Can you determine what BIOS version the laptop is using? The Inspiron 5100 is one of the older ones that had trouble seeing hard drives larger than 30 GB in the earlier models. The Dell site no longer gives information about versions prior to A22, and I don't remember if there was an update prior to that to correct this problem. Some of the laptops were given corrections in stages; the first to allow recognition of drives larger than 64 GB, the second to recognize drives up to 120 GB.
Just a caution; if your present BIOS is earlier than A22, and you decide to try an update, you must remember that this model requires you to update to A22 first. The type of BIOS was changed at that version and the A22 update contained the code necessary to make the change. Past posts on this subject indicated that the preferred BIOS version was A31; A32 had a fan control issue that disturbed some owners. Another thing to remember is that even if the earlier BIOS versions were available, it is impossible to re-flash to a BIOS earlier than A22 because of the changes that were made.
Before going further, be sure you moved the blade adapter from the original drive to the new one. If you did not, the drive isn't connected to the system board, and you will not see it.
Many thanks for the quick responses .. much appreciated.
Latest situation :
Removed the hard drive and re-formatted in another laptop ... re-inserted in the Dell and windows installed OK .. done all the driver updates now doing the SP updates as the Dell disk is SP1 !!!!! Seems to be working fine.
So thats the drive sorted.
Still totally unable to enter BIOS (F2) or to use the "boot select" option (F12). If I stick a bootable CD in... . it boots fom there, else it boots from the HD, so it is, in fact, useable .. but I'm just a tad intrigued now...
Can't tell what BIOS it is .. as I can't access the BIOS !!! Only clues are in the :
Broadcom UNDI, PXE 2-1 (build 082) v1.0.4
Copyright 2000- 20002 broadcom corporation
Copyright 1997 -2000 Intl Corporation
All rights reserved
Intel Base-code PXE-2.1 (build 002)
copyright 1997 -2000 Intel corporation
PXE-E61 : media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting Broadcom PXE:ROM
Operating system not found
Which I get if I boot with no CD/bootable disk drive.
The string of text you have posted indicates that the computer is set up to boot from a network. If this were a desktop I would suggest removing the CMOS back-up cell to reset the NVRAM, but this process doesn't work on many laptops due to the design. I assume when you have tried F2 and F12 you are tapping the keys while the self test is proceeding. Some machines need more than a single keypress, and if you miss doing it during the self test the machine naturally continues the boot process.
As old as this machine is, however, you're probably fortunate that it's still running. It might be best to leave well enough alone if you have it working.
I am also have the same problem. Yesterday I reinstalled Windows Xp SP1 thinking this will fix the problem, but it hasn't. I still have to install the drives it needs, then install SP2 and SP3. But I even bought a new hard drive, but I am thinking of returning it. The old hard drive(30GB) in the laptop sometimes gets recognized and sometimes it doesn't. Any input? Thanks
I own a
Dell Inspirion 5100 laptop. The OS is Window XP Professional edition. I believe its the latest Windows. I have read websites regarding this problem and have tried everything suggested.
Everytime I boot the
laptop, I get the following message:
Broadcom UNDI, Pxe-2.1 (build 082) v 1.0.4
Intel base code
PXe-E61: mediatest failure, check cable
PXE-MOF: Existing Broadcom Pxe rom
Operating System Not found.
I have tried going into the Bios section, ordering the boot sequence:
Hard drive, CD/dvd, Floopy drive, ONBOARD NCI or something like that (I don't know what this is NCI means).
After trying that the laptop started fine. Then the next day, it was the same problem again. I then went into the Bios section and hit the default under the boot tab. This ordered the boot sequence as: floppy disc, cd/dvd, hard drive and NCI.
I have several questions. Under the Main section in the Bios, it reads BIOS A06. I can't seem to hit anything in this section. Should I upgrade to a different BIOS- maybe A22 or A32?
I also did a seagate diagnostic on the hard drive, the harddrive passed. Sometimes I hook up an external hd to the laptop. I also did a scan on an external WD 500gb hard drive, it also passed. I even took out the
internal hard drive and putting it back in the laptop and nothing. The hard drive is hitachi_dk23ea-30.
