Windows XP The job from hell.......

[bodhi]

Hi, a friend of mine wants me to install windows xp on her dads dell inspiron 3800. Is it worth doing this or is it going to be the job from hell? Does anyone have any experience of it? Im not going to get stuck with drivers problems am i? e.g. i wont be able to get the on board sound working etc. I dont like working on laptops at the best of times!!

Thanks.

 

[ChristopherP]

You should be fine - just make sure you have all the drivers beforehand, probably availiable from the dell website.

Just make sure the spec is up to running XP and the copy is legit.

 

[floppybootstomp]

As Chris said - shouldn't be a prob.

 

[Reefsmoka]

The computer should have come with the windows xp installations disk, my Dell did.

Installing windows xp is relativly easy, just set the computer to boot up from CD rom 1st, then just follow the instructions. When it asks to press any key to boot from CD, press a key. But when it asks again DONT! because after your format and it asks you to press a key to boot from CD it will want to format your drive again :/ . Just let it run its course by its own till it comes to the time when you have to set the time etc etc.

The drivers are pretty easy to come by from the USA dell website, you need to put in the computer ID number on the UK site to download them. All the dell drivers can be found on the USA site pretty easy.
Ive found the driver for the Inspiron 3800 for ya, just have a look here < Clicky Click Click.

 

[bodhi]

Thanks for your help, especially reef for find the link for me. The laptop came with win98 cause its a few years old, i upgraded the memory from 64 to 196 a couple of months ago. So you are all in agreement that it shouldnt be a problem to put xp on? Its just so she can use her ipod and also so i can use the sp2 firewall because they are getting broadband. Ive installed XP before so i know what im doing, but as i said, laptops are sometimes just more hassle than they are worth.

Thanks again.

 

[muckshifter]

... well, I hate to be the one to tell you but, I can foresee a problem, not enough 'power' to run XP for its needs.

I'm sorry but you WILL find it a little slow ...

 

[ChristopherP]

what exactly is the spec of the laptop in question?

I wouldn't reccomend windows XP on anything...

Under 1.5GHz (Intel)
Under 256Mb RAM

But you might JUST get away with the 196mb of RAM providing the CPU is fast and the rest of the system is good, ie graphics not shared from that amount, as that WILL cause a slowdown.

BUT

If speed really is not an issue, then fair enough, it will do everything its needed to, just at snail pace.

Chris

 

[Quadophile]

Here is the basic specification of the Dell Inspiron Laptop in question:

• Dell Inspiron 3800
• Intel Celeron (coppermine) 600MHz (1192.75BogoMIPS)
• Intel 440BX Chipset (100MHz bus)
• 128MB RAM (1x128M so-Dimm, one free slot)
• 14.2" XGA TFT (1024x768)
• 8MB ATI 3D Rage M/P Mobility (AGPx2)
• 10GB IBM-DJSA-210 (U-DMA33, 16.84MB/s)
• Modular LG DRN-8080b 8xDVD
• Modular floppy drive
• ESS Maestro 3i PCI sound
• Gold Card PCMCIA v.90 modem
• Windows 98 second edition

Cannot agree more with what Mucks said. In my humble opinion too, it will be very, very slow with Windows XP. Multitasking will be impossible.

 

[bodhi]

Yeah, i did wonder about this. This was also included in the "job from hell" thinking. I upgraded their laptop 3 months ago and said NOT to spend the money upgrading if they were going to want to do more in the foreseeable future. They said they just wanted it for email. But now they have an ipod and want to start using it for that etc. I was pretty slow at the time with win98 so im thinking im opening a can of worms if i start to upgrade this!! Think i'll advise against XP to be honest. Dont know if their ipod will work on 98, never used the ipod.

 

[ChristopherP]

I did not know that the machine was THAT slow...

As Quad and Mucks said really...

I think you should look at the situation and see that ok if you install XP on it, it will be horrifically slow, or unusable. And you need to think about what if your friend is dissapointed with this, it's not going to look good really.

I installed XP on a Dell Dimension XPS 700T - 700MHz P3 CPU, 128Mb RAM, 36Gb 7200rpm HDD, Riva 32Mb TNT2 graphics.

Absolutely useless. Took about 5 minutes to boot up and you could go and make a cup of tea waiting for the desktop to finish loading, and then application speed was undescribably slow.

Bear in mind it will run at its fastest speed right after you install it... the more programs that are installed, the slower it will run.

Your friend needs to decide whether the system is right for the iPod - i don't know what type of connectivity it uses but she can say goodbye to the idea if its IEEE1394 Firewire OR USB 2.0... Does this one even have any USB 1.1 ports? Ipods certainly aren't serial...

Also, a 40Gb MP3 player...run from a computer that will have about 4Gb of free space. Transferring files/ripping CD's will be incredibly slow due to the frequency of the CPU, and the speed of the hard drive itself UDMA33. 16 Mb per second is nothing, compared to todays standard of 150 and the future 300Mbps SATA 2 - Even with such drives, moving files around can take time.

I think that at the end of the day your friend will find this move highly impractical and you should advise her to save for or buy an entry level desktop system with a faster CPU, more RAM, a BIG and faster HDD and of course, Windows XP.

Hope this helps

Regards

Chris

 

[Quadophile]

Chris,

That was very well put!

Even if it has a USB slot it would be USB 1.1 (12Mbps) and not 480Mbps as is the case with USB 2.0. Furthermore there will be no Firewire port on this laptop and I believe iPod comes with a firewire port since it is an Apple product.

The Dell Inspiron 3800 is already a 4 year old model, generally the max workable life of a laptop is 2-3 years, it does function but the newer gear becomes incompatible and upgrades are very costly. Such machines should be utilised for Linux OS if they are in good working condition as Linux requires much less resources and works fine for browsing needs even with a broadband. If you check Linux forums most would be utilising older laptops for the very purpose rather than just throw it away. Some even go out and buy older machines very cheap for Linux installation.

 

[bodhi]

Well guys, you have confirmed what i was worried about in the first place. Thanks for your advice yet again. I do trust my own judgement, its just nice to get some second opinions now and again!

Cheers and have a good week.

Bodhi.

 

[ChristopherP]

good luck with the letdown mate... hope she takes it ok

Chris

p.s. Cheers Quad (i was bored at college)