Re: I give up...........
- From: ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)
- Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2005 14:26:44 GMT
I would never in all my darkest dreams attempt to install ANY version of Windows
with as little as 32MB of memory. I don't care what the Microsoft hype says
about the minimum memory requirements of Windows. Anyway, I would run hardware
diagnostics on both memory (MEMTEST-86) and hard drive (manufacturer's
diagnostics, or use Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test, which works with all brands),
before attempting to install Windows again. Rule of thumb is that you need to
have some reasonable assurance that the hardware is working right before
installing software. Otherwise if something goes wrong, you won't know why.
There is some possibility that the BIOS in the Dell XPS 266 motherboard is
limited to seeing a hard drive no more than 8.4GB in capacity. This would be
consistent with most Pentium, Pentium-MMX, and early Pentium II systems, no
matter what brand they are.
May I suggest trying again with the 1GB hard drive and 128MB of memory? The
10GB and 20GB drives simply may not work without additional hardware (an add-in
IDE controller card) or special and awful software like Western Digital's
EZ-Drive. Obviously, a 1GB drive is almost useless, but at you know for sure it
will work in the XPS 266. Unless it is defective, of course.
Toshiba CD-ROM drives are generic, too.
At this point, it would also be a good idea to identify the graphics card. Does
it have a Dell part number? Any other obvious markings, either on the graphics
chip, etched on the card, or stickers?
.... Ben Myers
On Thu, 04 Aug 2005 00:19:43 -0400, Vince <holvbphoto@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>Ben Myers wrote:
>
>> Good. That's what I thought after reading your several posts. But I still do
>> not understand the exact configuration(s) that you are dealing with. How much
>> main memory? Which graphics card? Capacities of hard drives, since you've
>> tried several? Brands of hard drives tried? Make and model of CD-ROM drive?
>> What sort of IDE cables does the system have? There are two types, one which
>> requires CS (cable select) jumpering on the IDE devices, the other which
>> requires master and slave jumper settings. Did you go to the Dell web site and
>> download the user's manual for the beast, and print out motherboard diagrams and
>> jumper settings? Have you checked the motherboard jumper or switch settings for
>> correctness vs. the assumed 266MHz processor speed?
>>
>> I can ask probably another dozen very specific questions, but I would far rather
>> respond to some very exact and factual statements about the computer, how it is
>> set up, what you have tried, and what the symptoms of failure are... Ben Myers
>>
>>
>
>It had 128MB to start, someone said maybe the RAM is NG so I switched to
>two 16MB SIMMs (Besides WIN98 only needs 16MB), Graphics card no idea
>but it has two terminals. One CD was Toshiba, the rest are generics.
>HDs 12GB, 20GB, 1GB. IDE the later. I'll have to look at the the DELL
>site again.
>
>Looks like a lot seeing as other systems didn't have these problems.
.
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- I give up...........
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- Re: I give up...........
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- Re: I give up...........
- From: Tom Scales
- Re: I give up...........
- From: Ben Myers
- Re: I give up...........
- From: Vince
- Re: I give up...........
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