XP Network drivers for XPS420

Although other drivers can be added with nLite, the only driver that nLite is required for is the storage driver.  Without the storage driver (if necessary), you won't get the OS installed.  Once the OS is installed though, you can install any driver for any hardware ... so, no, you do not need to rebuild with nLite.

Simply run this driver installation package:

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

This is for the onboard wired network port ... if you need a driver for wireless, that's a different ballgame and you need to tell us which card/device you need.

Thanks

Just to be clear though are you saying that this driver installation package can be run with XP disk instead of NLite or with NLite? It's just that I get the blue screen "A problem was detected with your computer blah blah" if I just try to install from the XP disk alone.

Many thanks again.

nLite (or a floppy drive/disk) is only needed if Windows cannot find an hard drive to install to or the system blue screens during the setup phase (blue background, not during actual installation phase).  From the sound of your post, you had installed XP already and needed the network drivers.

If that is the case, then simply run the driver at the link I gave you from within Windows to install your network device (IF you have already installed other drivers, especially the chipset, which should always be done before other drivers).

If that is not the case and you are getting this warning during the setup phase, then here is what you will need to do:

You must create a new partition to install XP to.  Do not install it to an existing partition.  Use the "shrink" function in Vista Disk Management to create an empty partititon to install XP to.  You can also do this on a separate disk.  After installing, because you are installing XP last and doing so will damage the Vista boot manager, you will need to fix the boot manager with Vista's BCDEdit or use EasyBCD.  Take a look at this tutorial:
http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_stepbystep_guide.htm

Use nLiteOS.com to integrate the following driver into your installation files, which will create a new bootable XP CD from which you can install:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=19599&ProdId=2842&lang=eng

This should allow you to get XP installed.  Once installed, you will need to install the chipset driver, then drivers for whatever other devices are needed.

Hi again

When I installed XP from disk a year ago I got the blue screen when "Set up was starting windows".  It was at this point that someone on here or another forum recommended NLite etc. I duly followed the tut to create the partition, install, XP (with NLite) and then restored Vista boot loader etc etc etc.

In effect I'm repeating that process 12 months later as I increased the XP partition from 10-20Gb as it was getting full. I obviously reduced the Vista partition first and everything worked like a dream-except I couldn't boot into XP!! Vista is fine but I have now exhausted every permutation of recovery software, including Partition Wizard, admin password recovery progs etc etc to no avail. I didn't mention this fully as I don't want to waste more time trying to repair the XP MBR as I can't ,  it's as simple as that.

Gist is that I now have 20Gb partiton ready to be wiped prior to XP reinstallation. Technically I should be able to use to use the XP boot disk I created first time around with NLite. However, I've tried that to a) Get to the recovery console but that's blocked as don't know "admin password". I've also selected install windows and then repair at a later stage but this process always, always sticks at 23 minutes remaining. I've made another disk but exactly the same so conclusion is bad burn.

I'm assuming this means that I may as well use NLite to create another installation disk and follow the process that I did last time to integrate the necessary drivers. What's also 2interesting is that when I now try and run XP from the boot manager the system says it's "restarting the repair" and get's stuck with 23 minutes remaining.

I apologise for burdening you with this as you have been very helpful. I haven't got anything critical on the XP partition so I can format that and have another go at installing. What do you think?

Many thanks

I agree ... it may be pointless to try to repair it at this point.  Since you don't care about retreiving any data on the XP partition, then just do a fresh install.  In Vista, delete the partition that XP is installed to, then delete the entry from the boot manager (MSCONFIG) in Vista.

Hi again

Some progress in trying to get the XP repair facility to work. I tried the NLite start up dsiak again and it duly stuck at 23 minutes to go. This time I left it and checked some time later. It gave an error message about missing a file called nhelper or something so I just cancelled that and got to the XP desk top with another message saying that something called "Tray App Disk" was missing. It asked me to insert CD/floppy but as the Nlite was in the CD drive already I guess it was missing.

The gist is that I can now get to the XP desk top but seem to be missing some critical file. When I reboot and chose XP from boot manager it gets to the desktop and you get a Windows installer dialog box and then this request for Tray App disk. All my progs are there but I have no internet.

Is there anything I can do from this point to complete the repair rather than reinstall?

Many thanks

Run the following from the Command Prompt:

CHKDSK /R ... choose Y to schedule and reboot; this will take 20 minutes or more - an hour is not unusual.

