When I boot my Dell Dimension 4100, before the OS loads, I get the above message on the DOS screen: "Press <Del> to Resume", and the PC waits. When I press <Del>, it finishes loading Windows. If I restart or reboot, same thing happens.

This PC was originally Win 98se, but I recently upgrade to Win XP Home. Same things happens under both OS's

How do I get rid of this annoying prompt?

Mike

To get rid of that message, you will need to address the problem that bios is complaining about. This should be mentioned in the line (or lines) above that message.

It seems that you forgot to include the relevant information in your post. How about you reboot your computer and write down the few lines before the 'press...to continue message and post back?

Changing OSs will never fix a problem that exists in BIOS!

I have the exact same problem; lines before this prompt in my rig are:
Exact descriptions of hard drive one and hard drive two.
Then both CD-ROMS identified by their exact name and type.
I have been in the bios changing things from auto detect to boot sequences. So far nothing has helped. This problem occurred before in the past, but somehow cured itself. I was having problems with a game (Sim City) that locked up hard. All I could do was hit the manual reset on the PC, after the third time, the <Del> resume came back. Sim City hasn’t had a problem since; I apparently found the issue with it.
I downloaded a flash bios update for this PC, but it didn’t help the situation. I know that this is just an annoyance, but I’m tired of it. Any help will be appreciated.

Hi Gene,

Surely it says something just before the press to continue message, which indicates an error.

Does your computer beep once? If it beeps twice this means something has changed and the computer wants you to check cmos. Perhaps the date keeps resetting which would indicate a CMOS battery needs replacing.

I've got better things to do than keep guessing. Have a closer look when it asks you to press X Key to continue. There should be a message or at least an error code right above the aforementioned message

I began this quest by searching: (Press <Del> to resume)in Google and it appears to be Dell Dimension 4100 specific.
Here’s what I have so far, I spent half the day yesterday looking for drivers for the NEC DV-5700A. Bottom line is, the drivers for this thing don’t exist. On my sixth download of NEC drivers, I hit on one that actually worked, I shut down and restarted about a dozen times last night without the press <del> happening. I was like YEAH! I got it! But this morning Del is back. Here is exactly what the boot screen shows:

Copyright 1996-2002 Intel Corporation

EA81510A.10A.0038.P13.0206110923

Dell Dimension 4100
BIOS Version All
Intel ® Pentium ® III Processor, 866MHz
Checking NVRAM . . .
512 MB PC133 System RAM

Legacy Keyboard . . . . Detected
Legacy Mouse. . . . . . . Detected
USB Legacy . . . . . . . . Enabled

Fixed Disk 0: MAXTOR 6Y080P0
(UDMA= 100MHz
Fixed Disk 1: MAXTOR 5T040144
(UDMA= 100MHz

ATPI CD-ROM PLEXTOR DVDR PX-708A
ATPI CD-ROM _NEC DV-5700A

Press <Del> to resume

After the ATPI CD-ROM_NEC DV-5700A shows there is a lightning fast flash to a screen that appears to have the DELL insignia in the upper right corner, but it is so fast I honestly can’t tell for sure.
I have gone in and changed the IDE type from [AUTO] <which gives the screen above>

If changing type to CD-ROM and then I get:

A.R.M.D. PLEXTOR DVDR PX-708A
A.R.M.D. _NEC DV-5700A

Press <Del> to resume

If changing type to [USER] and then I get:

Nothing
Nothing
Press <Del> to resume

I have played around with these settings before trying to get the DMA thing correct for burning CDs. Running the diagnostics for the burning software has consistently told me there would be errors due to the corresponding drives not being DMA or something like that.
One thing confusing: in the bios it says that the ribbon is 40-pin connector, but it seems to be exactly the same ribbon as the Hard Drives have.

Also, in Windows Device Manager the only thing I can get to work on the NEC Drive is a generic CD-ROM drive, while the Plextor is listed correctly. It may all come down to the problem being this dang NEC DV-5700A, no descriptive drivers seem to exist for the chunk-a-junk. I can’t afford a DVD replacement drive right now, but it is on my list.

Thank you for your help Rimfire, I know getting involved helping people can get to be a daunting task, but I also know that the information regarding these Dimension 4100s will help many people.

Perhaps I should have noticed that you both had the same system. The Dells have a separate diagnostic aid which might reveal the source of the problem. On the back of the machine they have four LEDs. These will be green or yellow. Have a look at them while you have the message displayed.

IDE cables which connect to hard and CD drives are 40 pin. Some cables have eighty wires but only use 40 pins.

You enable DMA through device manager. Highlight the drive and click properties.

Drivers are not normally required for CD drives.

Update:

I can’t explain what exactly cured the situation with my BOIS problem, but so far it has gone away. I have shut down and restarted a number of times now and have booted right through. All I have done to this point is change the drives attributes in the BIOS back and forth from [auto] to CD-ROM to Manual and back again to the Auto detect drive.
On the DMA, the CD-ROM in device manager will not allow (or even has) a DMA option. I am probably mistaken, but thought I had that option once before while running some diagnostic or another in reference to burning disks. I removed the HP-9100 CD burner from this rig and replaced it with a Plextor DVD burner, for all I know this could have changed the boot stopping at the end, or helped maybe. The stopping was consistent through everything up to going back and forth on the drive type changes.
A great deal has taken place since I first posted here, I also replaced the hard drive with a newer, faster and bigger one. The original drive was only 66Mhz and very loud during use. I now have twin 100MHz drives that run silent and cool. I’ll not bad mouth Dell, this rig has worked very well for me and suffered only the above mentioned problems. Once my kitchen is done, I’ll be moving up to a new pc, at the rate I’m going, they may be in the terabyte CPUs.
Again thanks for the help!

Several days ago the problem with my Dell Dimension 4100 spontaneously vanished. It now boot straight through again. Wish I knew what I did, because, if past experience is any guide, someday <Del> may return, and I may just have to live with it until it goes away again.

In any event, the thread has given me a few things to consider if the <Del> ever resurfaces.

Mike

Hi Mike, It's been a while!

So both the computers having this fault have mysteriously recovered! If the fault does reappear, have a look at and record the diagnostic LEDs at the back of the computer.

From what I have found, the majority of poeple who have posted their experiences with this symptom, have found the cause to be the hard drive. Take this as a warning and be sure to keep a backup of any important documents stored on your hard drive.

So what is it boys? I have the same problem with my Dell Dimension 4100 but it comes and goes? I replaced the BIOS battery first, no change. I have two 40 Gig hard drives and I swapped them around to reinstalled a fresh copy of XP on, it but I still get the error. So it can't be the hard drive like every one is claiming unless you're telling me both my hard drives are faulty? Maybe Dell's don't like Maxtor hard drives? I unplugged both my CD ROMS, use the computer for a week with out them and still the "Press <Del> to Resume" error appears when it wants to. I can't find squat on the Dell website to troubleshoot this and when I called they gave me some bologna that something went bad on the motherboard and that I would have to buy another motherboard. WHO HAS THE DEFINITE ANSWER TO REPAIR THIS ERROR!

Thanx,
Sam