I've been so busy, it's taken me a week to get back to this. I really want to thank in particular the two people who pointed me towards the Dell and Microsoft evaluators. The Dell said I needed to install an optical DVD drive, but Microsoft, based on my usage, seemed to be saying I didn't need to do anythng related to hardware. (I use the computer intensively on the Internet and withMicrosoft Office, especially Excel. No gaming, no music or video downloads, no graphics work other than Excel charts.) Microsoft recommended the premium home edition as best for meeting my needs. I sure hope I don't need to install any hardware because, with the complex setup and extremely limited working space, it would be an all day job from start to finish. The software updates look intimidating, but not anything I can't handle. I have 2 gig of memory, plenty of available disk space, and (as near as I can tell, not being a hardware person) an NVIDIA GeForce 6800 PCIe graphics card. Thanks again for the help.
Is it possible to attach an External CD/DVD drive to meet this requirement? I'd much rather spend a little more and have one more thing on my desk than go through the hassle of replacing the existing CD/RW drive. I'm assuming that "DVD" is the same as "Optical", since that is the term used on the Dell additional components offered page. Either way, can anyone recommend a specific make or model (without violating any rules here against advertising)?
It's much better to simply purchase a new drive to replace your current drive.
Current DVD burners can be had for $99 or less. A combo drive (CD Burner, DVD Reader) can be had for even less.
It should be very simple to remove your current drive, check the jumper settings, set the jumpers on the new drive to match, move any drive rails from the old drive to the new and install it.
Buying an external drive will be much more expensive, and, to do a clean (non-upgrade) install of Vista, you'll need to boot from the DVD. I'm not sure if you attach an external drive to your 8400 whether or not the system will be able to boot from it.
tommyo1954
1.5K Posts
0
July 19th, 2006 00:00
rhinnc
167 Posts
0
July 19th, 2006 01:00
Timdrouilard
628 Posts
0
July 20th, 2006 19:00
Vista will come in many different configurations, from Vista Basic, to Vista Ultimate.
Each version has it's own requirements, and it will also depend on your intended usage.
The link to Dell's Vista advisor has already been provided, here's a link to Microsoft's.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/upgradeadvisor/default.mspx
I have installed the current Vista Beta 2 on several of my systems including an older Dell Dimension B1000r (1Ghz, 512meg ram ) and it ran ok.
If anything, I guess that you might need to update your video card and maybe add more ram.
I would suggest 1gig of ram (of course more is better) and a good video card.
Harbour
14 Posts
0
July 30th, 2006 21:00
Timdrouilard
628 Posts
0
July 30th, 2006 22:00
If you don't already have a DVD drive, you'll need to install one simply because Vista is distributed on DVD.
Harbour
14 Posts
0
August 7th, 2006 18:00
Timdrouilard
628 Posts
0
August 8th, 2006 00:00
It's much better to simply purchase a new drive to replace your current drive.
Current DVD burners can be had for $99 or less. A combo drive (CD Burner, DVD Reader) can be had for even less.
It should be very simple to remove your current drive, check the jumper settings, set the jumpers on the new drive to match, move any drive rails from the old drive to the new and install it.
Buying an external drive will be much more expensive, and, to do a clean (non-upgrade) install of Vista, you'll need to boot from the DVD. I'm not sure if you attach an external drive to your 8400 whether or not the system will be able to boot from it.