Your first post says you reinstalled XP. Now you say you didn't reinstall.
If you can get to your desktop, you could do a System Restore to a date before you started messing with it. Personal files will be ok, but you'll have to reinstall any Microsoft updates and software originally installed after the date used for the Restore.
Click start>help & support
Click "Undo changes..."
Follow prompts and pick lasted date before you played around.
See if that fixes it, except maybe the original problem.
If that doesn't clean it up, and all your personal files are all backed up on external media, you could use PC Restore to reset the hard drive to exactly the way Dell shipped. All personal files, any software you added and all Microsoft updates will be lost, so this is a "when all else fails" move.
Reboot and press/hold Ctrl before XP starts to load. While holding Ctrl, press F11 and release both at same time. Follow the prompts.
When PC Restore is done, get firewall and antivriral software working and then go directly to the MS update site for all the updates and fixes for XP (eg, SP3), Office, Internet Explorer etc.
Windows XP and hardware drivers are software. They're required to make the hardware work correctly. Windows doesn't always know how to use certain video or audio hardware, for example. So the company that manufactured that bit for Dell supplies a small program (a driver) to allow the hardware to communicate and function properly with XP.
If you reinstalled XP but didn't install all the software drivers needed for your hardware, the system won't work properly and you'd get exactly the problems you're seeing.
This page lists the software drivers for the E1705 Inspiron. You're going to need to know exactly what hardware is installed in your laptop in order to pick the right drivers from this list. For example, do you have Creative Labs or SigmaTel audio in your system?
The correct order to reinstall is:
XP, followed by:
Laptop System Software (System Utilities)
Chipset driver
Video driver
Audio driver
Network driver
Modem driver
Input device drivers
etc.
If you go here and put in your Service Tag number, you should get a list of the hardware installed by Dell. That should help you pick the right drivers off the list. Then go to the drivers page (linked above) and download the drivers onto your hard drive. Reboot in Safe Mode and install Laptop System Software followed by chipset driver, then reboot normally and install all the other required drivers in the correct order.
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
July 15th, 2008 00:00
Aways include PC model in your posts. ;)
Can we assume you actually did reinstall XP at least once?
Did you reformat the hard drive before reinstalling XP?
Did you install all the hardware drivers after loading XP?
Did you install the chipset driver as the first driver installed after XP?
Does this system require desktop/laptop system software, which would have been installed before chipset driver?
Ron
forTheDogs
9 Posts
0
July 15th, 2008 15:00
Hi Ron!
My pc is an inspiron e1705 laptop running windows xp media.
Windows was installed on it when i got it
No, I did not refomat my hard drive and would not know how to
No, I did not reinstall hardware and would not know how to
I don't know what a chipset driver is so, no.
I do not know the answer to the last question. Wouldn't this already be there when I bought the pc?
Thanks for your help!
Mary
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
July 15th, 2008 18:00
Now I'm confused. :o
Your first post says you reinstalled XP. Now you say you didn't reinstall.
If you can get to your desktop, you could do a System Restore to a date before you started messing with it. Personal files will be ok, but you'll have to reinstall any Microsoft updates and software originally installed after the date used for the Restore.
Click start>help & support
Click "Undo changes..."
Follow prompts and pick lasted date before you played around.
See if that fixes it, except maybe the original problem.
If that doesn't clean it up, and all your personal files are all backed up on external media, you could use PC Restore to reset the hard drive to exactly the way Dell shipped. All personal files, any software you added and all Microsoft updates will be lost, so this is a "when all else fails" move.
Reboot and press/hold Ctrl before XP starts to load. While holding Ctrl, press F11 and release both at same time. Follow the prompts.
When PC Restore is done, get firewall and antivriral software working and then go directly to the MS update site for all the updates and fixes for XP (eg, SP3), Office, Internet Explorer etc.
Ron
forTheDogs
9 Posts
0
July 15th, 2008 22:00
HMMM I said I did not reinstall 'hardware'. I did not realize that xp was 'hardware' I think of it as 'software'.
Regardless, the system restore won't help me because I started having these problems after doing a 'new install' of windows.
Thanks anyway.
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
July 15th, 2008 23:00
You're misunderstanding!
Windows XP and hardware drivers are software. They're required to make the hardware work correctly. Windows doesn't always know how to use certain video or audio hardware, for example. So the company that manufactured that bit for Dell supplies a small program (a driver) to allow the hardware to communicate and function properly with XP.
If you reinstalled XP but didn't install all the software drivers needed for your hardware, the system won't work properly and you'd get exactly the problems you're seeing.
This page lists the software drivers for the E1705 Inspiron. You're going to need to know exactly what hardware is installed in your laptop in order to pick the right drivers from this list. For example, do you have Creative Labs or SigmaTel audio in your system?
The correct order to reinstall is:
XP, followed by:
Laptop System Software (System Utilities)
Chipset driver
Video driver
Audio driver
Network driver
Modem driver
Input device drivers
etc.
If you go here and put in your Service Tag number, you should get a list of the hardware installed by Dell. That should help you pick the right drivers off the list. Then go to the drivers page (linked above) and download the drivers onto your hard drive. Reboot in Safe Mode and install Laptop System Software followed by chipset driver, then reboot normally and install all the other required drivers in the correct order.
Is this clear now?
Ron