Please help XP error checking every time, error message

tried to help a freind out, installed 512 ram on his dell 4600, ran disk cleanup, de-frag, restarted computer, worked fine.

pc was still kinda slow so setup to check C drive for errors and fix automatically next time windows started, shut down windows, ran test(took about 40 minutes), at the end stated that something was wrong, told me to restart computer, if message pops up again, try to start in safe mode, etc. etc.....

removed the newly installed ram, restarted the computer, it ran error check again and stated the same thing about something being wrong.

i restarted the computer and tried to start in safe mode, never got past screen with all the jiberish on it,

tried to boot from cd drive, recovery disk, kept stating to insert disc and press F1.

need to figure out how to get into the system restore and set to an earlier restore point,

is computer toast? is it worth fixing?

it is about 4 years old, 40 gb hard drive about 20 free, 512 ram equipped, he just uses it for his small business, quick books, quicken, stuff like that.

please help, feel responsible for the crash

 

went into the BIOS screen and setup the boot to run off the CD drive first and the HD second, then saved and exited with the repair/restore disk in the drive, and got a screen saying, press F1 to reboot and F2 to return to system setup. kept pressing F1 and nothing happened, just the same phrase appeared, F1 to reboot, F2 to return to setup.

need to find out a way to repair this PC or extract all the info off hard drive and replace something, PC is used for quickbooks for running a small business and the last couple months of accounting are on there.

ran the ?system diagnostics? in safe mode and did about 300 different tests. clueless about some of the tests, all the vital tests seem to pass.

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!! how can i repair the OS and not lose any of the saved info on the hard drive, or is it even possible?????

 

upon original installation, the dell did recognize the memory, computer was working normal, however didnt seem any faster, so i then ran the error-check the next time windows started and that is where i have ran into the problem

i am not sure what a usb keyboard is, this one is plugged into the back of the computer, just like the mouse, and speakers,(little mic jack lookin thing)

 

If it keeps giving the F1 / F2 option at startup, I expect it is telling you that you need to check a setting in the BIOS. You changed the RAM, it may need you to confirm the amount of RAM installed, although that should be set automatically.

I recommend that you get a new CMOS battery. It is the silver coin-like battery on the motherboard (you should find it is type 2032) and will be sold where you buy camera batteries.

What might have happened is that when you were installing and removing the RAM, the cables to the drives were dislodged. Take out and reseat the connections to the drives. Go into the BIOS (F2) if it shows the message again, you may need to make it redetect the drives. In the drive listing you may/should find that you can set each of the drives as Auto or Off. Set the primary to Off then exit, go back and set it Auto again. If it says "Unknown" for any of the drive listings, that will be the reason (does it list the CD/DVD location as Unknown?).

If you are still stuck, try going to the Dell Community Forums and search or ask there. Put "F2" into a search at the Dell Support website
www.dell.com/support
Download the manual/User Guide if you don't have the original. It should have some information about the error.

From my experience (other Dell models), that message (F1/F2) means that a BIOS setting it is using is incorrect and it cannot get further until the setting is rectified. You can also try using "Reset Defaults ".

Matt