Drivers missing and more

Question

I was forced to reinstall the OS on my Dell DIM 9150 (dual core, 250GB SATA HD) with XP PRO (it came with XP Home installed). The reason was that I had a persistant malware that messed up my internet security which I just couldn't eliminate. My university has a MS site license so  XP PRO was available gratis. With the DELL factory set up the install procedure failed to see the SATA. In SETUP under DRIVES there are: DISKETTE DRIVE, DRIVE 0: SATA- 0, DRIVE 1: SATA- 1, DRIVE 2: SATA- 2, DRIVE 3: SATA- 3, DRIVE 4: PATA- 0, DRIVE 5: PATA- 1, SATA OPERATION. In this last category there are 4 options: RAID Auotdetect /AHCI, RAID Autodetect /ATA, RAID ON, Combination = SATA/PATA combinatin mode. THe factory setting was RAID Auotdetect /AHCI. A colleague (allegedly more knowledgeable) suggested that that I select the SATA/PATA combination mode and switch back after installation was complete. I did so, but found that the new OS would not boot after this change back . So back to the setup with  SATA OPERATION set for SATA/PATA comb. I attempted to reinstall my operational software. Unfortunately the system refused to recognize my internet adapter and, moreover, all of the OTHER DEVICES (PCI DEVICE, Parallel, Serial Ports, etc.) showed YELLOW ? marks in DEVICE MANAGER indicating that no drivers had been assigned. Well  I spent almost an entire day trying to get the system to find the new hardware (Network adapter) and to find drivers but nothing seems to work. Starting over I reinstalled the XP-Home OS with Dell's disk,which would proceed only with the setting in the SATA/PATA comb position and on startup I get a message saying that SATA Drive 2 is unrecognized, press F1 to continue, afterwhich XP-Home did come up. However the same problem persists, that is, no drivers are loaded for the internet adapter or the other devices.....I am at a standstill until I get these items working.....I apologize for this sad long winded tale, but I do need some help and advice from the DELL experts....Thanks.....Cincidave

NemesisDB · Answer

pro actually doesn't provide any enhanced protection ...  regardless, do you have a floppy drive?   XP was released before sata HDs became popular and it cannot see them.  There are two basic options to get around this.  The first is to make a floppy with the drivers and present it to XP Pro when the installation first begins.  The second is to add the drivers to the CD (which is what dell has done with their XP Home CD).   If you have a floppy we can try that method.  If you have a CD burner, we can try adding them to a copy of the Pro CD.   Either way, you will need to start all over again if you are going to install Pro.       So, here's the last chance to continue with Home which you already have installed,

Cincidave · Answer

Thanks for the quick response. My preference would be Pro since I could use the enhanced internet protection and safety Pro provides. Tell me what  to do to get back up and running so I can finish grading final exams and more

NemesisDB · Answer

well ...   i can either tell you how to install XP Pro from your work source   or how to get your current XP Home installation up and running     which would you prefer?

NemesisDB · Answer

home is easier ... you just need to install the drivers.  click the 'drivers and downloads' button on the left and input your system model.  select the correct OS and you will see a list of drivers.   First download and install the chipset driver.  Intel.com will have more recent drivers but dell's are easier to get and may cause you less problems. http://ftp.us.dell.com/chipset/R114566.EXE   Then download and install the SATA drivers/application:  Again Intel will have more recent drivers but dell's are easier and will cause less problems. http://ftp.us.dell.com/SATA/R130119.EXE   Then download and install the network drivers:  Intel's drivers are noticible better but require some effort to extract and install -- let me know if you're interested.  You can start with dell's to get network access back though. http://ftp.us.dell.com/network/R105784.EXE   Then download and install the video drivers -- this will vary depending on the type of video card you have.  This is often better to get directly from the manufacturer -- ATI or NVIDIA for instance.   Audio drivers will vary based on what soundcard you bought.  Let me know and I'll direct you to the link.   Your modem driver will vary depending on what modem your system came with.  Can be intel or conexant.     Remeber to install all windows updates as soon as you have internet access ( update.microsoft.com) .  If you don't have SP2, make sure your computer is safe (behind a router) or has the firewall manually turned on before installing the network driver.  An unsecured computer can be compromised very quickly.

Cincidave · Answer

I do have a floppy ,but if we can fix the problems with Home readily and it is easier to accomplish right now then let's do that. Again, the ethernet card and 'other devices' have not found drivers.

Cincidave · Answer

I had to shut down and reboot. I am using my satellite (a DELL DIM 850r old machine) and the internet connection goes through the 9150 and my router. So communications are a bit tenuous at best.
Now I have all of the downloads and will do the install on my 9150 and get back to you. will the upgrades allow me to return to the correct SATA setting (RE: my first note)?

The first two loaded but the 3rd did not. My Controller is: INTEL(R)82801 GB?GR?GH (ICH7vFamily) Serial ATA Contrller- 27C0 Evidently this is not covered by this update. What can I do about this?

NemesisDB · Answer

can you explain again exactly what the problem is and what is not currently loading?

NemesisDB · Answer

my bad, I misread your initial post.  that download will only work if you installed XP with the bios set to AHCI mode.  you don't need it otherwise, though there is a potential performance hit.

Cincidave · Answer

My Controller is: INTEL(R)82801 GB?GR?GH (ICH7vFamily) Serial ATA Contrller- 27C0 is not covered by this download (R105784.exe). When I ran (R105784.exe)  the installation aborted indicating that My Controller: INTEL(R)82801 GB?GR?GH (ICH7vFamily) Serial ATA Contrller- 27C0 was not covered by this download.  What is so troubling is the fact that this system was up and running relatively eror free for about a year until the malware problem arose. What happened to the drivers?

Cincidave · Answer

I have a system backup from last week.It contains the malware, but also must have my drivers. Where might I look for these files in my backup. I can certainly transfer specific items from the backup if I know where to look.   Outside of that possibility what must I do to resurrect this system or is a $1000,1 year old DELL PC a throw away? Of course, if so, though I've bought 4 DELL systems in the past 10 years, I'll never do so again

NemesisDB · Answer

you aren't missing any drivers ... they're in the links I provided.  in the mode your HD is currently set to, you don't need the SATA drivers I linked, you can skip it.  or you can reinstall home with AHCI enabled in the bios and use it.   up to you.

Cincidave · Answer

I originally did reset the BIOS but the system would not let me reinstall. It looped and stalled with an error messaage which indicated that the HD was not seen. When I switched back to the SATA/PATA combination I was able to install the OS.   Now I have installed the drivers from the two files which I downloaded, but the system still can't sem to locate them. From Device Mgr I used the install drivers routine and directed the search to the C Drive and even to the very folders, but they did not load. I am totally frustrated with this process and do not know what I must do to get up and running other than using my backup with the malware. And I am not sure that will wi\ork now that the BIOS hs been changed.   What else can I do to make this system behave?????

NemesisDB · Answer

The Dell CD should have installed with the bios set to AHCI.  THe CD you got from work should not have.   With your current settings, the drivers I listed should all work except for the SATA ones.  You must install the chipset driver first.

Cincidave · Answer

The Chip set was installed first, but though I ran through the driver reinstall procedure as I previously described NOTHING!   Here's an offer...I'll take all of your exams...everyone, if and only if you get this system up for me

mombodog · Answer

Not sure what the problem is, but read this carefully.     http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?journalid=4ED81717490911DC84EB0DC67E2C6D57&docid=3690A8CC21FAF290E040A68F5B281A12

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

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