Which one is it? SP2 or SP3? Did you upgrade to SP2 and have this issue and then upgrade to SP3 and continue to have this issue, or are you not sure what you upgraded to?
I would recommend sticking to SP2 at this point since SP3 is relatively new and may have caused problems in your case if it is indeed SP3 which you upgraded to.
In safe mode: Click START -> SETTINGS -> CONTROL PANEL
In the control panel click the ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS icon
In Add/Remove programs dialog select the SHOW UPDATES checkbox at the top right of the window
Now, under WINDOWS XP SOFTWARE UPDATES at the bottom of the list uninstall Windows XP SP2 or SP3 whichever the case may be. Once that is done, reboot and see if the problem is fixed.
If not, re-install your operating system with the Dell install CD and try to install SP2 again (not SP3 at this point).
If so, try installing Windows XP SP2 (instead of SP3 -- or again if SP2 is all you had before) and see if it works this time.
I upgraded to SP2, then it wouldn't reboot; so from safe mode I system restored to get rid of SP2 again and the PC ran fine (SP2 worked fine prior to the new hard drive). When SP3 was released, I installed it, but had the same issues of rebooting. So again system restored. Right now, I do not have SP2 or SP3 on the PC. I have now done two fresh installs to get SP2 running but it still doesn't work (plus BIOS and Prescott downloads).
Help!
Message Edited by alastair1971 on 05-25-2008 05:28 PM
Message Edited by alastair1971 on 05-25-2008 05:29 PM
Message Edited by alastair1971 on 05-25-2008 05:29 PM
Hi there, Tried it with a reflashed BIOS and updated video driver - still didnt work. Now wondering whether the problem is related to the fact that when I installed the new 256Gb hared drive, XP only gave me 128Gb. Am trying to get hold of rthe other 128Gb (by merging partitions?)
XP pre-SP2 will only allow you to utilize 128GB. After install you will need to install SP2 and then resize the partition.
You can resize the partition with a program such as partition magic. Partition magic costs money though. There are free programs which will do the same thing, but I haven't tried any.
No such thing as a 256gig hard drive, or at least one I have ever heard of. You need to boot from the CD and delete all partitions.
Create one of about 40 gigs for the OS and the balance for programs. We can do that later. You can do anything about merigng these partions until the OS is installed.
I don't remember for sure whether the motherboard will support the full size of a hard drive over 128Mb on that system. The easiest way to check is to go into the BIOS (F2 at the Dell splash screen just after powering on the computer) and on the Advanced page check the "Maximum capacity" field to see what it shows. If it only lists 128Gb (probably listed as 137,000 Mb or something similiar) then the motherboard does not support a larger size.
Assuming you wanted to use a drive larger than 128Gb on a pre-Service Pack 2 system, you need to do a registry tweak in order to have the OS recognize the larger drive size. I have had to do this on a computer at home once, and it is not very difficult, but if you are not comfortable doing registry edits you might not want to do this yourself. Service Pack 2 for XP was supposed to add the registry key for you, due to the availability of drives larger than 128Gb in size.
Checking the drivers for the Dim4400 on the off chance it is a driver related problem you are running into, the only ones you should need for WinXP (unless you added new hardware) are:
ADI 1885 Audio
Intel Application Accelerator
Dell Solutions Center
Dell Custom Help and Support
The last two are, of course, optional and not required.
Message Edited by DELL-Larry_R on 05-30-2008 01:34 PM
ty_ger
812 Posts
0
May 25th, 2008 16:00
Which one is it? SP2 or SP3? Did you upgrade to SP2 and have this issue and then upgrade to SP3 and continue to have this issue, or are you not sure what you upgraded to?
I would recommend sticking to SP2 at this point since SP3 is relatively new and may have caused problems in your case if it is indeed SP3 which you upgraded to.
In safe mode: Click START -> SETTINGS -> CONTROL PANEL
In the control panel click the ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS icon
In Add/Remove programs dialog select the SHOW UPDATES checkbox at the top right of the window
Now, under WINDOWS XP SOFTWARE UPDATES at the bottom of the list uninstall Windows XP SP2 or SP3 whichever the case may be. Once that is done, reboot and see if the problem is fixed.
If not, re-install your operating system with the Dell install CD and try to install SP2 again (not SP3 at this point).
If so, try installing Windows XP SP2 (instead of SP3 -- or again if SP2 is all you had before) and see if it works this time.
alastair1971
4 Posts
0
May 25th, 2008 21:00
Hi,
I upgraded to SP2, then it wouldn't reboot; so from safe mode I system restored to get rid of SP2 again and the PC ran fine (SP2 worked fine prior to the new hard drive). When SP3 was released, I installed it, but had the same issues of rebooting. So again system restored. Right now, I do not have SP2 or SP3 on the PC. I have now done two fresh installs to get SP2 running but it still doesn't work (plus BIOS and Prescott downloads).
Help!
jmwills
2 Intern
•
12K Posts
0
May 26th, 2008 00:00
alastair1971
4 Posts
0
May 26th, 2008 20:00
Hi there, Tried it with a reflashed BIOS and updated video driver - still didnt work. Now wondering whether the problem is related to the fact that when I installed the new 256Gb hared drive, XP only gave me 128Gb. Am trying to get hold of rthe other 128Gb (by merging partitions?)
Any other ideas?
ty_ger
812 Posts
0
May 27th, 2008 00:00
Trying to merge the partitions?
XP pre-SP2 will only allow you to utilize 128GB. After install you will need to install SP2 and then resize the partition.
You can resize the partition with a program such as partition magic. Partition magic costs money though. There are free programs which will do the same thing, but I haven't tried any.
jmwills
2 Intern
•
12K Posts
0
May 27th, 2008 01:00
No such thing as a 256gig hard drive, or at least one I have ever heard of. You need to boot from the CD and delete all partitions.
Create one of about 40 gigs for the OS and the balance for programs. We can do that later. You can do anything about merigng these partions until the OS is installed.
Delete the parttions and start over.
Larry R
2 Intern
•
1.7K Posts
0
May 30th, 2008 17:00
I don't remember for sure whether the motherboard will support the full size of a hard drive over 128Mb on that system. The easiest way to check is to go into the BIOS (F2 at the Dell splash screen just after powering on the computer) and on the Advanced page check the "Maximum capacity" field to see what it shows. If it only lists 128Gb (probably listed as 137,000 Mb or something similiar) then the motherboard does not support a larger size.
Assuming you wanted to use a drive larger than 128Gb on a pre-Service Pack 2 system, you need to do a registry tweak in order to have the OS recognize the larger drive size. I have had to do this on a computer at home once, and it is not very difficult, but if you are not comfortable doing registry edits you might not want to do this yourself. Service Pack 2 for XP was supposed to add the registry key for you, due to the availability of drives larger than 128Gb in size.
Checking the drivers for the Dim4400 on the off chance it is a driver related problem you are running into, the only ones you should need for WinXP (unless you added new hardware) are:
The last two are, of course, optional and not required.
alastair1971
4 Posts
0
June 30th, 2008 21:00
Hi Larry.
It has been sorted - the drivers below were the culprits - i think that the Intel Application Accelerator was the one that cured the problem.
Thank you! and cheers to everyone else who helped!