I have an inspiron 9300 laptop currently running windows 7. When I tried to upgrade to windows 10 today I got a message to say that it wasn't possible because ATI mobility radeon x300 isn't compatible. Can anyone tell me if it's possible to upgrade this component please?
I have upgraded my 9300 video to NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 and get the same message as you, here's hoping they come up with windows 10 copatable drivers or we are stuck in windows 7 mode.
I got the same problem, on trying to upgrade my Inspiron 9300 from Windows 7 to Windows 10, giving the message that the ATI mobility raedon X300 isn't compatible. Did you find a solution that worked? Please let me know.
I have been using my Dell Inspiron 9300 with Windows 10 for some time. I have only just stumbled onto this thread.
The x300 driver you need [that works successfully with Windows 10] is in the Windows Update catalog
Log in to your computer as an Admin first, use IE not another browser - both of these steps are essential
Go to the site, search for ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 In the list that appears you can click on a driver name to see its details:-
Description: ATI Technologies Inc. Display software update released in December, 2008 Architecture: X86 Classification: Drivers Supported products: Windows 7 Supported languages: English Company: ATI Technologies, ULC Driver Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc. Driver Class: Other Hardware Driver Model: ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 Driver Provider: ATI Technologies Inc. Version: 8.561.0.0 Version Date: 12/1/2008
Alps touchpad - [also from the Microsoft update catalog] - I chose the fourth on the search results list v7.4.102.104 [a windows 7 driver], I extracted the files from the cab using winZip then ran DPInst.exe as Admin
WiFi - Intel ProWireless 2200 802.1b-g - Intel PRO-Wireless Drivers - Vista - I chose the zip version not the exe [as the latter did not do anything as far as I could tell] - I extracted the file using WinZip then ran isetup.exe as Admin [three folders down in the extracted folders - Disk, Vista, Drivers].
[Dell QuickSet - I was unable to find a version of this that would work in Windows 10 but do not suffer without it as my Fn-WiFi key & the multimedia keys work without this utility anyway.]
Other then that, all the drivers Windows 10 installed have been okay. If you need drivers for any other hardware then refer to Where to get hardware drivers.
Keep copies of all these drivers to hand as Windows 10 updates can overwrite them. There is a procedure for preventing this - see para 5.1-2 of Managing data usage. There is an alternative, an MSKB utility for disabling updates to specific hardware devices but its reliability & continuing validity is not yet clear - How to hide or block Windows Updates or driver updates in Windows 10 Insider Preview I have not experimented with that alternative as I disabled all hardware updates instead.
The only problems I have had using the Inspiron 9300 with Windows 10 are:
1 The Intel Pro 2200 WiFi card cannot connect to a "hosted" WiFi network established directly by my other computer. It connects to all other WiFi networks without any problems. [The 9300 also connects to my Ethernet network without any problems]
2 Windows 10 Task scheduler is unable to wake this computer from sleep or hibernation despite all the correct settings having been made. This shortcoming afflicted several other computers during the Windows 10 Preview Build phase but many of those are now okay. It is possible that the 9300 chipset is slightly incompatible with Windows 10. A future Windows 10 update might solve this problem but don't assume this.
3 PowerCfg -batteryreport does not work. I would hazard the guess that this is also related to the chipset. PowerCfg -energy can report the last charged state of the battery & hence allow you to monitor battery health - the relevant entries are near the end of the very long report that is created.
Thank you very much for this. Our grandson has the laptop with him on a visit to family at the other end of the country atm but we'll follow your advice as soon as he comes back. Thank you again
Thank you for the directions. I have the up to date ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 driver version 8.561.0.0 installed. Also ran the Intel Pro Wireless Vista onto my Dell Ins piron 9300 running Windows 7 Home premium. I did not load the Sigmatel Audio and Alps Touchpad drivers because they come in cabinet files and I don't know how to install such.
Anyway, the "Get Windows 10" icon on my taskbar ran newly to tell me that my ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 is not compatible with Windows 10. Same message as before.
Any further advice? Did you load Windows 10 with the Beta version, or final release? Did you download the ISO file to make your own upgrade disc, or were you able to upgrade online?
I have the high resolution screen 1920x1200, in case that makes any difference?
