watt supply in it which seems to be able to handle a powered video card and the 2nd HD, 2nd dvd without running out of juice.
Another good thing for these old dimensions is the addition of a case /slot fan to help with cooling a bit more. (see included picture)
I've had dealings with a number of dimensions from this era not cooling enough and the slot fans really helped stability.
Let me know if any of this helps your situation.

open it up check all the connections memory and add in cards for security.
connect it and try again. Sometimes the bios battery can cause wierd problems, they are usually a 2032 battery on the motherboard. replace it if it's suspect. I would then look at the power supply. Big heavy capitors don't like being dropped, (neither do hard drives for that matter).

Hello,
Check your fans o see if they are running and if the PC isn't getting too hot because that will cause it to stop and not boot up.

Hello,

The dell Dimension 8200 motherboard like several other Dell boards uses a multi pin header for the power button. This plus is at the front of the board right behind the hard drive connectors. The plus has pins for power, hard drive light, sound, 2 USB ports, power light and microphone. Are you wanting to just coeect the power button and not the other pins? I may be able to get you a pin by pin wiring chart but other things really need to be pugged in too. This board will not work very well without the other things plugged in or if it is not in a Dell case.

Buddy
Corporate Computer

I would recommend buying a replacement computer, and install the Dell IDE drive in an external 3.5" IDE hard drive enclosure. This way you can pull your information off the the Dell hard drive, and then blow it away.

Keep in mind that new computers use a SATA drive, your old Dell '8200 has an IDE drive. Also keep in mind that your Dimension 8200 drivers won't work on the new computer.

You might be able to install your Dell drive as a slave if you have an open IDE channel available.

Good news is, your old Dell uses RAMBUS memory, which is worth a lot. It's a good parts computer, and most people who look for computer parts know of the bad capacitor issue on Intel made Dell motherboards from that era.

The 1st thing that I would suggest is removing all periphials, such as any PCI/AGP cards you have installed, then attempt to boot. If it continues to loop, then, power off, and disconnect the hard drive. Now try to boot. You should be able to at least get to the BIOS setup. Then reconnect the hard drive and attempt to start again. If it starts with just the hard drive, then more than likely one of your PCI/AGP cards is bad. Start by adding them 1 at a time and starting the computer after you install each one. This should determine which card if any is bad.
Thanks
kriadtexas

try other memory