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Is Dell loaded XP buggy?
Hello,
I was having a bunch of problems/crashes with the factory installed software and XP.
I formatted the hard drive, installed XP (a breeze) and it seems to run much better. Prime example is with Roxio Basic 5.1. When factory loaded, the eject button would not work, and I had weird autoplay happenings. Now the eject button works fine, and autoplay settings hold. No driver updates were used.
Also had keyboard error messages, many "experienced a severe problem" messages, and standby worked poorly before a clean reinstall.
About all that's buggy now, is the systray area has a mind of its own concerning which icons it wants to display, and video card settings (Santa Cruz) don't always want to stick on boot-up.
Anyone else experience a vast improvement with a clean install of XP???
Thanks for reading,
Jon
I was having a bunch of problems/crashes with the factory installed software and XP.
I formatted the hard drive, installed XP (a breeze) and it seems to run much better. Prime example is with Roxio Basic 5.1. When factory loaded, the eject button would not work, and I had weird autoplay happenings. Now the eject button works fine, and autoplay settings hold. No driver updates were used.
Also had keyboard error messages, many "experienced a severe problem" messages, and standby worked poorly before a clean reinstall.
About all that's buggy now, is the systray area has a mind of its own concerning which icons it wants to display, and video card settings (Santa Cruz) don't always want to stick on boot-up.
Anyone else experience a vast improvement with a clean install of XP???
Thanks for reading,
Jon
324
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Posted January 29th, 2002 09:00
I reformated my harddrive, then installed XP clean. I have had minimal problems compared to the ME which came with my Dell Dimensions 1.5GHZ. I absolutely love XP. The biggest problems I have had is finding hardware drivers for my HP printer. Although XP comes with a "mini" driver, I am limited to the functions of my printer/scanner combo. Hopefully one day soon HP will have a new driver setup for my Officejet G55.
If you are considering upgrading to XP, I recommend you start with a clean harddrive.
Darnell
324
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Posted January 29th, 2002 11:00
Guess I didn't make it clear, that XP came factory installed on my 8200. It was NOT an upgrade
I was curious if people found their systems much more stable by formating the HD, and re-loading XP. I don't know how or what other hidden things they load at the Dell factory, but my XP install seems to work much better.
Jon
324
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Posted January 29th, 2002 15:00
Hi There
I was using Wme that I found to be good and most of the problems with it was of my own making.
Changed to XP with a clean install [the only way to go] and once I got used to it, I have found XP to be faster, more intresting and easier to use than Wme.
Bev
324
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Posted January 29th, 2002 15:00
Jon_F wrote:
- Guess I didn't make it clear, that XP came factory
- installed on my 8200. It was NOT an upgrade
-
- I was curious if people found their systems much
- more stable by formating the HD, and re-loading XP.
- I don't know how or what other hidden things they
- load at the Dell factory, but my XP install seems to
- work much better.
-
- Jon
So far I have never had a problem. My system could not be more stable. Sure beats Windows 95.
Dimension 8200 @ 1.8GHz
In Service 12/06/01
512MB PC800 RDRAM
40GB, ATA-100, 7200RPM, HD
64MB NVIDIAGeForce2 MX Graphics Card
1024 DigitalSound Card
10/100 PCI Fast Ethernet NIC
21 in. P1130 Trinitron Monitor
16X/10X/40X CD-RW Drive
Windows XP Home
Toshiba PCX1100 Cable Modem
IE 6.02, Netscape 6.2
Zone Alarm
God Bless the USA
324
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Posted January 29th, 2002 20:00
I don't think its XP that is buggy, I think some of Dells cloned HD are buggy. My 4100 came with ME on it. it was a $2000 paperweight until I erased the HD and reinstalled. After that it worked great.
Lorjune
15 Posts
324
0
Posted January 29th, 2002 02:00
Jon...I had very similar problems too with the XP...My key borard and sound card (santa cruz) just went wacky. I formated and it seemed worse..Im back on ME so far everything is ok..but it's not like when I first got the system..Also my ISP (Earthlink) will not work with the XP unless I change the network card..Earthlink said that Dell is not compatable with them...I am able to get everything to work so..that's good for now..good luck...