SFC /SCANNOW ... you will need to insert your XP disk for this.

If these do not resolve the issue, reinstall.

Thanks

Will try and report back. Other thing I forgot to mention is that I had no internet with XP.

Wireless or wired?  If wired (onboard LAN/LOM/NIC), then install the driver in my first post.  Although if you are having OS issues, it may or may not work.

Wired. Will try as you suggest. I feel I'm getting closer to solving this without clean reinstall. The Tray Apps missing file was indeed on my HP disk but when I tried to install it, it came back with invalid drive!! Duhh!!

I checked My Computer and the XP partition is showing as E when it was originally K. I then tried my Partition Wizard boot disk to change the drive letter but that option seems to be greyed out.

Summary:

In Vista the XP partition is showing as K

In XP the XP partition is showing as E!!!!!

IE and Outlook Express are part of XP, so their installations wouldn't be affected, but it can seriously degrade the operation of the system if all the drivers are not installed and installed in the right order.  If you have to have this Tray Apps, a reboot does not help the TA installer, and changing the drive letter is not successful, then I would strongly recommend a reinstall.  Try removing any external devices (external USB hard drives, flash drives) when doing any of this.

Hi again

When I did the dual boot the tut I used was based on Vista first and then reinstalling Vista bootlader with Easy BCD (perhaps because Vista was preinstalled?). I hear what you say about risks changing drive letter. When I tried to install this Tray Apps malarkey the system was obviously looking for K when the XP partition has been assigned to E. It's that I'm trying to fix. Somehow I need to tell the installer to look for E.

It's very frustrating as all my old progs are on the desk top but many drivers clearly haven't been installed properly (IE, Outlook Express etc).

XP cannot change its drive letter.  Once set, it needs to stay that way or it can cause serious stability issues.  During your (I'm guessing) Repair Install, it probably reassigned the drive letter for Windows.  It's not a big deal - E is as bad as K ... if you successfully change it, your problems may start all over.

Dual-boot best practices call for XP to be installed first.  Doing so 1) does not require the boot manager in Vista/7 to be fixed after XP breaks it, and 2) it allows XP (first installed) to run on the C: drive letter.  Some programs (although they should be looking for %WINDIR%) look for the path C:\Windows - software that does and finds they do not have access to C: - or C: doesn't exist - error out and won't install or won't run properly.

Vista (and newer) can change drive letters for Windows on the fly, so that the current OS is always C:.  For example, if you dual-boot two versions of Vista, A and B, when you boot to A it will show it as running on C:, while the partition that B is installed on might show up as D:.  If you then reboot into Vista B, it will also show it as running on C:, while the partition that A is installed on might show up as D:.

Bottom line:  Leave the drive letters as they are.  If you don't install XP first, then it doesn't matter what the XP drive letter is.

Hi again

I’ve tried loading the HP installation disk to install the Tray Apps thing which XP needs but when I select the application to install it keeps coming back with “Invalid disk K”.

XP has been installed/ repaired and now sits in partition E. I launch XP, wait for the message to insert Tray Apps from disk, duly  pop my HP CD in, navigate to the Tray Apps installer and then:

“Invalid disk K”.

I just don’t know how to rectify this. I’m installing the file from the CD and inserting this into the Windows installer dialogue box. As the Windows partition is now E I can’t figure out why Windows installer is trying to install it to K (which was the letter for the old XP partition).

I’m also having some difficulty installing the network (wired) driver. I saved the installation file to a USB drive as that’s my only way of installing it to XP. When I then select the folder it’s full of files and I can’t find the one I need.

Are you able to advise on either of these points?

Tony

My guess is that this "tray apps" is badly written and is not able to cope with Windows being on a different drive than C: (part of the reason Vista/7 handle drive letters better).  Otherwise, I don't know what else you could do, as I am not familiar with Tray Apps.  You could try copying the contents of the CD to your computer and running the setup/install directly from those files instead of the CD.

I would recommend downloading the EXE file downloaded directly from the Support site, then copying the network driver package from your USB drive to your XP Desktop, then running it from there, letting it extract to the default location.  After it is extracted, it should run automatically ... if it does not, then you can run C:\dell\drivers\R162323\Setup.exe (of course, in your case, it would be E:\dell\drivers\R162323\Setup.exe.