1 Do consider waiting a few months to upgrade. Many users have been having problems since upgrading and their experiences should help to ensure that the OS is improved. Take advantage of their difficulties by delaying your own upgrade. I have Windows 10 in dual-boot arrangements on both my computers [Dell Inspiron 9300 with WinXP & Dell Inspiron 1545 with Windows 7] and am not upgrading my other computer's Windows 7 installation until late November. We have until 29th July 2016 to do the upgrade so there's no rush. In addition, please do consider the three shortcomings I listed in my previous post and decide if they are limitations that would hinder your own work - have a look at my para 8 below as well.
2 I have been using the Windows 10 Preview version on both my computers and have run its updates through to the released version. I am still licensed as a Preview user - I never bothered to upgrade my Inspiron 9300 WinXP to Windows 7 so I can now either stay as a Preview user or I can pay for a licence. Personally, I do not think Windows 10 would be worth paying for, even though I am happy with it overall, because I have to accept that my 9300 is ten years old and might only last another year or so for all I know.
3 If you do eventually do the Windows 10 upgrade, please let me know if you also experience the same three shortcomings as I did because your additional experiences & observations might help me to progress. I appreciate that you might never have occasion to test a "hosted" WiFi network so you would not be able to tell me anything about that. A "hosted" WiFi network is, in brief, a way of setting up a computer to act as a local WiFi Access Point so I can establish a local WiFi network without using a router. The Inspiron 9300 cannot "host" one itself because the WiFi card does not have that capability. My problem is that my Inspiron 9300 cannot connect to one "hosted" by my other computer even though it ought to recognise it as just a WiFi network like any other - it has so far proved impossible to identify whether the other "hosting" computer is to blame or the 9300.
4.1 Display driver - I have the same version as you and mine is also the 1920x1200 version. If the Get Windows 10 app objects to your driver then try waiting a few months to see if it calms down & agrees to cooperate [the upgrade program is being spread over a considerable period so there is no telling when the upgrade will be available for any given computer anyway]. My other, Windows 7, computer does not yet have the upgrade available, which suits me fine. If you really get fed up waiting then you can make a Windows 10 installation disk using Download Windows 10 - but you must run it using "In-Place upgrade" [aka "Repair install"] procedures* and, if you do not, you might never be able to recover from the situation that would be created [a reportedly unlicensed Windows 10 installation that does not revert successfully to its licensed Windows 7 predecessor].
4.2 * "In-Place upgrade" [aka "Repair install"] procedures - these instructions were written for Windows 7. It is essentially the same process but you will see Windows 7 control end and Windows 10 installation begin during para 3.4. Don't enter a Product Key when prompted to do so, just skip that step. When Windows 10 installation takes over the process, it will display a clock-like % progress display and it might seem to hang several times but you will just have to be patient [I have seen it take a couple of hours to complete sometimes and I have seen reports of users thinking it had failed partway only to discover when they repeated the process that it was merely agonisingly slow]. When installation has finished, connect to the internet and it should automatically recognise the prior activation status - see Start menu, Settings, Update & security, Activation. It will take its own sweet time about this so you can use this dialog to make it do it straightaway but still don't put in the Product Key because it will fail - your free upgrade Windows 10 licence depends absolutely on its activation process recognising that you had a properly installed & licensed Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 installation on the computer beforehand. Note that this limitation does not affect any subsequent reinstallations because part of the successful initial Windows 10 activation process registers your hardware on Microsoft servers so subsequent reinstallations will check those servers rather than the previous OS. Whatever you do, do not skip the preparations I list in para 3.3 of the link as those are the most reliable tools for helping you recover your computer from any mishaps that occur during the upgrade.
5 WiFi driver - I think you have had no problems with this as you did not mention any. Whilst you need to keep a copy of the file you used to install this, there should not be any problems during the Windows 10 upgrade.
6 Audio driver - Cab files are just like zip files, you can extract them into a folder and then install whatever is inside. The Dell driver that I used came as a self-extracting installation file - R99254.exe. It is identified in Device manager as Sigmatel v5.10.0.4255 dated 11 March 2005. Please let me know the version number & date of the driver you obtained as a cab file & its download source - I will compare them for you and, if the driver is better in Windows 10 then Dell's R99254.exe, I will post the procedure I used to install it for you to follow through in the same way.
7 Touchpad driver - Again, this is just a cab file. I installed from it in the manner I posted before. Whilst you need to keep a copy of the file you used to install this, there should not be any problems during the Windows 10 upgrade.
