Run windows 7 ultimate on Dimension E520 ?

Question

Can it be done ?

I just purchased a E520 tower from Re-PC that was running XP HOME , took it home and put my hard drive from my failed 5150 in . Fired right up so reformatted

the 80 gig drive for backup and thought all was well . The 120 gig drive from the 5150 was running win 7 ultimate , shortly after I found that there was no audio output device working , no troubleshooters or web sites that I found would work .....

Now it looks like win 7 isn't compatible with the E520 motherboard ? I thought I might be able to back track and use virtual XP software but can't seem to get it to work . Then tried to downgrade to the XP home via re install cd but looks like I'll have to wipe 7 off first ?

Kind of a novice here so any helpful input will be much appreciated .

rdunnill · Accepted Answer

Do you have the 64-bit version of Windows 7 installed?

Sigmatel was acquired by another company, which stopped providing driver updates. Microsoft seems to have stepped in and has provided 64-bit drivers for Windows 7 and 8, but I don't know about 32-bit.

I suggest you uninstall the Sigmatel drivers and uninstall any 'nonpresent' devices in Control Panel, too. To do this, open a Command Prompt as the administrator, enter 'set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1' and then enter 'devmgmt.msc.' In Device Manager, under the View menu, select 'Show Hidden Devices.' That should show any nonpresent, leftover devices from previous installations: try deleting those, as well as the Sigmatel driver, and then reboot.

DELL-Nikhil D1 · Answer

Hi noteslahere, Yes, you need to clean install Windows XP. Refer this link to install Windows XP: http://bit.ly/ZzGGYH Please reply for any further help.

rdunnill · Answer

What caused the 5150 to fail? Maybe it's something small, like a power supply?

The E520 is compatible with Windows 7, but moving boot drives over from other machines can cause these issues. AFAIK the E520, like the 5150, uses Sigmatel onboard audio, for which Microsoft has made available drivers. You should be able to get it to work with a little tinkering and I can help with this.

In an extreme case, you can reinstall Windows 7 from scratch on the E520.

noteslahere · Answer

Would very much appreciate your help . I have run updates and downloaded the Sigmatel latest software but still no sound .

At this point I am scrambling and trying everything that looks plausible to me but I fear I maybe causing more harm then good . Now when I run the diagnostic program for the no sound , as soon as the window showing the room with the speakers comes up and I press test , PC doctor goes into afib and says an unexpected problem with one of the programs has caused the doctor to have to shut down . Kinda makes me loose faith in a troubleshooting program that shuts down when it finds the problem ..... kinda ironic .

Anyways this is getting long , thinking I need to completely remove the Sigmatel from the computer and re-install ?

Backup does not want to run either nor system restore , don't know if that sheds any light but maybe pointing at a bigger problem I'm thinking .

noteslahere · Answer

Hey Rockstar , did what you suggested and walla , problem fixed , at least that one . I now have sound . Thanks so much for the time and effort . Things get a little confusing bouncing back and forth between here and the windows community .

Don't know the exact protocol here but there are a couple of other glitches as I mentioned above .

A couple of basics you asked about earlier , I am running 7 ultimate 64 bit . Power supply was upgraded to

I purchased the 5150 from internet and started having problems shortly thereafter . I know there was a growing failure on the Mobo as the dimm 1 slot went out causing some issues . I won't go into all I went through troubleshooting that unless you think its relevant .

Now I see that the Mother Board was only part of the problem .

Event viewer / log is not functioning .

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]

C:\Users\dean>sc query service_name

[SC] EnumQueryServicesStatus:OpenService FAILED 1060:

The specified service does not exist as an installed service.

Don't know how to remedy this , I go through the MS two-step over and over with no results usually .

I will try to figure a cure but if you have some insight it would save me literally hours .

Again , many thanks for the patience and time . I'm learning

but it's taking some time

noteslahere · Answer

Left one item hanging I see now , the power supply is upgraded to a cool master  RS-550-PCAR-E3

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Run windows 7 ultimate on Dimension E520 ?

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