I tried booting with the windows xp installation cd in the cd/dvd drive and it went straight to setting up. It did not detect the hard drive. But I am on the laptop right now. I went into the device manager and checked out the hard drive and there's no problem. So I don't understand what is going on?
Finally, I went into the msconfig tab to look in the sytem configuration utility. In boot.ini. It reads "signature(9dcxxxxx)dsk(o)rdisk(o)partition(1)\windows="
microsoft windows XP professional"/fastdetect". It then asks me would you like to remove it from the Boot.ini file? What is this? Is this the problem?
Can anyone please help me? I've had this problem for awhile and I thought reading and doing as adviced to others in other websites could help me but it hasn't. One of my coworkers suggested to reformat the internal harddrive by taking it out of the laptop and put it in an external enclosure and then connected it with a usb to my computer. But wouldn't that fry my computer or delete the XP from the harddrive?
Anyone Please help!!! Thank you for any input.
Your computer is trying to boot from the onboard network adapter. You did well checking out the hard drive since one of the situations that triggers such messages is a failure of the devices listed earlier in the boot order. If you can't find a problem with the hard drive you need to check out the BIOS settings thoroughly to see if you can find one in the network interface area that switches this boot choice off. If there isn't one, the best you can do is what you've already done, which is list everything else higher in the boot order than the pxe choice. If all of the earlier boot devices fail to produce a boot, however, you will continue to get this message.
This is a hardware/firmware problem, not an operating system problem, so fiddling with Windows settings will not help.
P.S. Read my earlier post with regard to a BIOS upgrade. You must update to A22 before updating to anything later. A22 changed the configuration from the original Phoenix BIOS to a Dell peculiar configuration and all of the BIOS updates after A22 must see the Dell configuration in order to work. Since I haven't any idea of what the earlier BIOS versions had in them, I can't say that the update would correct your problem. Remember, upgrading the BIOS is straightforward but you must make sure that you allow the process to complete. Anything that interrupts the update can lead to a non-functional computer and the only way to fix it is to replace the main board. Updating the BIOS on a laptop requires that you begin with a fully charged battery and have the laptop plugged into the A/C adapter.
I tried booting the laptop, i pressed F2 and saw that under hard drive it listed 'none'. After a couple of times of rebooting, I was able to go into the laptop, and I'm installing drivers. Why doesn't the bios recognize the hard drive? Should I really upgrade to A22 or A23? I've heard of stories upgrading bios can fry the computers.
I would not recommend a BIOS flash on a computer this old without knowing you can get something positive from it. I explained the risk in my earlier post. Since you have one of the Phoenix version BIOSes, you must flash A22 before you can flash any of the later updates. In order to flash the latest BIOS for your laptop you would therefore need to perform two updates. I also explained this in my earlier post. The advantage you would get from performing the flash in this case is support for hard drives up to 120 GB. The older BIOS versions had trouble using drives larger than 30 GB.
From your description of the symptoms you are experiencing, you might be having trouble due to a poor connection in the hard drive connector. If you have never replaced the original hard drive it is possible that oxidation has occurred in the contacts which prevents them from making a good connection. If you re-seat the hard drive by removing it from its connector and then pushing it back into the connector you may wipe the oxidation sufficiently to get a good connection again, thereby solving the problem for the moment. You can find instructions for removing and replacing the hard drive in this manual: Inspiron 5100 Service Manual.
When you reach the point at which you need to replace the hard drive you may find that you must update the BIOS in order to be able to use a larger drive. Parallel ATA/IDE drives are becoming more difficult to find. If it were me I think I would replace the computer as it would make better sense economically.
OK. I bought a 80 gb pata drive from dell. MY bios is A06. i will flash A022? Again I am skeptical. Do I flash bios first or install hard drive first? That means I have to reinstall windows xp in new drive.
I was also thinking about putting a piece of paper in hard drive bay to elevate the hard drive so i can get connection? Or this fire hazardous? What do you think?
