Help I got hard drive and Operating system trouble

What OS are you wanting to re-install?  I recently bought an 8600 and it came with a XP Home disk. What make and model do you own?

Kindest Regards,
David

Pretty much anything that works! :)  This is an old Inspiron 4000.  It originally came with Me or you could pick 2000.

I thought about Win XP. Someone said just be careful how much space it takes up on the computer and how much

memory I have but I upgraded the mem. so I think I'd be alright with XP.

Yes, it looks like W2K or XP will work on your 4000 (according to Dell's "Upgrade" page). Just be sure that you have downloaded and installed the newest BIOS available (especially if you choose to go with XP).  If you have the HD space, why not go with XP? Just be absolutely sure to FORMAT your HD and then install a fresh copy of XP or W2K (though with your computer's problems is sounds like you will have to anyhoo).

Have you ever done this before? If not, it is simple to do. Just let me know and I'll be happy to walk you through it.

How much RAM and how much Hard Drive space do you have?

Kindest Regards,
David
p.s. - As to the BIOS upgrade, does your Insprion have a floppy drive? Have you ever upgraded your Dell BIOS? I'd be happy to walk you through that one too if needed.

Ya know I have a floppy drive and it's with the old WinMe, lost in the black hole where things go when you move! I do have a brand new copy, all wrapped up of Win 98.  It's here with me which I could use and not have to go out and buy Win XP.  Not as chick but it would work for now. I don't really know the difference between versions.

Okay, so let me ask because someone can pick me up a copy of XP right now.  Do you think it would be better than 98?

***Yes, if you have the RAM (at least 256 MB's) and the Hard Drive space, GO FOR IT!!  Just having the stability of an NT based OS would be enough (haven't you had enough of Win98's freezes and error messages?), but you need to do a clean install.  With XP, you won't have any f/disk to perform or drivers to hunt down, etc. Everything, especially on an older computer like your 4000, should be taken care of by the XP disk. You just make sure your FlashBIOS is current (I'll help you with that if you'd like), change your Boot order so that your laptop boots from your CD drive, and basically let the XP disk do the rest. It really is that simple. A clean installation of Win95/98 always seems a bit of a nightmare to me. It is never simple.

So again, yes, if your computer is XP ready and you can get an XP disk, by all means, get it. You won't regret it!

Let me know what you end up doing, but if you get XP, you should be back in Windows and on the Internet in less than an hour after you start the installation ..  AND w/o any headaches    (Can you tell that I like XP?  ... W2K is just as easy, BTW)

Kindest Regards,
David
p.s. - sorry about not getting back to you sooner. I thought I had posted a message earlier today, but it didn't make it up on the board for some reason.

Hey David,

Let me ask ..... there is someone who works with computers who said that with my Pentium III processor, XP would run much slower than Win98. See I thought if I got a 40 GB hard drive and upgraded my memory from 128 to 364 I'd have what I needed. But I didn't think about the processor speed.  Do you know about this? He was saying Win 2000 would go much faster.  You've been really helpful .... thanks for all the advice your giving me.  I held off on buying the XP today and now I'm snowed in!!! So I won't be going anywhere for a couple of days.

Here's my system stuff:  Dell Inspriron 4000

Mobile Intel (R) Pentium III, 847MHz,  320MB SDRAM,  current 10GB hard drive but waiting to put in 40GB, Microsoft 2000 pro vers. 5.

Does this help?

XP will work just fine on it. I run it on 200mz systems. The 40 gb hdd will help this is the one I would get. They are fast ,cool running and quiet. Almost as fast as the 7200 drives and $100 less.

http://www.str8buy.com/seag4054uldm.html

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computer1stgrade wrote:

Here's my system stuff:  Dell Inspriron 4000
Mobile Intel (R) Pentium III, 847MHz,  320MB SDRAM,  current 10GB hard drive but waiting to put in 40GB, Microsoft 2000 pro vers. 5.

Does this help?

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***Yes, thanks. But I'm not sure I understand, do you already own a copy of Windows 2000 for your Inspiron 4000?

--David

Thanks, no that is my entire problem.  I don't have an operating system disk any longer. It is lost in the etheric somewhere.  So this great new 40GB hard drive I can't use because of not having a disk.

So I was trying to figure out how to get something to work without buying a new operating system. 

By the time I buy a new OS hard drive, etc. I could almost upgrade to something else.  So really I'm at square one.  We just got side tracked to lots of threads and some good advice.  I'm learning but my computer is still the same. (smile)

New laptops are running in the $2,000 range from Dell now (just bought two for about that price, an Inspiron 8600 and an Inspiron 600). You already have the 4000 and a new 40 GB HD, yes?!  Now just buy a copy of Windows XP Home UPGRADE for about $90 and you'll be all set    WAY less expensive than a new laptop!!

Let me know what you decide to do and if you still need any help with BIOS, formatting, installation, etc.

Kindest Regards,
David