When your Dell product encounters a problem, it will often display an error code. These codes are designed to help direct you to identify the source of the problem and if possible direct you to a solution.
These error codes generally fall into five distinct categories. For more information, click the hyperlinks in the category titles (they link to the code explanations).
Follow the guidelines that are provided below for troubleshooting and resolving error codes on your Dell computer.
These error codes are generated after you have performed a diagnostics test on your computer using the integrated diagnostics tool. These codes are all numeric and appear in the format of XXXX-XXXX (such as 2000-0142).
For assistance with these error codes that are encountered during the diagnostics test, see our knowledgebase article Dell Diagnostic Tools to Diagnose and Fix Hardware Problems on Your Dell PC, Tablet or Servers.
When Windows encounters certain situations, it stops and the resulting diagnostic information is displayed in white text on a blue screen. The appearance of these errors is where the term "Blue Screen Error" has come from. These error codes usually start with "STOP 0xXXXXXXXX" (the Xs represent various letter and number codes that point toward the cause of the error. For Windows 8, the blue screen has changed significantly. It now displays an ASCII frown face =( and the statement "Your PC ran into a problem that it couldn't handle, and now it needs to restart." followed by the error type. The familiar "0xXXXXXXXX" error codes are only listed in more information links on the error page.
Dell articles on Windows errors:
For additional assistance with these types of errors, see these Microsoft knowledgebase articles:
Hard Disk Drives (HDD) may have specific internal diagnostic capabilities that are called S.M.A.R.T. which works with the computer BIOS and PSA/ePSA diagnostics.
Hard drive error codes usually appear as alpha-numeric codes on plain test messages before Windows loads such as:
"SMART Failure Predicted on Hard Disk 0: (Manufacturer and model information)
WARNING: Immediately back-up your data and replace your hard drive. A failure may be imminent.
Press F1 to Continue."
Usually, S.M.A.R.T. errors will trigger a message to run diagnostics. If you encounter a S.M.A.R.T. error confirm the error with PSA/ePSA diagnostics in Hardware Error Codes section.
Printer error codes can vary between printer models so it is best to see the user's guide for the individual printer.
You can locate the user's guide, browse to the Dell.com/support. Identify your product either by entering your Printer Service Tag or click Browse all products.
You might also want to review the information available on our Printer Support page
There are many types of error codes that are caused by many situations. When the error is not a Hardware ePSA/PSA/SupportAssist Pre-Boot Error, Windows Error, Hard Drive Error, or Printer Error code, searching on Google may help identifying your issue.
Browse to Google.com with your favorite Internet browser, and search the error exactly as you see it on your screen.
If you need further assistance, contact Dell Support.
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