Running a Dell Dimension 4550

About a month ago, my case cooling fan quit on me and I have since replaced
it with a better one since it's nearly impossible to find a Dell replacement
clone. The alert is quite annoying, but I haven't minded it too much since
I'm able to get past it with F1.

The problem is when I want to bootup in safe mode, the alert pops up
instead. Up until today, I had no problem with that. It seems like the fan
alert now takes priority to everything else on bootup. Would I be able to
resolve this problem in the Registry.? If so, where and how? I'm okay
working in the registry.

Thanks in advance!

You need to check in the bios to disable this

"swampy" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Running a Dell Dimension 4550
>
> About a month ago, my case cooling fan quit on me and I have since
> replaced it with a better one since it's nearly impossible to find a Dell
> replacement clone. The alert is quite annoying, but I haven't minded it
> too much since I'm able to get past it with F1.
>
> The problem is when I want to bootup in safe mode, the alert pops up
> instead. Up until today, I had no problem with that. It seems like the fan
> alert now takes priority to everything else on bootup. Would I be able to
> resolve this problem in the Registry.? If so, where and how? I'm okay
> working in the registry.
>
> Thanks in advance!
>

swampy wrote:

> Running a Dell Dimension 4550
>
> About a month ago, my case cooling fan quit on me and I have since replaced
> it with a better one since it's nearly impossible to find a Dell replacement
> clone. The alert is quite annoying, but I haven't minded it too much since
> I'm able to get past it with F1.
>
> The problem is when I want to bootup in safe mode, the alert pops up
> instead. Up until today, I had no problem with that. It seems like the fan
> alert now takes priority to everything else on bootup. Would I be able to
> resolve this problem in the Registry.? If so, where and how? I'm okay
> working in the registry.
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
>

The problem is not one concerning the Windows XP Registry but one of the
bios setup. If the fan monitoring cannot be disabled in bios setup, then
the alternative would be to replace the fan with one similar to the original
Dell. What might be happening is that the present, replacement fan lacks a
tachometer lead and this is causing the warning to appear.

Thanks, guys!

You're right! It isn't a Registry problem; it is indeed a Bios problem.

I appreciate your responses very much. I understand that this a typical
irritation with all Dell PC systems if the fan is not replaced with an
overpriced Dell fan. There is a chip on it that is exclusively Dell's. They
try to force one to part with the bucks.

I went into the F2 Bios and scrolled down to "Error reporting" and I
disabled that option and bingo no more problem. Yes, I the alert still
appears, but just briefly (for ½ second) and then automatically moves on in
the boot process.

Thanks again!

> I appreciate your responses very much. I understand that this a typical
> irritation with all Dell PC systems if the fan is not replaced with an
> overpriced Dell fan. There is a chip on it that is exclusively Dell's.
> They try to force one to part with the bucks.

Does someone know just what the deal is here? Is Dell using a proprietary
fan, or just a three-wire with tach and speed control?

If my suspicion is correct, swampy, that 'expensive' fan isn't all that
special and it's a nice feature. With it, you can use utilities that monitor
the fan speed and adjust it for temp changes, keeping the system quiet. If
you have a hot system it will also alert you when the fan fails, which is a
leading cause of overheating failures.

You made the error go away, but you lost a layer of protection.

-John O

On Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:51:01 -0500, "swampy"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Thanks, guys!
>
>You're right! It isn't a Registry problem; it is indeed a Bios problem.
>
>I appreciate your responses very much. I understand that this a typical
>irritation with all Dell PC systems if the fan is not replaced with an
>overpriced Dell fan. There is a chip on it that is exclusively Dell's. They
>try to force one to part with the bucks.
>
>I went into the F2 Bios and scrolled down to "Error reporting" and I
>disabled that option and bingo no more problem. Yes, I the alert still
>appears, but just briefly (for ½ second) and then automatically moves on in
>the boot process.
>
>Thanks again!
>

A "chip" on the fan? That seems unlikely. Perhaps the folks
discussing the subject are referring to the fact that you have to use
a three-wire fan that can report its speed in order to avoid the halt
during POST.
Think about it. If Dell were really trying to get you to shell out
big bucks for a proprietary fan, would they defeat themselves by
allowing the warning to be disabled in BIOS? I'm guessing that if
you'd purchased any third-party speed-sensing fan, it would have
worked just fine.

Hi, John and Milleron! The case fan that I bought to replace the Dell
proprietary fan also has the heat sensor. It works just fine and has the
same specs as the Dell JMC/Datech fan that is built exclusively for Many of
Dell's PCs including the Dimension 4550.

Guys, I didn't have a clue when my fan quit about any of this. First thing
I did was look locally (CompUSA) and I was surprised when I found out that
there wasn't about it on the Web either except all the ones like me yelling
and screaming about what to do.

I must tell you that it didn't set well with me. I looked into trying to
order a Dell fan through a PC dealer and repair shop, but he told me that it
would cost me 3 times what it was worth. Certainly sounds like Dell has a
system going, doesn't i?. I have spent the last 2 months trying to resolve
this issue. My patience is shot and right now I'm just happy to get on with
a PC that works.

If you want to get an idea about what I talking about do a search on the web
with "Dell Dimension 4550 case fan replacement. You'll be as surprised as I
was.

Cheers!