I would try the hard drive with your existing BIOS first; I'm not certain that an 80 GB will give you trouble with that BIOS. If it doesn't work you can do the BIOS updates at that time.
You don't need to put a piece of paper in the slot to hold the drive up. What the manual doesn't tell you is that you need to remove the hard drive from the carrier assembly, remove the pin adapter from the connector adapter on the drive, and install both of these on the new drive. Four small screws hold the hard drive in the metal carrier. When you get the old drive out, examine the connectors of the old and new drive. The old drive should have a plastic adapter that covers the 43 pins of the hard drive connector. Since you purchased the new drive from Dell you may find that the new drive already has a similar plastic adapter on the pins already. It will be easy to tell if the new drive is missing the adapter because of all the pins; the adapter makes that connector look like the edge of a printed circuit board. If the adapter is already present you just use the four screws you removed from the old drive to install the new drive into the carrier. Make sure you put the new drive into the carrier in the same orientation as you found the old drive or the connector won't match up with the connector in the computer.
If your new drive is missing the adapter, you need to very carefully remove this adapter with as little side to side motion as possible, pulling it straight off if you can. Once you have the adapter from the old drive, look at the end of the adapter that has all the small pin sockets and locate the one pin that looks like it has been plugged up. You need to line up that blocked socket with a missing pin on the hard drive connector and push the adapter completely onto the hard drive. Once you've done that you can mount the new drive into the carrier as described above.
Hey thanks for your reply. I checked the old hard drive and the 4 pins(you described) actually is only 3 pins. One of the pins came off. I removed the pin adapter, but guess what, on the new hard drive some of the pins are bent. So I will replace this one as well. So should I install windows xp on new drive?
You are referring to 3 screws, correct? Yes, some of them have only three.
You must install your operating system if you are to get the computer to work. If Windows XP is what you have, that is what you install. Following installation of the operating system you need to install the device drivers. You must install the Notebook System Software and the Intel Chipset Driver first and in that order before all other drivers. Dell suggests you install the video adapter, network interface adapter, and sound adapter in that order after you have installed the first two drivers. If you have the Dell Resource CD with your drivers on it you can use that to install the drivers. This disk is used by inserting it in your CD drive and allowing the application to install. Once installed you get a screen that allows you to select the model of computer for which you are seeking drivers. After that you should see a screen having a number of drop down menus at the top. Selecting the drivers tab should give you a list of drivers, some of them having a check-mark at the left. The check-mark indicates the drivers for those devices that have been found in your computer by the Resource CD application. Install them one at a time in the recommended order by clicking the name of the driver file.
When you click the driver file you should get a window that asks if you wish to open or save the file. Select Open. An autoextractor will be started, giving you a message that the necessary folder does not exist and asking if you want the folder to be created. Click Yes. The files will be extracted to the newly created folder. When the autoextractor is finished you will get a button on its window allowing you to close it. When you click Close, a second window will appear asking if you want to install the file. Select Yes or OK so that the driver will be installed. When you are notified that the installation has been completed, close all open windows, eject the Resource CD, and restart the computer. This will allow the Windows registry to be updated for the new driver. When the computer has finished the restart process, put the Resource CD back in the drive and click the drivers tab again to install the next driver. Repeat the procedure for each driver you need to install.
If you don't have the Resource CD anymore you can still get the drivers here: Inspiron 5100 Drivers. The first time you attempt to download a driver for this page you will get two options; download using the Dell Downloads Manager, or Download Direct using Web Browser. Select the second option. You will download one file at a time. The files you will need will be fairly obvious except as follows; the Notebook System Software is found in the System Utilities category, and if you have a telephone modem, there appears to be several from which to choose. To get a hint of which modem has been installed you will need to go here, type the service tag number in the box provided, and examine the shipping list that should appear. (Just a note on forum usage - please do not put your service tag number into a forum message. Dell prohibits doing that here and they will remove it anyway.) Download each driver into a folder having a recognizable name as the files themselves all have the letter "R" and five to six numbers as a file name. Save them onto a USB memory stick and install them in a manner similar to that used with the Resource CD by double clicking on each file name one at a time in the given order.
