Inspiron 531 booting error messages

I don't have that cd.  Dell is mailing me a recovery cd to reinstall windows, but I am not sure what the resource cd is that you mention.

I have tried reseating those and even tried using different sata slots.  I still am having the same issue.

Hi Axxel,

I suggest you to reseat the hard drive data and power cables and check if the system boots properly.  You will need to run a hardware diagnostics by booting from the Resource CD if the system fails to boot again.

Please let me know about your findings.

I don't have that cd.  Dell is mailing me a recovery cd to reinstall windows, but I am not sure what the resource cd is that you mention. I have tried reseating those and even tried using different sata slots.  I still am having the same issue.

 Axxel

Drivers and Utilities DVD, this is usually shipped with the computer package.

Bev.

I just received my driver and utilities disc.

Should I use that or just attempt a clean reinstallation of the OS with the reinstallation dvd that also shipped with it?

Also, in the case that I replace the hard drive, does it need to be the same exact size as the original hard drive in order for the OS reinstall to work?  Or can I install a larger hard drive?

windows 7 32 bit.

will i prompt me to insert utility disc?

Axxel

It would be handy to know which version of windows you are using?

After first installing windows, the Drivers and Utilities DVD is used for installing the drivers.

You can install any internal 3.5", 7200rpm, SATA hard drive, up to 2TB in size, check out the Seagate and Western Digital brands and also, try to find a drive with, at least, a three year warranty.

Regards to the "diskette drive 0 seek failure" error, if you don't have a floppy drive installed, enter the system setup [BIOS] and set the Diskette Drive option to 'Off'.

Bev.

Thanks Bev, that's very good to know.

I will update later with my results.

Thanks again.

 Axxel

:emotion-21:

Bev.

I don't see the DSS software anywhere on the disk.  Am I missing it?  When I click on "driver", there is a message at the top that dell recommends installing the DSS, but it doesn't list it anywhere or tell me how.

I tried manually doing it from dell website and when I attempted to install it, it told me my computer OS does not support the program.

I don't know what to do.

I did do windows update first also, so it should have SP1 on there, as I believe I needed that prior to getting DSS.

 Axxel

If the DSS is not on the Utilities and Drivers DVD and not listed on Dell Downloads site, then you don't need it.

Bev.

Thanks.

I went ahead and started installing drivers, and restarting in between each one. The nVidea drivers for both the video and nic drivers don't seem to take. They would say they were installed successfully and I would go ahead and restart the computer, but upon reboot it would say I still needed them, and I would do it all over again, with no success.

I ended up skipping them and am now at the audio driver.

Don't know what the deal was with that and if it will cause any problems now that I skipped it.

Axxel

Can you log on to the internet, if you can, then the NIC driver is already installed.

Regards to the Video/graphics driver, are you using the default Video/graphics, or have they been updated?

Bev.

Yes its online.

I'm not really sure about the default video and other drivers.  I did the best I could.  Don't know why they seemed like they weren't installing.  I will try again later and see if they are recognizing the installations I did.

However, the computer seems good now.  Running like new.

I applied new thermal grease, as the old stuff was very dry and several years old.  It was my first time applying grease.  A little smudged out onto the side of the cpu near the top.  Not alot of it, but it still concerns me if it will affect the temperature adversely.  It's also such a small area it seemed so easy to stir up tiny dust particles to contaminate the grease before I reinstalled the heat sink.  I hope I did ok.  What are your thoughts?

I will monitor the temps with a free little app.  What do you think is normal temperature range for dell inspirons?

Thanks again Bev.

Axxel

Microsoft could have installed the drivers, as part of their updates 

I have no idea what the Inspiron 570 temperatures should be.

Regards to reapplying the thermal compound, directions for cleaning and applying it, are HERE.

Have installed the Anti Virus and Anti Malware utilities and updated the definitions?

Bev.