I considered your approach before posting. It doesn't appear that Dell provides specific drivers for each piece of equipment it installs via download. For example, I am configured with an ATI Radeon X800 SE video card. I went to the download page and search for drivers. Dell listed a ATI Radeon X300 SE driver, a ATI Radeon X800 XP driver and several others, but no ATI Radeon X800 EP. I then looked for the audio driver for the SoundBlaster card and none where listed :-(
Can the drivers be located on the OEM disks and installed individually? If so, where and how would this be done?
Hi, First download the drivers for your machine via the dell support downloads (find your machine model and models of graphics, sound and others (make sure they are from XP pro)). You don't need the OEM software like AOL, etc in order for your machine to work correctly, only the device drivers. Make sure you burn them onto CD or other storage before you wipe your drive. As you said wiping it clean and doing a fresh install is the best way in my opinion. (If you are lucky some drivers may be supplied on with XP however can't be sure, anyway its best to download the latest ones anyway)
Most of the parts in your Dell are "new", meaning the drivers are recent, and they may have not been posted to Dell 's site. You might have to get some from the vendor's site. Make sure you have them on a CD before your do a clean install.
What are your exact system specs? ( i can assist more with those available). They should be on the Dell Site but as ctalia4000 said, you might have to do some hunting around. As for your sound card, right click my computer, then properties then hardware tab then device manager. Find your sound card and open its properties. Under driver tab what is the provider. If its Microsoft then the drivers are available on XP CD (as in when u install XP the drivers are installed too). Do the same for any other critical hardware.
If the system is new and since it already has Windows XP installed the drivers on the Dell Resource CD should be sufficient for the new installation. Instructions for installing them can be found through the Reinstall Guide, accessible from the drop-down menu under Product Support above the forum (except for the Dimension 8400, which for some reason Dell has yet to post documentation for).
gregmaxey
7 Posts
0
September 15th, 2004 12:00
I considered your approach before posting. It doesn't appear that Dell provides specific drivers for each piece of equipment it installs via download. For example, I am configured with an ATI Radeon X800 SE video card. I went to the download page and search for drivers. Dell listed a ATI Radeon X300 SE driver, a ATI Radeon X800 XP driver and several others, but no ATI Radeon X800 EP. I then looked for the audio driver for the SoundBlaster card and none where listed :-(
Can the drivers be located on the OEM disks and installed individually? If so, where and how would this be done?
chaistt
797 Posts
0
September 15th, 2004 12:00
Hi, First download the drivers for your machine via the dell support downloads (find your machine model and models of graphics, sound and others (make sure they are from XP pro)). You don't need the OEM software like AOL, etc in order for your machine to work correctly, only the device drivers. Make sure you burn them onto CD or other storage before you wipe your drive. As you said wiping it clean and doing a fresh install is the best way in my opinion. (If you are lucky some drivers may be supplied on with XP however can't be sure, anyway its best to download the latest ones anyway)
Message Edited by chaistt on 09-15-2004 02:18 PM
ctalia4000
2 Intern
•
1.3K Posts
0
September 15th, 2004 13:00
Most of the parts in your Dell are "new", meaning the drivers are recent, and they may have not been posted to Dell 's site. You might have to get some from the vendor's site. Make sure you have them on a CD before your do a clean install.
chaistt
797 Posts
0
September 15th, 2004 14:00
What are your exact system specs? ( i can assist more with those available). They should be on the Dell Site but as ctalia4000 said, you might have to do some hunting around. As for your sound card, right click my computer, then properties then hardware tab then device manager. Find your sound card and open its properties. Under driver tab what is the provider. If its Microsoft then the drivers are available on XP CD (as in when u install XP the drivers are installed too). Do the same for any other critical hardware.
Denny Denham
2 Intern
•
18.8K Posts
0
September 15th, 2004 15:00
If the system is new and since it already has Windows XP installed the drivers on the Dell Resource CD should be sufficient for the new installation. Instructions for installing them can be found through the Reinstall Guide, accessible from the drop-down menu under Product Support above the forum (except for the Dimension 8400, which for some reason Dell has yet to post documentation for).