Once you have the drivers installed I recommend you update your installation to Service Pack 3. You can do this once you have the computer on line, but it takes quite a while. If you have a high speed connection you can download this file, Windows XP Service Pack 3 Update, and burn it to a CD. After you have installed all the drivers you can then insert the CD having the update file and double click the file name to begin the update. Once you have updated to SP 3 you can install your anti-virus and your applications. Note that the web page for this update says that it is for installation by IT managers on multiple machines. It works ok for just one computer, however, and it has the advantage of allowing you to perform the update without putting the machine on-line. In this way you can install the update without first having installed an anti-virus so that the update runs faster.
No there was 4 pins, one of them fell off, so 3 pins now. My next question is how do i test the old hard drive to see if it really is going bad? As for the Dell Resource CD I have one but its from Windows Milleum. Can I still use this one? Or do i have to buy another one?
If its not the hard drive that is faulty, what else can it be? But i have a feeling it is the hard drive. I press F12 and did a diagnostic and the error code DST Log contains previous error 1000-0146 comes up everything.
If your original hard drive still sort of works in the computer you can try pressing F12 during the self test after you restart the computer. Choose Diagnostic from the menu that shows up in the upper left corner of the display. You state that you have done that already and received an error from the hard drive. That is evidence that the drive is failing. If you have the Resource CD you can also boot from that and run diagnostics from that CD if you would like an additional test.
The drivers must match the operating system you are installing. If you are installing Windows XP, the drivers must be for Windows XP. You can only use drivers for Windows Me if that is the operating system you are installing. The diagnostic on the Windows Me Resource CD would likely still work on your computer provided that it was the one shipped with your computer.
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
April 7th, 2011 18:00
Can you determine what BIOS version the laptop is using? The Inspiron 5100 is one of the older ones that had trouble seeing hard drives larger than 30 GB in the earlier models. The Dell site no longer gives information about versions prior to A22, and I don't remember if there was an update prior to that to correct this problem. Some of the laptops were given corrections in stages; the first to allow recognition of drives larger than 64 GB, the second to recognize drives up to 120 GB.
Just a caution; if your present BIOS is earlier than A22, and you decide to try an update, you must remember that this model requires you to update to A22 first. The type of BIOS was changed at that version and the A22 update contained the code necessary to make the change. Past posts on this subject indicated that the preferred BIOS version was A31; A32 had a fan control issue that disturbed some owners. Another thing to remember is that even if the earlier BIOS versions were available, it is impossible to re-flash to a BIOS earlier than A22 because of the changes that were made.
ieee488
4 Operator
•
11.1K Posts
0
April 7th, 2011 18:00
You don't need any device drivers at this point. Your BIOS either sees it or it doesn't. If it doesn't, the 2nd hard drive is unuseable as well.
ejn63
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
April 7th, 2011 19:00
Before going further, be sure you moved the blade adapter from the original drive to the new one. If you did not, the drive isn't connected to the system board, and you will not see it.
entwood
2 Posts
0
April 8th, 2011 02:00
Many thanks for the quick responses .. much appreciated.
Latest situation :
Removed the hard drive and re-formatted in another laptop ... re-inserted in the Dell and windows installed OK .. done all the driver updates now doing the SP updates as the Dell disk is SP1 !!!!! Seems to be working fine.
So thats the drive sorted.
Still totally unable to enter BIOS (F2) or to use the "boot select" option (F12). If I stick a bootable CD in... . it boots fom there, else it boots from the HD, so it is, in fact, useable .. but I'm just a tad intrigued now...
Can't tell what BIOS it is .. as I can't access the BIOS !!! Only clues are in the :
Broadcom UNDI, PXE 2-1 (build 082) v1.0.4
Copyright 2000- 20002 broadcom corporation
Copyright 1997 -2000 Intl Corporation
All rights reserved
Intel Base-code PXE-2.1 (build 002)
copyright 1997 -2000 Intel corporation
PXE-E61 : media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting Broadcom PXE:ROM
Operating system not found
Which I get if I boot with no CD/bootable disk drive.