8 Just a few additional notes about some things that also seem worth pointing out because they have given a new lease of life to my Dell Inspiron 9300 [I can once again regard it as the best computer I have ever used]. It has become interchangeable with my newer computer for many tasks. It is far superior to my other computer for some tasks such as working on large spreadsheets & video editing.
8.1 I invested the massive sum of £7.50 on a "SATA HDD to IDE caddy" that replaced my DVD drive and that holds a 320GB SATA HDD left over from upgrading another computer. This massive increase in storage capacity has allowed me to have all my files, including my ever increasing audio file collection, directly on the 9300 and that is extremely convenient. I had to lift out the keyboard [procedure described in the 9300 manual] to be able to guide the caddy into its connection properly. The bios recognised it straight away and so did Windows both WinXP & Windows 10 [Windows sees its full 320GB capacity even though the bios reports it as just 137GB]. I have to accept that moving around such a significantly larger disk than the 9300 was designed for is difficult for it but it manages to do it without seeming to be at all slow.
8.2 The Windows 10 installation regained safe use of the internet for me [I had not connected it since WinXP support ended] and this has also added to the range of tasks that I can do on it.
8.3 The WinXP display driver could only send full HD resolution [1920x1080] to my TV in 2nd monitor-only mode. With Windows 10, the display driver discussed in para 4 above allows me to choose either that or Extended desktop mode at full HD resolution. I connect to the TV from the 9300's DVI output using a simple DVI-HDMI cable; no adapter is required as DVI output is already a digital output although I do need to use a separate audio cable to get the sound onto the TV. This flexibility in using the second monitor is handy - some jobs are best done in 2nd monitor only, some are best done in Extended desktop mode.
8.4 Windows 10, like Windows 7, supports use of ReadyBoost. I bought an 8GB SD card for £2 and set it up to be a dedicated ReadyBoost drive. This gets used heavily during, for example, system image creation and editing out the adverts in my TV recordings - my ten year old 9300 is consequently significantly faster at both these tasks than my five year old 1545 [because of the particular mechanics involved in these tasks].
9 We are using these 9300s for far longer than its Dell designers envisaged. Things can start to break down. If you ever experience slight flickering of the screen [that looks like you were playing with the screen brightness setting very rapidly or just blinking very rapidly] then do not delay. It might or might not be accompanied by the power icon flickering rapidly between the AC power icon & the battery icon. I experienced this on my original 9300 [now, my late original 9300] a couple of years ago but misinterpreted it as a power supply problem. You would also notice that it only affects the 9300's screen and not a TV screen in 2nd monitor only mode. I have recently experienced it on my second-hand replacement 9300 and have managed to fix it. The cable that feeds through to the monitor [near the left-hand hinge] rubs against the screen's metal casing and gradually wears away the reinforced outer insulation causing a short [that is intermittent at first but gets worse & is eventually fatal]. I lifted off the panel covering the hinges & the outer screen casing [also described in the 9300 manual] to get at the cable and [without needing to disconnect the cable] I slipped a short length of the outer insulation from an aerial cable around it & used insulating tape just to stop it slipping off [insulating tape is not a good enough insulator to fix the short on its own, I was just using it as an adhesive tape]. The display is now fine once again and copes with the vibrations of travelling around on my rucksack without complaint. Now that the cheap piece of aerial insulation is the thing wearing away instead, I can just check it every few months and replace it to continue protecting the display cable itself for as long as my 9300 lasts.
8.1 I invested the massive sum of £7.50 on a "SATA HDD to IDE caddy" that replaced my DVD drive and that holds a 320MB SATA HDD left over from upgrading another computer.
should read
8.1 I invested the massive sum of £7.50 on a "SATA HDD to IDE caddy" that replaced my DVD drive and that holds a 320GB SATA HDD left over from upgrading another computer.
Good news. I was able to install Windows 10 on my Dell Inspiron 9300 in spite of the incompatibility message on the ATI Radeon Mobility graphics card, and it works great.
Simply download the Windows 10 installation file directly from Microsoft, under their option to download it if one wants to install it on multiple computers. I chose the regular Windows 10 for 32 bit system and downloaded the ISO file - 2.8GB size. Then left clicked the downloaded file to write it onto a DVD. Then ran the DVD and it went through the entire upgrade without any complication.
DavidSea6891
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Posted August 4th, 2015 21:00
I have upgraded my 9300 video to NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 and get the same message as you, here's hoping they come up with windows 10 copatable drivers or we are stuck in windows 7 mode.