[roxybaby]

Hi,

I'm planning to upgrade a Dell Dimension 4100 this weekend from Me to XP since Microsoft is dropping support. I have a few basic questions though...

1- I bought more memory for my computer (it currently has 128 mb and I bought two 256 sticks). I've put memory in newer computers before, where I just turned off the computer, removed the old sticks, put in the new ones and restarted. Will it be the same deal for this computer?

2- I have updated versions of some software since some of my Me programs don't work on XP (CD burning program, etc.). But do I have to worry about hardware, such as my sound card not working?

3- If I need to get drivers for my hardware, can I use my Me CD? Or do I have to go to the company's website to download drivers? Also, I don't have my Dell receipt anymore, so is there some way through Device Manager that I can find out exactly what brand/type of sound and graphics cards I have in case I need to get drivers?

Thank you very much for your help.

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3- If I need to get drivers for my hardware, can I use my Me CD? Or do I have to go to the company's website to download drivers? Also, I don't have my Dell receipt anymore, so is there some way through Device Manager that I can find out exactly what brand/type of sound and graphics cards I have in case I need to get drivers?

i recomend that you upgrade the drivers when you upgrade to xp..... yes it is better to download them from the website.

[daniel_c]

3- If I need to get drivers for my hardware, can I use my Me CD? Or do I have to go to the company's website to download drivers? Also, I don't have my Dell receipt anymore, so is there some way through Device Manager that I can find out exactly what brand/type of sound and graphics cards I have in case I need to get drivers?

i recomend that you upgrade the drivers when you upgrade to xp..... yes it is better to download them from the website.

[SRX660]

I suggest you download everest home edition and use it to find out what you have. If you can download the manual for your computer it should give specifications on your computer also. It would be better to download new drivers than try using Win ME drivers. Many older drivers will NOT work. The memory installs the same on all computers with minor differences between laptops and desktops. Yours should be no different than the install you have already done.

SRX660

[roxybaby]

Thanks daniel_c and SRX660! Everest listed everything so now I can go search out drivers.

I did try downloading the manual for my computer, but I bought it five years ago and Dell no longer recognizes my service tag. Interestingly, about two months ago it was still selling memory for my comp but when I went to their site last week all traces of the 4100 even existing seem to have disappeared.

[roxybaby]

Ok, I seem to be having an issue. When I tried booting my system from the XP cd, it ignored the CD and loaded windows (ME) normally. Dell's website told me I needed a new version of BIOS, which I downloaded and put on a floppy disk. But when I set my BIOS to load from the disk, I get a message saying "Remove all disks and hit any key to continue." What do I do now?

I started a thread about the XP cd in the 2000/xp forum but got no replies. Here's that thread:
http://www.geekstogo...a...=5&t=119582

Thanks for any help you can give.

[Neil Jones]

Hi,

I'm planning to upgrade a Dell Dimension 4100 this weekend from Me to XP since Microsoft is dropping support. I have a few basic questions though...

Microsoft dropped support for ME internally years ago. They're only dropping it now because of Vista due out next year (and also because Microsoft have nearly shot themselves in the foot by leaving it so long between XP and Vista that they nearly ended up having no mainstream support for any version of Windows at all). But just MS are dropping support doesn't mean it will stop working.

1- I bought more memory for my computer (it currently has 128 mb and I bought two 256 sticks). I've put memory in newer computers before, where I just turned off the computer, removed the old sticks, put in the new ones and restarted. Will it be the same deal for this computer?

Yes.

2- I have updated versions of some software since some of my Me programs don't work on XP (CD burning program, etc.). But do I have to worry about hardware, such as my sound card not working?

When you install XP (which I recommend you do by wiping the hard drive as opposed to doing an upgrade), XP will install all the drivers for the hardward that it recognises. You just need to find the missing drivers for the bits XP hasn't recognised. But as this machine is a good few years old, there is a good chance XP will know what to do with the majority of the stuff in there.

3- If I need to get drivers for my hardware, can I use my Me CD? Or do I have to go to the company's website to download drivers? Also, I don't have my Dell receipt anymore, so is there some way through Device Manager that I can find out exactly what brand/type of sound and graphics cards I have in case I need to get drivers?

You can use Device Manager on WinME to get the device names and what not to write them down and do some Googling later on to fill in the gaps for hardware that XP doesn't recognise.

You won't be able to use your ME CD anymore as XP is an entirely different kettle of fish and none of the ME drivers will work in XP anyway.

[Neil Jones]

Just spotted the other reply:

From the other thread, it sounds like you have an OEM edition of Windows XP. These disks don't support upgrading, whereas the retail disks you can buy from Amazon or wherever do. OEM CDs insist on wiping the hard drive before XP goes on.

As for booting from CD - some older systems of this generation point blank refuse to believe that they can boot off a CD. The majority of systems of this time will only boot off CD drive that is on the far end of the IDE cable (grey one connected to the CD) inside the computer. The other alternative is to hang another CD unit off it to see if it boots off that. Failing that, one can make a set of XP floppy disks to boot off.

[roxybaby]

Pardon my ignorance, but what does OEM stand for? I've used this disk to upgrade another computer that was running Windows 98. But yes, this time I'd prefer to do a clean install, reformatting and the whole bit. If I start the XP disk while in Windows, will it still do a clean install? Or will it only upgrade?

[Neil Jones]

OEM = Original System Manufacturer. Dell is just such an example of an OEM.

You need to boot from the CD - that is, get the computer to read the CD first before it reads the hard drive. One can usually do this from within the BIOS screen and then when the CD loads, you get an option to wipe the drive.

[roxybaby]

Ok. I appreciate your help. I have two CD-rom drives. I configured my BIOS to boot off CD first. I've tried to boot the XP CD off of both (neither worked). Then I configured my BIOS to boot off floppy first to try to install the BIOS update -- that didn't work either. So am I pretty much out of options here short of just upgrading instead of doing a clean install?

Edited by roxybaby, 05 July 2006 - 06:38 PM.

[acklan]

Removed

Edited by acklan, 06 July 2006 - 12:25 AM.