XPS M140 and reinstalling/resetup

Question

Hello. It's been about a year and a half since I've gotten my laptop and was planning on reinstalling the OS and such just because it felt like the right time. When ordering the machine, I opted to also get the OS/Drivers on disc, and went through the process of installing XP again on the machine. I'm having problems with the drivers disc, however. I'm trying to get devices such as NIC, wireless card, and sound to work. The drivers disc seem to have the drivers, and it looks like I'm extracting and installing the files, but upon reboot, I still don't see network icons or sound. I also tried getting the drivers from the website and then transferring the files to the laptop, but same result. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advanced

dunedin · Answer

Go to the Dell downloads site

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/

Use the "Choose a model" or "Choose by service Tag" and follow through till you come to the downloads page.

Make sure the model and operating system (XP) are correct at the top

Download the drivers to the laptop desktop.

Install the chipset drivers first, before attempting to install any other device drivers. This is important.

Here is a good tutorial about updating drivers. How to install is there too.

It might be an .exe which will run automatically when you double click it, or you might have to install the driver manually.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial119.html

Mary G · Answer

Don't forget to install the Notebook System Software first with the chipset drivers. That is what enables the installation of the network drivers and others.

FadeToBlue · Answer

Many thanks to the both of you - yeah, that was the problem. I wasn't installing the system/chipset drivers first and that was holding me up. Hats off to your quick responses though!

dunedin · Answer

Glad to have helped you :smileyhappy:

Dnsems · Answer

Hi there,

We just recently purchased a secondhand XPS M140 and had to restore it to "factory" ?? Recieved the disk from Dell w/o the drivers cd; they said it was no longer available;but we could get them from the website. We got the pro wireless something and then the chipset;, in that order. When we go back to the page to get the others, we are confused, because there are several in each category to choose from-How do we know which ones are right since we put in the service tag number and they all show up. Please help.......

Larry R · Answer

The full list of XP drivers for the XPS M140, in the order they should be installed, are:

Dell Notebook System Software
Intel Mobile Chipset Driver
Ricoh Media Card Reader
Intel 915GM/910GML Video Controller
SigmaTel STAC 9200 Audio Driver
Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Network Controller
Wireless Mini PCI Driver (if applicable)
MDC Driver [modem]
Synaptics Touchpad Driver
Bluetooth Driver and Stack

The exact driver to pick for some options is going to depend on the hardware you have installed in the computer. For example, there are a number of wireless card options so which driver you need will depend on which wireless card (if any) you have physically installed in the computer.

Windows General

XPS M140 and reinstalling/resetup

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