Most odd ... :(
Regards and thanks again .. :)
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
April 8th, 2011 11:00
You are very welcome; we've been happy to help.
The string of text you have posted indicates that the computer is set up to boot from a network. If this were a desktop I would suggest removing the CMOS back-up cell to reset the NVRAM, but this process doesn't work on many laptops due to the design. I assume when you have tried F2 and F12 you are tapping the keys while the self test is proceeding. Some machines need more than a single keypress, and if you miss doing it during the self test the machine naturally continues the boot process.
As old as this machine is, however, you're probably fortunate that it's still running. It might be best to leave well enough alone if you have it working.
Best of luck to you!
livia7916
1 Rookie
•
18 Posts
0
May 9th, 2011 14:00
Broadcom undi BOOTING PROBLEM!
I am also have the same problem. Yesterday I reinstalled Windows Xp SP1 thinking this will fix the problem, but it hasn't. I still have to install the drives it needs, then install SP2 and SP3. But I even bought a new hard drive, but I am thinking of returning it. The old hard drive(30GB) in the laptop sometimes gets recognized and sometimes it doesn't. Any input? Thanks
Everytime I boot the laptop, I get the following message:
Broadcom UNDI, Pxe-2.1 (build 082) v 1.0.4
Intel base code
PXe-E61: mediatest failure, check cable
PXE-MOF: Existing Broadcom Pxe rom
Operating System Not found.
I have tried going into the Bios section, ordering the boot sequence: Hard drive, CD/dvd, Floopy drive, ONBOARD NCI or something like that (I don't know what this is NCI means).
After trying that the laptop started fine. Then the next day, it was the same problem again. I then went into the Bios section and hit the default under the boot tab. This ordered the boot sequence as: floppy disc, cd/dvd, hard drive and NCI.
I have several questions. Under the Main section in the Bios, it reads BIOS A06. I can't seem to hit anything in this section. Should I upgrade to a different BIOS- maybe A22 or A32?
I also did a seagate diagnostic on the hard drive, the harddrive passed. Sometimes I hook up an external hd to the laptop. I also did a scan on an external WD 500gb hard drive, it also passed. I even took out the internal hard drive and putting it back in the laptop and nothing. The hard drive is hitachi_dk23ea-30.
I tried booting with the windows xp installation cd in the cd/dvd drive and it went straight to setting up. It did not detect the hard drive. But I am on the laptop right now. I went into the device manager and checked out the hard drive and there's no problem. So I don't understand what is going on?
Can anyone please help me? I've had this problem for awhile and I thought reading and doing as adviced to others in other websites could help me but it hasn't. One of my coworkers suggested to reformat the internal harddrive by taking it out of the laptop and put it in an external enclosure and then connected it with a usb to my computer. But wouldn't that fry my computer or delete the XP from the harddrive?
Anyone Please help!!! Thank you for any input.
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
May 9th, 2011 16:00
Your computer is trying to boot from the onboard network adapter. You did well checking out the hard drive since one of the situations that triggers such messages is a failure of the devices listed earlier in the boot order. If you can't find a problem with the hard drive you need to check out the BIOS settings thoroughly to see if you can find one in the network interface area that switches this boot choice off. If there isn't one, the best you can do is what you've already done, which is list everything else higher in the boot order than the pxe choice. If all of the earlier boot devices fail to produce a boot, however, you will continue to get this message.
This is a hardware/firmware problem, not an operating system problem, so fiddling with Windows settings will not help.
P.S. Read my earlier post with regard to a BIOS upgrade. You must update to A22 before updating to anything later. A22 changed the configuration from the original Phoenix BIOS to a Dell peculiar configuration and all of the BIOS updates after A22 must see the Dell configuration in order to work. Since I haven't any idea of what the earlier BIOS versions had in them, I can't say that the update would correct your problem. Remember, upgrading the BIOS is straightforward but you must make sure that you allow the process to complete. Anything that interrupts the update can lead to a non-functional computer and the only way to fix it is to replace the main board. Updating the BIOS on a laptop requires that you begin with a fully charged battery and have the laptop plugged into the A/C adapter.
livia7916
1 Rookie
•
18 Posts
0
May 9th, 2011 17:00
I tried booting the laptop, i pressed F2 and saw that under hard drive it listed 'none'. After a couple of times of rebooting, I was able to go into the laptop, and I'm installing drivers. Why doesn't the bios recognize the hard drive? Should I really upgrade to A22 or A23? I've heard of stories upgrading bios can fry the computers.
