Yum Dell PCs

[throdgrain]

A mate of mine asked me to look at his mum's PC. It's a Dell Dimension E520, got a dual core cpu but only 1 gig of DDR2.

Anyway, problem is, it is SLOW. I mean, slower than a slow thing on a slow night out in slow land. It certainly cant do two things at once, dual core or not lol

They want me to try and sort it our for them, and I've tried sorting the Vista OS but it's hopeless.

So, I thought I'd install XP, that would be much better, however when I try to install it, it gets to "starting Windows" then stops, claiming some kind of Hard Drive error. It may be that there is an error, but I cant take the case apart becuase they've rivitted it on (ffs), so I was wondering, anyone had any experience of this? Is it some kind of Dell trap to stop me making thier PC work? Or is there more likely a HDD error?

Cheers Luvs

 

[soze]

Check the BIOS fr a ATA mode setting. Vista and 7 either have more raid drivers or don't need them I have no idea which but XP sometimes needs to be set to a compatibility mode to get it to boot when it has not been installed with the F7 driver.

 

[Cyradix]

Yup, that's the first thing to check. For XP it needs to be set to IDE mode for it to work for a standard install. If set to SATA you need to provide the SATA drivers during the setup by pressing F6 when it asks you for additional drivers...
Can't remember if you can do it via an usb key or if you need a floppy though

 

[throdgrain]

Sorry no, what I meant was when trying to install XP, I pre-load the bits it needs, then you get "starting windows" then normally you would run through the installation process. With this it gets to "starting windows" then stops and gives an HDD error.

 

[Cyradix]

So you actually get to the part where you get to pick the HD to install to and can continue or not?

 

[throdgrain]

No, I install the bits of windows that it needs for the install (Kernels etc) then I get to the bit where it would normally install, and bang it stops.

 

[Zenith.UK]

At the bottom of the Drives section of the BIOS settings should be a RAID option? Disable it.
Also make sure the ATA setting is set to legacy or IDE.

Serious answer. Why not try Linux of some flavour?

Alternative answer. Considered Win7 instead? It runs better on less machine than Vista ever did.
You can pick up Win7 legitimately for £43.50 from Software for Students. That includes installation media, product key and delivery.

While you're at it, spend £27 doubling the RAM.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-PC2-5300-Desktop-Upgrade-240-pin/dp/B0009W9TAG

That should give you a more responsive system.

 

[Yaka]

as zenith says try linux. if she does the "norm" just checks mail, goes on facebook,googles random stuff on the pc then worth trying it.

 

[soze]

If she calls you for support like how do I add a printer or how do I join a wireless network do not try linux unless you are comfortable supporting it.

If XP has made it past the select a Disk/Partition for the install then it should not be the Raid/Sata driver but it is still worth checking to rule it out. Run some dos based Hard Drive checking software first off and make sure the disk is not faulty.

 

[throdgrain]

My mates mum is in her eighties, I think I'll try not to complicate things any more than I have to

Just to make sure I'mm 100% clear about the problem, I put the XP cd in, restart, boot from disc, load the nescessary kernals etc, then before I get the option to format C in preparation for a Windows install, it says Operation Stopped, check for viruses (clean) and check your hard drive for errors. It hasn't made it past the select a disc bit.

 

[Poag]

Are you using a Dell Install disk?

If not, thats probably your problem, i kid thee not. Older Dells had some mental stuff in the BIOS to stop people installing nonbranded Windows onto Dell PCs.

Ran into this issue when I worked for the NHS and people decided to upgrade their work PCs (i know weird right?) In the end Dell gave up trying to stop us and sent us half a dozen disk of every windows version around then. Copied them so every engineer had all version for all PC types in a case.


After they moved to the Optiplex 240+ series they stopped being dicks.

 

[throdgrain]

No, just a regular Win XP disk, a genuine one though

I suspected this might be the case though! My mate has said he will buy his mum a new HDD and we can install XP onto that, seems like the only way.

 

[soze]

Sorry to keep going on about it but if you have not checked then it could be the issue. If it was sent out with Vista the HD mode will be set to SATA in the BIOS for this to work with Win XP you need to provide the F6 driver. To find this you need to know what the HD controller is and download the driver and supply in on a floppy disk, USB will not work. The other options is to look for the the HD options in the BIOS and set it to AHCI or Compatibility. This will remove the need for an F6 driver and let Windows XP talk to the disks. Again sorry if you have tried this.

 

[throdgrain]

Soze - no need to apologise mate your help is much appreciated! This pc doesnt have a floppy drive, I will try the BIOS option next time I hook this pc up though - this afternoon probably - thanks a lot. Only thing is though, it has a very limited BIOS, not a proper one

 

[throdgrain]

Thanks guys, it was the HDD setting in bios, all sorted now, good job