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10395
September 7th, 2008 01:00
Formatted Hard Drive - Have Dell Disk - Cannot install communication drivers
I used Wipe Drive software to reformat my hard drive. I have all the original disks for my computer and have successfully reinstalled Windows XP. However, when I insert the dell "Drivers and Utilities" disk, it gives me a list of all the drivers I can install. I've extracted them all but...the system still hasn't installed my hardware. The device manager doesn't recognize my Ethernet Controller, Mulitmedia Audio Controller, PCI Modem (which I don't care about), or Video Controller (VGA compatible).
I don't think I need the audio or video, but I do need to figure out how to get my ethernet and wireless cards working again so I can connect it to the internet.
I thought it would automatically detect the files on the disk and install. No luck. I've tried using the device manager. No luck. I'm now out of my experience level, I suppose.
Can someone please help me figure out what I'm missing?
AussieChris
4.2K Posts
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September 7th, 2008 02:00
Hi,
You should find detailed instructions at " Support Tools " LHS. When you load the resource CD, it will load and give you a list of devices fitted with ia " Tick " The first is Chipset, then the rest of the list. Beacause it may not have every option fitted, some drivers are not needed and wont have the tick. You may not have followed the instructions, but there should be notes with the drivers. ( check again )
Regards Chris
esquire
2 Intern
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2.5K Posts
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September 7th, 2008 03:00
Did you install Notebook System Software (NSS) after installing Windows ahead of your drivers?
See article: How to install order in the correct order
QuinnSW
2 Posts
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September 7th, 2008 04:00
Onkee
28 Posts
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September 7th, 2008 15:00
Hey Let me tell you something...when you install the drivers and utility disk..on the list of the drivers...go to the network drivers and you need to scroll down and teh first dirver should be the BROADCONM 440X 10/100 Eathernet controller and this driver is for most of the dell systems but I am not sure which specific system u have and afetr installing thjis driver...connect the eathrnet cable with your computer and you shoud be online and go to support.dell.com adn choose you s tag there and install teh wireless driver and audio adn modem driver from there....
everything is goona be working allright..
Onkee
OldManP
3 Posts
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September 7th, 2008 22:00
I've tried the suggestions, but will start again and see if the order will make a difference. A few notes:
The auto-installer did launch each time I extracted the driver I wanted. Still, the CD never showed a "tick mark" by the drivers I thought it had just installed.
To be sure, I had already gone in to each folder where the driver was installed on the hard drive and clicked "setup" again to have it run through the installation process.
I'd done all of this before downloading NSS from the dell site on my other computer, transferring it to CD, and then installing it on the bad computer.
Plugging in the Ethernet cable after installing the Broadcom drivers never worked. THe computer never recognized the drivers having been installed.
So, I'm wiping the drive again and going to see if there's some magic in installing in this order:
1. Windows XP
2. NSS
3. Chipset
4. NIC
5. Wireless
6. Lastly, I'll then load the software I want to work on it like the original Office 2003 disk that came with the computer.
Still, I can't figure out why the computer won't recognized the hardware/drivers as being installed. Hoping the order will make all the difference. If you have any more insight, please let me know!
OldManP
3 Posts
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September 9th, 2008 19:00
Finally, some progress. The Dell resource CD had the Broadcom 570x driver on it, which never worked.
I went online, downloaded the driver for Broadcom 440x and that one worked. Now, I just have to get the wireless up and running and reload the remaining software, etc. Hopefully it won't take me days to get working like this network controller had me stumped.