Thank you for prompt reply.
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
May 9th, 2011 18:00
I would not recommend a BIOS flash on a computer this old without knowing you can get something positive from it. I explained the risk in my earlier post. Since you have one of the Phoenix version BIOSes, you must flash A22 before you can flash any of the later updates. In order to flash the latest BIOS for your laptop you would therefore need to perform two updates. I also explained this in my earlier post. The advantage you would get from performing the flash in this case is support for hard drives up to 120 GB. The older BIOS versions had trouble using drives larger than 30 GB.
From your description of the symptoms you are experiencing, you might be having trouble due to a poor connection in the hard drive connector. If you have never replaced the original hard drive it is possible that oxidation has occurred in the contacts which prevents them from making a good connection. If you re-seat the hard drive by removing it from its connector and then pushing it back into the connector you may wipe the oxidation sufficiently to get a good connection again, thereby solving the problem for the moment. You can find instructions for removing and replacing the hard drive in this manual: Inspiron 5100 Service Manual.
When you reach the point at which you need to replace the hard drive you may find that you must update the BIOS in order to be able to use a larger drive. Parallel ATA/IDE drives are becoming more difficult to find. If it were me I think I would replace the computer as it would make better sense economically.
livia7916
1 Rookie
•
18 Posts
0
May 9th, 2011 18:00
OK. I bought a 80 gb pata drive from dell. MY bios is A06. i will flash A022? Again I am skeptical. Do I flash bios first or install hard drive first? That means I have to reinstall windows xp in new drive.
I was also thinking about putting a piece of paper in hard drive bay to elevate the hard drive so i can get connection? Or this fire hazardous? What do you think?
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
May 9th, 2011 23:00
I would try the hard drive with your existing BIOS first; I'm not certain that an 80 GB will give you trouble with that BIOS. If it doesn't work you can do the BIOS updates at that time.
You don't need to put a piece of paper in the slot to hold the drive up. What the manual doesn't tell you is that you need to remove the hard drive from the carrier assembly, remove the pin adapter from the connector adapter on the drive, and install both of these on the new drive. Four small screws hold the hard drive in the metal carrier. When you get the old drive out, examine the connectors of the old and new drive. The old drive should have a plastic adapter that covers the 43 pins of the hard drive connector. Since you purchased the new drive from Dell you may find that the new drive already has a similar plastic adapter on the pins already. It will be easy to tell if the new drive is missing the adapter because of all the pins; the adapter makes that connector look like the edge of a printed circuit board. If the adapter is already present you just use the four screws you removed from the old drive to install the new drive into the carrier. Make sure you put the new drive into the carrier in the same orientation as you found the old drive or the connector won't match up with the connector in the computer.
If your new drive is missing the adapter, you need to very carefully remove this adapter with as little side to side motion as possible, pulling it straight off if you can. Once you have the adapter from the old drive, look at the end of the adapter that has all the small pin sockets and locate the one pin that looks like it has been plugged up. You need to line up that blocked socket with a missing pin on the hard drive connector and push the adapter completely onto the hard drive. Once you've done that you can mount the new drive into the carrier as described above.
livia7916
1 Rookie
•
18 Posts
0
May 10th, 2011 08:00
Hey thanks for your reply. I checked the old hard drive and the 4 pins(you described) actually is only 3 pins. One of the pins came off. I removed the pin adapter, but guess what, on the new hard drive some of the pins are bent. So I will replace this one as well. So should I install windows xp on new drive?
jackshack
6.4K Posts
0
May 10th, 2011 11:00
You are referring to 3 screws, correct? Yes, some of them have only three.
