Possible E510 and Windows 7 compatibility problem?

Hi RDUNNILL,

Thank you for the quick response.

These came with a 305 watt power supply. This one was replaced with a Cooler Master 500 watt. I went to the Intel after I read your message and did the chipset update [fingers crossed the whole time]. No luck; didn't help.

The video adapter is an ATI Radeon X600. Intel, at first, offered an update but then did not recognize this adapter for the W7 application. Maybe you hit a "bingo" for me here. I'll nose around tomorrow for the best price on the Sapphire card you suggested. I'll report back after it's installed and let you know.

Thanks so much,

Mike

Newegg is a great place to pick one up if you can wait a few days. If you want it faster, two-day delivery is an option, but typically you'll get it in three business days.

$35 with free shipping before a $10 mail-in rebate.

I have an Inspiron 660S running Windows 7 and I too have noticed the system is very flaky when coming out of sleep mode.  In my case the Dell S2240L monitor I have takes a long time to wake up, and then cuts in and out of sleep mode a couple of times before the system finally wakes up.

I've have a similiar problem on my old emachines XP system so this is not just a Dell system problem. Do a Google search and you will see many complaints on this with many different types of PC hardware running Windows.  It's a Windows problem and based on what I've seen in researching it, they (Microsoft) are not going to fix it any time soon.

My suggestion and what I did was increase the time before the system goes to sleep.  I now have mine set at 45 minutes.

Let me give you another example.  I got my Inspiron 660S a couple of months ago and Windows Media Player has had and still does have problems running on Windows 7.  This is well documented and the problems go back to 2009 when Windows 7 was first released. If you go to Microsoft support sites it's obvious they don't have a clue on how to solve it and they give you the shotgun approach of try this and if that does work, try this, and so on until they tell you to re-install Media Player.  In my case I just installed Real Player and QuickTime both free and those along with Windows Movie Maker which works fine allow me to play and music or videos I've downloaded.

I really like my Inspiron 660S and enjoy web surfing, along with my music videos, etc. I'm a retired IT guy (IBM Mainframes and UNIX)  and I've learned that Microsoft and it's programmers can sometimes be very sloppy in their quality control and release versions of their OS with bugs in the most basic functions.  

I have a collection of PCs, all but two of which are configured with Windows 7, and I'm not getting that issue.

I just "moved" a Windows 7 install to an AMD 760 board (this install was originally created for the Intel H61 chipset) and Windows 7, including Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player, are fully functional (DVD playback, too).

If you're experiencing problems with video playback, it could be due to incorrect configuration or buggy drivers. Typically when I add a PC to my collection, I wipe it and install fresh.

I have the same E510 and I have power set for the display to go to sleep, but never on the cpu and this work good for me as I also have the same problem.

Hi guys,

I did in fact go to Newegg.for the card. Amazon was identical but wanted more shipping, thus Newegg. I'm hoping this will be the culprit 'cause it's on it's way. At the time I installed my OS, I installed the same OS, with the same disc, in my wife's Inspiron 537s. Her's has none of these problems and works fine. Of course her's may not be a builder, but it is 4 years newer. Once again, got my fingers crossed.

I know XP is overdue to die but it really saddens me. it is so darn reliable,dependable and fixable all the time. For all the daily "little things" we use every day, W7 just doesn't compare. I do, however, find that swtiching to Firefox makes a MAJOR improvement. I always keep the "big three" [IE, F/fox, Chrome] installed and at the ready in all my desktops. If one acts up, can switch over in about 3 seconds. Helps as a diagnostic tool also.

Thanks to you all.

T'care,

Mike

I know XP is overdue to die but it really saddens me. it is so darn reliable,dependable and fixable all the time. For all the daily "little things" we use every day, W7 just doesn't compare.

I gave up on XP a long time ago; when Windows 7 is configured properly, there's no comparison. :)

Just for giggles, I set up an Optiplex GX620 (made about the same time as the 5150) with an SSD, 4gb of G.SKILL DDR2 memory and a 6570 video card, and then installed Windows 8 Professional. It works a treat, including DVD playback in Windows Media Center.

RDUNNILL,

Well that certainly does sound like a real success story to me.  I can only hope for similar results. Should know in a few days. When I installed my 4gb of DDR2 ram I used Kingston [ just under 2 yrs. ago]. Some folks said their E510 would not recognize Kingston & others said it worked fine. I was a lucky one too as it saw it right away and I was off to the races.

Tom Green,

I've got mine set for "never" because I always put the whole show to sleep manually anyway whenever I'm done. It can be many hours before I come back and I have a real aversion to "spinnin' the wheels" off my hard drives for no reason at all. It's not only the power savings for me but a mechanical wear and tear thing. Sorta like letting my car run in the driveway for 8 hours every day 'cause I might need to use it for a couple hours. Retired several years ago, but I suppose working for Chevrolet 30 years does have a bearing on my opinion.   Ya think ?      [:-)       I'll let you know if this card takes care of it.

T'care folks,

Mike

Hi all,

Got the card installed, up and running. On the positive side the video seems crisper and quicker. I installed the driver package three separate ways; the wizard, the cd that came with it, and at their web site which was the most in depth [was within 1 week of current]. Nothing made any difference in getting W7 to come out of sleep mode.

So I'll keep nosing around until someday something shows up that will help. In the meantime, I'll keep it updated and use it occasionally also.

Thank you all for your input and suggestions. It is GREATLY appreciated.

Take care,

Mike

Is the BIOS the latest version? Sometimes that can make a difference. Another potential solution is to reset the BIOS to factory defaults.

One of my relatives has a 5150, and I'm thinking of asking permission to try 7 on it.

Hi RDUNNILL,

Yes, I did the whole bios/chipset update at Intel a couple weeks ago. The Dell driver and update site was no help at all that day.  An  E510 with Windows 7 threw them for a loop. Heck, they don't even recognize my Vista drive on this PC   [:-)

Have a great Wednesday,

Mike

What I was suggesting was to update your BIOS firmware with the latest BIOS update from Dell. The latest BIOS is A07; if that's not the version you have, I suggest you update.

For the record, Intel supplies the chipset software, not the firmware.

Thanks RDUNNILL,

I'll head there right now and see what I can find. i'll letcha know.

Appreciatively,

Mike