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Reinstall Drivers
I realize this may be a obvious question but...
The hard drive on my Dimension 4600 crashed and I had to replace it. New Hard drive is in, XP Pro is installed, but I just want to be clear on installing drivers from CD. The Dell/Windows OS CD apparenty installs "generic" Microsoft drivers to provide baseline component function. The Dell Resource CD then (when loaded) scans the system and identifies hardware for which the disk contains drivers, and indicates same with a check mark next to them. Then by clicking on those items it starts the installation wizard and takes all (?) necesary steps to
correctly install the proper driver? Please advise if I understand correctly, Though I've clean installed MS Windows from a MS (retail) CD many times, this is the first occasion I've had to reinstall it from the Dell provided OS CD and Resource CD. Again, I realize what I'm asking may be obvious, but I rather be sure than go the trial and error route. Thank you for your help. R. Nolan
- The wrinkle with downloading newest drivers in this case is that of all things, the system does not yet have a ethernet controller driver (I believe it is in the intel chipset drivers), and therefore I can not access the internet with that system yet. Suppose I could download them on another systems, copy them to media, and then install them. Little concerned about making sure I get the proper / correct drivers with that approach though. Thanks for the suggestion, will give it some more thought.Rick
Yes you can . .Prior to reinstalling, you can look in Device Manager to find details of your Video, Modem, Network Adaptor and Sound devices so that you know which ones to go for. Be sure to install the Chipset drivers first . . then the others
rjn02 wrote:
Suppose I could download them on another systems, copy them to media, and then install them. Rick
Message Edited by simpswr on 03-25-2007 09:12 PM- I have an additional question (somewhat on-topic):
I've ordered an Inspiron 1501 (scheduled to be delivered tomorrow). My only OS option was some version of Vista (not what I wanted, but no choice). I have a full install version of XP Pro with SP2 that I intend to install on this machine (completely removing Vista). My problem is that Dell won't provide recovery/driver CD's for XP,
so I need specifics about what drivers to load, and how.
I understand that there is supposed to be a program called "Dell Drivers & Utilities" that comes on the driver CD, and determines which drivers to install, then installs them. I cannot find this program for XP when I search the Dell site. In any case, would this program work if I burn it to a CD along with the latest drivers?
Also, I read in another posting on the Dell forums (sorry, I can't locate it right now), that there is a program called "Notebook System Software" (or something similar) that needs to be installed BEFORE any other drivers (including the Chipset drivers). Is this true, and where can I get the XP version of this?
Basically, what I need is step-by-step instructions for updating/installing XP drivers after a full install (absent the Dell recovery/driver CDs).
Thanks. - You can find the drivers for your 1501 here, or click on the Drivers and Downloads link on the left side of this page and navigate to your pc.See this for Dells' reccomendation for installation order.Dell makes it easy to install the drivers . . you download and most will install on their own, but the instructions are with each download.You can look in Device Manager for a list of devices, XP may load some, but some may have to come from Dell
- Thanks for the reply. But I still don't know where to find the "Notebook System Software" for my machine with XP, and items like Dell QuickSet (in the list of applicable drivers) are not listed in the installation order. I suspect that QuickSet is an app, rather than a driver, but I'm not sure, and not sure just when to install it. I want to make sure, in addition to loading all the required XP drivers, that I don't lose any of the original notebook functionality, such as Fn keys, power management, etc. Will QuickSet provide all that, or is there something else required? Sorry for all the (probably obvious) questions, but I've never owned a notebook before, so it'll be a learning experience for me.
LesFe wrote:
Thanks for the reply. But I still don't know where to find the "Notebook System Software" for my machine with XP,It is the next to the last one in that linkand items like Dell QuickSet (in the list of applicable drivers) are not listed in the installation order. I suspect that QuickSet is an app, rather than a driver, but I'm not sure, and not sure just when to install it. I want to make sure, in addition to loading all the required XP drivers, that I don't lose any of the original notebook functionality, such as Fn keys, power management, etc. Will QuickSet provide all that, or is there something else required?I think so . . it is an application, so load it after the drivers. Click on it and it will tell you what it does
Message Edited by simpswr on 03-26-2007 01:43 PM
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Posted March 25th, 2007 23:00