This post is more than 5 years old
4 Posts
0
9363
Problems rebuilding Inspiron E1705 C:/
My daughter's Inspiron E1705 (Service Code <ADMIN NOTE: Service Code removed per privacy policy>) was attacked by malware that eventually destroyed XP's ability to access Restore or PC Restore (Ctrl-F11) and eventually even to boot. I attemped to Restore using an XP Professional disk I bought her, but the file needed to innitiate PC Restore data had been destroyed. I then fully installed XP, but had the same result--no restore available, and numerous bad sectors on C:/ as well. I reformatted and reinstalled XP Pro (Service Pack 2), but I am stuck.
For some reason the battery refuses to charge at all, and instructions for flashing the BIOS warn one MUST have at least 10% charge on the battery. Could this failure to charge be a result of the Malware, or what? More to the point, does the BIOS necessarily NEED to be flashed? Also, It will not allow me to set up connections (neither WiFi nor Ethernet.)
Finally, the directions for installing the drivers in the required order refer to items and categories not found in the driver list for this machine. For example, it says one must start with "Notebook System Software (NSS)" found in the "System and Configuration Utilities Category." Neither the NSS nor that category exist on the download page. What's up??? What _does_ get installed first?
ejn63
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
87.5K Posts
1
August 20th, 2011 04:00
Numerous bad sectors mean a faulty hard drive. The drive needs to be replaced.
If the battery isn't charging, check to make sure the BIOS (F2 at powerup) recognizes the AC adapter. If it's listed as "unknown", try a new Dell adapter - if it does not solve the problem, the mainboard needs repair or replacement.
If the adapter is recognized properly, the battery needs to be replaced.
None of these are malware problems - they are hardware issues.
The notebook system software is here:
That MUST be the first thing you install after installing Windows. Then install the chipset driver, reboot and load the rest of the drivers.
pigletag
4 Posts
0
August 21st, 2011 12:00
Thanks for the great info!
I misspoke about bad sectors. I meant various files were damaged or destroyed. The HD reformatted flawlessly.
I'm glad to say that I had guessed right by installing the Dell - Utility first. Now the chipset is installed, and the WiFi drivers as well. Connectivity! Yea! Now I can download drivers directly instead of transferring via thumb drive.
I still may need to find a true Dell adapter, as battery is not charging.
Again, many thanks!
pigletag
4 Posts
0
August 26th, 2011 18:00
I followed your suggestions carefully, but found that the sound card wasn't recognized, and a number of basic original programs were not available through the Downloads page (e.g. Roxio, Media direct, etc.) Then a Google search found a 3-year old reply from a Dell Tech on, of all places, "Yahoo! Answers." He said:
"You can very well download all the drivers from www.support.dell.com, put them in a disk and once you have reinstalled the operating system, you can make use of that disk you install all the basic drivers viz video, audio, network & chipset.
---->> However if this does not work out you can call us and then we can ship you all the cd's that came along with the system (including drivers cd) free of charge even though you are out of warranty.
-Dell Tech Support
800-624-9896"
I did that, and the 4 disks arrived the next day! Even though no disks came with the e1705 originally, there was no hassle or charge. I did a complete reinstall of their XP (Media Edition, which my own disk was not), the drivers disk and the 2 applications disks. As far as I can tell, everything works perfectly!