Dell's OEM software doesn't work

[davids58]

I just had to re-load the OEM software we got with our Dell Latitiude
D600 and, after installing the drivers, I can't seem to connect to the
net. While I see the light on the back of the unit indicating that the
hardware connection is in place, it's not recognized by the system.
When I look in the Device Manager, I see lots of items in the 'Other
devices' container with question marks and exclamation marks. These
include the Ethernet Controller, Multimedia Audio Controller, Network
Controller, O2Micro SmartCardBus_Reader, PCI Modem, and Video
Controller (VGA Compatible).

Any hints re how to get this stuff working would be most appreciated!

TIA,
David

 

[Jim Carlock]

I just had to re-load the OEM software we got with our Dell
Latitiude D600 and, after installing the drivers, I can't seem to
connect to the net.

Any hints re how to get this stuff working would be most
appreciated!

If it's under warranty, call DELL. Heck, they might even give
you some advice about the drivers if it's not under warranty.

You can also right click upon the drivers with the question
mark and tell it to search the CD or folder in question where
the drivers are stored. But if they provide 1000 drivers on a
disk it's possible you could run into problems, so the best
thing to do would be to call DELL and ask them where to
get the latest drivers for that machine. They might even ship
a set on disk to you.

Good luck.

 

[davids58]

without a software support contract, they won't talk to me even though
it's their CDs the don't work. last Dell I buy, trust me.

--d

 

[davids58]

I tried to update the drivers but the machine wants to go look on the
internet (even though I direct it to the CD) which, of course, isn't
possible, so the wizard just quits.

--d

 

[Darkknight]

I just had to re-load the OEM software we got with our Dell Latitiude
D600 and, after installing the drivers, I can't seem to connect to the
net. While I see the light on the back of the unit indicating that the
hardware connection is in place, it's not recognized by the system.
When I look in the Device Manager, I see lots of items in the 'Other
devices' container with question marks and exclamation marks. These
include the Ethernet Controller, Multimedia Audio Controller, Network
Controller, O2Micro SmartCardBus_Reader, PCI Modem, and Video
Controller (VGA Compatible).

Any hints re how to get this stuff working would be most appreciated!

TIA,
David

try looking on "c" drive there might be a folder called drivers, try if
there is there should be an .exe file i think called setup. this should
load all the correct drivers

 

[Jim Carlock]

I tried to update the drivers but the machine wants to go look
on the internet (even though I direct it to the CD) which, of
course, isn't possible, so the wizard just quits.

<snip from gpedit.msc>
"This policy specifies whether Windows searches Windows
Update for device drivers when no local drivers for a device
are present.

If you enable this setting, Windows Update will not be searched
when a new device is installed.

If you disable this setting, Windows Update will always be
searched for drivers when no local drivers are present.

If you do not configure this setting, searching Windows Update
will be optional when installing a device.

Also see "Turn off Windows Update device driver search
prompt" in "Administrative Templates/System" which governs
whether an administrator is prompted before searching
Windows Update for device drivers if a driver is not found
locally."
</snip>

That's available in the Group Policy Editor. Be careful about
changing any other settings in there. It can really mess things
up for you.

You can get to the above setting by:

(1) Start, Run, type in gpedit.msc, Click OK,
(2) Open the + next to "Computer Configuration",
(3) Open the + next to "Administrative Templates",
(4) Open the + next to "Internet Communication Management",
(5) Open "Internet Communication settings",
(6) Scroll down to the item that says,
"Turn off Windows Update device driver searching".

I believe you Enable that to turn it off. You may need to reboot
the system to get it to take effect and commit the setting to the
registry.

Don't know if this helps at all. But perhaps it's worth a try?
Should speed up things by not trying to get to the Internet but
other than that, I'm not sure there's any other benefit.