You must install your operating system if you are to get the computer to work. If Windows XP is what you have, that is what you install. Following installation of the operating system you need to install the device drivers. You must install the Notebook System Software and the Intel Chipset Driver first and in that order before all other drivers. Dell suggests you install the video adapter, network interface adapter, and sound adapter in that order after you have installed the first two drivers. If you have the Dell Resource CD with your drivers on it you can use that to install the drivers. This disk is used by inserting it in your CD drive and allowing the application to install. Once installed you get a screen that allows you to select the model of computer for which you are seeking drivers. After that you should see a screen having a number of drop down menus at the top. Selecting the drivers tab should give you a list of drivers, some of them having a check-mark at the left. The check-mark indicates the drivers for those devices that have been found in your computer by the Resource CD application. Install them one at a time in the recommended order by clicking the name of the driver file.
When you click the driver file you should get a window that asks if you wish to open or save the file. Select Open. An autoextractor will be started, giving you a message that the necessary folder does not exist and asking if you want the folder to be created. Click Yes. The files will be extracted to the newly created folder. When the autoextractor is finished you will get a button on its window allowing you to close it. When you click Close, a second window will appear asking if you want to install the file. Select Yes or OK so that the driver will be installed. When you are notified that the installation has been completed, close all open windows, eject the Resource CD, and restart the computer. This will allow the Windows registry to be updated for the new driver. When the computer has finished the restart process, put the Resource CD back in the drive and click the drivers tab again to install the next driver. Repeat the procedure for each driver you need to install.
If you don't have the Resource CD anymore you can still get the drivers here: Inspiron 5100 Drivers. The first time you attempt to download a driver for this page you will get two options; download using the Dell Downloads Manager, or Download Direct using Web Browser. Select the second option. You will download one file at a time. The files you will need will be fairly obvious except as follows; the Notebook System Software is found in the System Utilities category, and if you have a telephone modem, there appears to be several from which to choose. To get a hint of which modem has been installed you will need to go here, type the service tag number in the box provided, and examine the shipping list that should appear. (Just a note on forum usage - please do not put your service tag number into a forum message. Dell prohibits doing that here and they will remove it anyway.) Download each driver into a folder having a recognizable name as the files themselves all have the letter "R" and five to six numbers as a file name. Save them onto a USB memory stick and install them in a manner similar to that used with the Resource CD by double clicking on each file name one at a time in the given order.
Once you have the drivers installed I recommend you update your installation to Service Pack 3. You can do this once you have the computer on line, but it takes quite a while. If you have a high speed connection you can download this file, Windows XP Service Pack 3 Update, and burn it to a CD. After you have installed all the drivers you can then insert the CD having the update file and double click the file name to begin the update. Once you have updated to SP 3 you can install your anti-virus and your applications. Note that the web page for this update says that it is for installation by IT managers on multiple machines. It works ok for just one computer, however, and it has the advantage of allowing you to perform the update without putting the machine on-line. In this way you can install the update without first having installed an anti-virus so that the update runs faster.
livia7916
1 Rookie
•
18 Posts
0
May 10th, 2011 11:00
Hey thanks for your reply again.
No there was 4 pins, one of them fell off, so 3 pins now. My next question is how do i test the old hard drive to see if it really is going bad? As for the Dell Resource CD I have one but its from Windows Milleum. Can I still use this one? Or do i have to buy another one?
If its not the hard drive that is faulty, what else can it be? But i have a feeling it is the hard drive. I press F12 and did a diagnostic and the error code DST Log contains previous error 1000-0146 comes up everything.
jackshack
6.4K Posts
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May 10th, 2011 13:00
If your original hard drive still sort of works in the computer you can try pressing F12 during the self test after you restart the computer. Choose Diagnostic from the menu that shows up in the upper left corner of the display. You state that you have done that already and received an error from the hard drive. That is evidence that the drive is failing. If you have the Resource CD you can also boot from that and run diagnostics from that CD if you would like an additional test.
The drivers must match the operating system you are installing. If you are installing Windows XP, the drivers must be for Windows XP. You can only use drivers for Windows Me if that is the operating system you are installing. The diagnostic on the Windows Me Resource CD would likely still work on your computer provided that it was the one shipped with your computer.