Cannot connect to Internet

Did you do the reinstall in the correct order?

 

MCE

Desktop System Software  <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

Chipset driver

Video driver

Audio driver

network driver

etc.

 

If they weren't installed in correct order, reboot in Safe Mode (F8 before Windows starts to load) and install the desktop system software, followed by the chipset driver. Then shut down normally and reboot normally. Now install all other drivers that are missing.

 

All the drivers for this model are listed on this page.

 

Ron

Thank you, Ron.  But there are 64 drivers listed at that Dell site.  When I first re-installed XP Media Edition, I installed the 3 CDs that Dell provided.  Then I installed the Intel driver and its troubleshooting download off the list of 64, because the Charter tech rep said that's what was missing.  Do you think I have to re-uninstall everything and start from scratch?  I also don't recognize the first item on your list.  Sorry to be so dense about this.

Desktop System Software (DSS) is a small utitlity that Dell uses to fix/update various functions, eg fixes to USB port settings. It should be installed first after a clean Windows install. Chipset driver should be installed before any other driver, otherwise the other drivers may not install or work correctly.

 

Download DSS and Chipset driver and copy them onto the XPS desktop. Boot the XPS in Safe Mode (F8 before Windows starts to load) and double-click on the DSS file to install. Then double-click on the Chipset file to install it. Now shut down normally and reboot normally. Now install the rest of the drivers.

 

Go here and insert the service tag number for the XPS. It should come back with the list of hardware components installed by Dell in your system. Use that info to find the right drivers for video card, audio etc. Download those on another PC and burn onto a CD so you can install them on the XPS system.

 

Ron 

 

Ron, one last question before I proceed.  When I was writing the message and said I didn't understand the first item on your ordered list, I couldn't see your post.  What I was referring to was the item called 'MCE'.  What does that stand for?

Thanks.

MCE = Windows XP Media Center Edition ;)

 

Ron 

Okey Dokey, got it.  Thanks much.

I am still having trouble and now think my best recourse is to reformat the hard drive and then reinstall everything from scratch in the proper order.  However, the instructions I found for doing a clean install of Windows XP say to start the computer from the Windows CD and then there will be a Welcome to Setup Screen to start the setup.  But then instead of any choice about reformatting, it tries to install XP from the CD and wants me to partition the drive.  Is there a simple way to just get everything off the hard drive so I can start over from scratch?  Thank you.

I have reinstalled XP Media edition from scratch, along with various drivers listed for my computer.  I also installed some drivers off the Dell Diagnostic CD that came with the computer.  I still can't connect to the internet.  Under Device Manager it's now down to only two yellow exclamation points that say:

PCI Device

Video Controller (VGA compatible).

 

I don't see anything resembling those on the list of components for my computer as listed under the Service Tag.

 

Any suggestions about what I should try next?

Either you didn't install the video driver, installed the wrong video driver (or it's for the wrong version of Windows), the driver install failed, the video card isn't working correctly...

 

Start by making sure you know exactly which video you have (eg, ATI or nVidia PCI card), or onboard (Intel) graphics. I suspect you have an add-in PCI card because you see ! next to PCI device. Once you figure that out, you can go to the ATI or nVidia site to find the latest driver.

 

Then reboot and (re)install the correct driver. Reboot again.

 

Ron 

I am unable to find what video card I have.  I went to a site called “ How do I determine what type of video card I have?” and tried most of their suggestions.  I couldn't get their DOS approach to work; my computer didn't recognize the command and some software I installed that they recommended couldn’t find a video card. I looked at the list of parts included with the original purchase of my desktop with no luck.  I have no clue as to what I have.  I went to the manufacturer of the new hard drive and learned nothing; I tried to call their tech support, but gave up after interminable wait on phone.  I went to Intel's site and didn't find anything that sounded like what I needed, either. I have installed a number of Intel drivers, thinking that was the solution to the non-connecting to the Internet problem, but still no connection. 

<>Have you figured this out yet? Did you go here and use your service tag to find the list of installed hardware? If you post the list (but NOT your service tag number) here, I'll attempt to help you ID the video.

 

<>Ron
 

I don't have this solved yet.  A friend of mine who is a computer expert is coming over this week end to help me out.  I appreciate your willingness to help me ID the correct driver.  For the entire system associated with my service tag there are 64 drivers total, 34 recommended, and 7 labeled urgent.  For just drivers associated with video, there are 17 total.  I am not sure I can post such a long list in this forum. 

I'm not asking you to post a list of all possible drivers. If you go here and put in your service tag number, it gives you the list of hardware installed in your system, not the list of possible drivers. For example, when I follow that link and enter my service tag, I get a list that includes:

 

M7803 CARD (CIRCUIT)..., GRAPHICS..., 256, GEFORCE..., 6800, HMGA11

 

So this says I have an nVidia Geforce 6800 video card. With that info I can select the correct driver from the Drivers & Download page for this model.

 

Got it now? ;)

 

Ron

 

 

 

OK here is the hardware list.  The site removed some "invalid HTML", so it doesn't line up the way I had cut and pasted it, but I guess you can view the information OK.

 

CJ339 MOUSE..., UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS..., 2BTN, WHEEL..., LEAD FREE..., OPTICAL..., BLACK... DT240 CARD (CIRCUIT)..., GRAPHICS..., 7300, LOW ENCRYPTION..., MRMGA10, 2 X8388 DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE..., 512, 667M, 64X64, 8, 240, 1RX8 GR343 KIT..., SOFTWARE..., OVERPACK..., WINDOWS XP..., MCE05U, DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE..., ENGLAND/ENGLISH... JX144 PROCESSOR..., 6300, 1.86, 2M, CORE DUO-CONROE..., BURN 2... NJ131 INSTRUCTION..., DEVIATE CHAS L6 TO L5.5 RP434 ASSEMBLY..., FLOPPY DRIVE..., 1.44MEGB, NEC CORPORATION..., CHASSIS 2005..., BLK DY654 KIT..., SOFTWARE..., WORKS..., 8.5, OFFICE..., TRIAL, ENGLAND/ENGLISH... T9112 ASSEMBLY..., CABLE..., ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ATTACHMENT PACKET INTERFACE..., TANK JF495 MODEM..., V.92, DATA FAX..., INTERNAL..., SON2, LEAD FREE..., DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION... RG894 KIT..., SOFTWARE..., APPLICATION..., SONIC SOLUTIONS..., CINEPLAYER... KN214 DISPLAY..., FLAT PANEL DISPLAY..., 19, E197FPB, BLACK..., FLAT PANNEL IN BOX... MY531 ASSEMBLY..., DVD+/-RW..., 16, TOSHIBA SAMSUNG STORAGE TECHNOLOGY..., Serial ATA..., BLACK... TM727 HARD DRIVE..., 250G, S2, 7.2K, 8M, LEAD FREE..., SGT-GLX 149DF INFORMATION..., PREPARATION MATERIAL..., DEVIATION..., PRECISION WORKSTATION..., INCREASE..., #2 RH659 KEYBOARD..., 104, UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS..., UNITED STATES..., BLACK..., DARFON ELECTRONICS, CORP... UH854 KIT..., SPEAKER..., 120V, BLACK..., AS501PA, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION... UP819 KIT..., SOFTWARE..., TREND MICRO..., 14, ENGLAND/ENGLISH...