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Been an idiot!!!
Hi all, so I recently bought an old Dell dimension 1100 as a spare. I did a factory reset and all was good but I then decided to go one step further and install Vista, not the best idea as I now have all kinds of issues, blocked start up programs, sonic solutions driver dla problem, can't connect wireless, and general slow and poor running.
So i decided I would go back to XP with a factory reset, but as you will probably already know, the factory reset is no longer there. I have no disk either.
Please tell me there is something I can do to do a factory reset, or get a disk or something. Should Vista be causing these problems also?
Many Thanks!!
fireberd
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February 17th, 2012 03:00
Dell supports Vista 32 bit on this model, so you should be OK, providing you install correctly and install the correct device drivers.
Sonic Solutions was the CD/DVD burning software. Uninstall that and use a free CD burning program such as imgburn.
Apparently you did an upgrade rather than a clean install (reformat hard drive then install). You need to do the clean install.
The Dell Vista 32 bit drivers can be downloaded HERE Thereis no wireless drivers so that was a user add on, not something from Dell.
When you do the install follow this correct and required install sequence: (1) Install Windows (2) Install Intel Motherboard Chipset Drivers (3) Install Device Drivers including Video, Dell sound driver, ethernet, etc. DO NOT skip the chipset drivers as they are key to a successful install.
rdunnill
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February 17th, 2012 22:00
Vista 32-bit likes 1gb of memory minimum, 2gb preferred.
I think the Home Premium and Ultimate versions of Vista have DVD codecs bundled, but with the other versions it is extra cost. If you have Home Premium or Ultimate, you can use use Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center for DVD playback at no further cost.
If you're already connected to the network, you can download and install your wireless driver. Otherwise, I'd suggest going to the wireless adapter's manufacturer's site and downloading the needed driver.
I'd uninstall the Sonic Solutions player (and anything else not needed and incompatible), and it would also be a good idea to go to Intel's download site and install the latest chipset drivers. One nice plus of Vista over XP is that it can seek out missing drivers over the Internet and automatically download and install them. Sometimes you need to help this process along by right-clicking the driverless device, selecting "Update Driver," and following the prompts.
I could be wrong, but I don't think you can perform a factory reset after a Vista upgrade.
Edit: applying all the Vista updates and Service Packs might help.