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Installing vista/windows 7 on dimension 5150
Hi, any advice on how to install dual-boot XP/vista or win7 on the Dimension 5150? I see other forum members have successfully installed both 32 and 64bit versions of both OS's, but when I boot from my retail versions of the dvd, it hangs after loading the windows file '(windows is starting' in Win 7). I think my old pentium 4 HT-E is 64-bit compatible (Sandra lists support for amd64/em64T), but will settle for 32 bit if I can only get the setup to load ;).
Is this a bios issue? I'm aware Dell only supports vista 32-bit for this desktop. HDD has been resized with new blank partition ready for new OS. Or has dell locked the mainboard to only accept Dell OEM OS versions? Not too worried about driver issues, not using onboard nic/soundcard etc.
Any help appreciated! Not ready to junk it yet....
fireberd
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January 11th, 2011 14:00
I have an E510 which is identical to the 5150. I have Vista 32 bit installed on it. There is nothing in the Dell motherboard to preclude installing using a no-Dell OS disc.
As Dell only supports Vista 32 bit (which should be OK for Win 7 32 bit) I would only suggest installing the 32 bit version. The SigmaTel integrated audio needs the Dell sound driver to work or work properly. Maximum memory is 4GB and you won't gain anything by installing a 64 bit OS, even though a 64 bit OS can fully address 4GB, you will still wind up with about 3.2 to 3.5 GB of useable memory.
When you created the new partition, did you format it so a new OS could be installed on it? That MAY be the issue. You do need the latest BIOS, for proper operation on Vista/Win 7 but that shouldn't stop installation.
agp26
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January 11th, 2011 19:00
Hi I got it to work finally (had a clean partition). Had to remove all extraneous hardware, all memory save one module, then it worked. Put everything back in again and presto! working win7 32 bit. Should have tried the 64-bit anyway as the cpu is 64-bit capable, and the bios recognizes all 5gb of memory modules. Not going to muck about with it now.
Thanks for the suggestions.