2008 Vostro 1710

Question

Hello community,

Im new here and just picked up a 2008ish Vostro 1710 from a local yard sale in near new condition. Had matching leather bag, USB mouse and mousepad, and ALL the software that originally came with it unopened. At some point relatively early in its life someone installed a 500gb western digital hdd, which is good.. better than the 160gb from Dell, and it has 4gb of ram... My question is... Since it is still running XP (service pack 3, 32bit) if I were to update it to a 64bit OS... is the motherboard still limited to 4gb max ram? I cannot find any information on it. Otherwise, it is a perfectly usable laptop.. and for only $5 for everything, I can afford to play around with it.

U2CAMEB4ME · Accepted Answer

Welcome to the Dell Community @RsParrish82

Sounds like a good deal.

https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_vostro_notebook/vostro-1710_service%20manual_en-us.pdf

Lets start with memory. [ PC2-6400S ]

2GB + 2GB = 4GB YES

2GB + 4GB = 6GB YES

4GB + 4GB = 8GB Sometimes???

The CPU can also be upgraded.

https://www.cpu-upgrade.com/CPUs/Intel/Core_2_Duo_Mobile/T5870.html

The Core 2 Duo T7800 would be best.

Then an SSD would make it complete.

You could probable install W10.

Best regards and good luck,

U2

RsParrish82 · Answer

Perfect! Thank you, I will try to do 6gb.. I have a 4gb stick somewhere in my parts collection. It has the 2ghz Celeron processor (at least from what windows tells me). And yeah, I can verify Windows 10 does run on it, as we speak I've finished the initial windows 10 install and am working on the multitudes of updates, but so far so good! I will look into the processor as well after I get a feel for how it initially performs. Thank you for the information!

-Ryan

U2CAMEB4ME · Answer

Your very welcome @RsParrish82

To squeeze a little more out of the system try this setup.

Go to “Advanced System Settings”

In the “Performance” box click on “Settings”

Click on “Adjust for Best Performance”

Then click on “Apply”

Next increase "Virtual Memory"

Click on “Custom Size”

Set “Initial Size (MB)” larger than the “Recommended:” size.

Then set the “Maximum Size (MB)” larger than the “Initial Size (MB)”

Click on “SET” and then “OK”

REBOOT:

Best regards,

U2

RsParrish82 · Answer

Thank you so much for the information! I've got a 500gb western digital ssd on order from Amazon, windows 10 has been up for a few hours now, and all seems well . Ran into a snag with the Bios update.. have version A10, and A12 is the *newest* per the dell drivers page, but I cannot install it due to the fact I'm not on XP 32bit anymore. Not sure if I need it though. And battery life... I've had it plugged in and and a physical connection to my router for all the windows 10 stuff.. but it only seems to have maybe 2.5-3 hours of battery life.. I know the tech wasn't good back the , but does that seem normal? It's the factory battery.

U2CAMEB4ME · Answer

@RsParrish82

For the age 2.5-3 hours is not bad but could be better.

As for the BIOS try this.

Create a bootable USB drive using “Rufus”

https://rufus.ie/

Copy the BIOS update to the bootable USB drive you just created..

Insert USB drive, power-on and start tapping the “ F12 “ key.

Boot from USB and run the BIOS update.

After reboot test and post any results.

Best regards,

U2

RsParrish82 · Answer

Perfect! Thank you! As far as the processor upgrade is concerned, should I apply a small amount of thermal paste to the new processor? Or just follow the remove and reinstall procedure from the service manual? Never done a laptop before. Thank you!

Jon61 · Answer

hello, Please stop double posting. Many forum policy consider this as a violation of forum guidelines. thanks

RsParrish82 · Answer

One last question about this laptop. It's probably common knowledge to almost everyone here, but I'm a first timer.. thermal paste... The process to RNR the CPU in the manual does not talk about reapplying thermal paste.. just to replace parts in reverse order of removal. Should I or should I not? I got some for the processor I bought, but I have not taken anything apart yet. I'm going to see what things look like once they're taken apart here over the weekend. If there's thermal paste, I'll definitely replace it. If there isn't, should I not worry or should I add some just to be safe?

U2CAMEB4ME · Answer

Welcome back @RsParrish82

Yes you will want to apply thermal paste.

First remove the old CPU.

Then clean the heatsink pad with cloth and isopropanol alcohol.

If you have a discrete video chip try to retain/reuse the blue/green thermal pad.

Install the new CPU and LOCK it in place.

NOW would be the time to clean the CPU if it still has old thermal paste on it.

Add ample thermal paste to the new CPU.

Add just a drop of paste to the GPU thermal pad. [If installed]

Then torque the heatsink in the order printed.

Best regards,

U2

Vostro

2008 Vostro 1710

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