[gator325]

hello - was wondering if anyone could help me - i have a decent knowledge of pc's but and currently stuck.

i have a Dell Dimension 2350 - 2ghz - 640 RAM.

i bought a new western digital hard drive 160gb today at best buy. installed the new drive in my pc and had my corporate edition of XP in the cd drive when i booted. i went through the installation process. when it was done loading and windows loaded the problems began... first, i cannot change my screen resolution to above 600X480 i think and the color will not change from 4 bits so my screen is all messed up. i also cannot connect to the internet at all - i have cable modem so im not sure what i am missing to set up the connection... also three of my components seem to have a conflict (maybe drivers not installed) i cannot remember what they are but i think they are the ethernet, video, and sound (i can look this up if need be) the thing is i try to search for the proper driver but i cannot get on the internet to find them! lol

i realize this is vague and possibly confusing but i have never been stuck like this before. did i install the XP correctly? im sure i did but does the corporate edition have some differences that i dont know about? my current harddrive works fine with the same software (i am using it now) but i want a new one and thought i could just buy it, hook it up, then install xp... but that didnt work. also i have the jumper set to "single"

and help would be greatly appreciated

thank you

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Welcome to Geeks To Go, gator 325.

What you have done is install a new hard drive, then installed tha operating system on the computer. Now you need to find the drivers you need for your hardware. If you used the same motherboard that came with the comuter Please look here for the drivers you will need.

http://support.dell..../...tid=&impid=

To fix your video problems you will need to download a program that can identify your motherboard chipsets so you can install the correct drivers. Everest home edition will do this for you.

http://www.majorgeek...wnload4181.html

Once you find the correct chipset on your motherboard you can the n download and install the drivers needed for proper operation.

You will have to do the same things for each of the drivers you will need. I do see there is only 1 sound drivers, but theres a couple of network drivers. Just ask back here so we can try working out what you need.

SRX660

[SRX660]

Welcome to Geeks To Go, gator 325.

What you have done is install a new hard drive, then installed tha operating system on the computer. Now you need to find the drivers you need for your hardware. If you used the same motherboard that came with the comuter Please look here for the drivers you will need.

http://support.dell..../...tid=&impid=

To fix your video problems you will need to download a program that can identify your motherboard chipsets so you can install the correct drivers. Everest home edition will do this for you.

http://www.majorgeek...wnload4181.html

Once you find the correct chipset on your motherboard you can the n download and install the drivers needed for proper operation.

You will have to do the same things for each of the drivers you will need. I do see there is only 1 sound drivers, but theres a couple of network drivers. Just ask back here so we can try working out what you need.

SRX660

[gator325]

thank you for the response - i think i can figure this out but the problem is that i cannot connect to the internet for some reason. something must be configured wrong - or am i missing a driver that is required to connect to the internet? if i can connect then i can get the drivers and do what you say - but since i cannot i am stuck.. do i download the drivers, save them to disk then put in the new hard drive? its late and i cant think straight - ill post more info in the morning and see if i can make more sense

[SRX660]

The reason you cannot connect to the internet is becaue windows does not know what type of network connection you have on your computer. Apparently dell decided to use hardware that windows does not recoginize. Find a friend, or use some kind of local internet connection from somebody to download what drivers that you will need. This is where using everest to find what utility you are using would be a big help.

I would just use another computer to download the drivers, burn them onto a CD and then install them on the desktop computer where they should go. They are not large files so should be easily obtained. The Broadcom 4401 i integrated ethernet drivers are only 8 megabytes, and the netxtreme gigabyte drivers are 5 MB's. Once you have them installed( one or the other) then obtaining the rest of the drivers you need will be easy.

Windows usually has network drivers that will let you get on the internet to find newer drivers needed as soon as you install XP on the computer. Apparently yours does not.

SRX660

[gator325]

thank you both for responding - i am going to try this now - ive downloaded the drivers i think i need but not sure it will work. ive never had a computer not be able to connect to the internet like this - the connection is always on so could this be some other issue rather than drivers? maybe some settings are not configured correctly? i admit i am not as proficient with pc's as i was 10 years ago.. lol.

** i just put in the new harddrive - says i have the following conflicts - Ethernet Controller, multimedia audio controller and video controller. would these conflicts prevent me from connecting to the internet and changing my resolution? i tried to download the drivers to CD then install them on the new drive but i must have done something wrong. i used the everest home edition (thank you - very nice download) and thought i did everything correctly. i guess if someone could talk me through it step by step like i am an idiot would be best lol.

also when i initially connected the new hard drive i used the XP cd right away and did not use the disk that came with the hard drive - is this a problem? additionally the XP cd i have is a burned copy but the code is authentic - this shoudlnt be a problem should it? lastly - if i cannot figure this out soon how do i erase XP from the new drive and start all over? i used to know how to F-disk the old windows 95 system but that was a long time ago. please help before i punch a hole in my monitor or pay someone to help me... that would be embarrassing.

Edited by gator325, 11 May 2008 - 10:19 AM.