Posted on 03/28/2016 9:16:01 AM PDT by Zeneta
OK, so, I've just acquired an old Dell Laptop and I'm trying to set it up with the ultimate goal of using this machine and it's s-video output to my smart TV.
I want to use my smart TV as "Monitor" that I can control with/from a PC and use the mouse and a keyboard as opposed to the "On-screen" controls that I have with the remote.
First things first.
It's a Dell, Inspiron 1720
Intel core 2 duo CPU T5250 @ 1.50 Ghz 2.00 GB of RAM (this may have been upgraded) 146 GB hard Drive (this may have been partitioned)
I acquired the machine and it would not Boot.
I re-set the boot sequence to CD...etc
I have the Vista OS disk. ( I think the machine originally had Windows 7)
I'm on my second attempt to Install the OS, Vista, because that's the disc I have.
After an hour of waiting for Vista to "Complete Installation", I bailed out and went back into the Bios and "reset the Factory" defaults.
Trying to Install Vista again and it's still hanging up on "Completing Installation" But this time I selected the "Logical Drive" as opposed to "Primary Drive" not sure if it makes any difference.
I have yet to plug it into my Internet connection.
I have a Dell Disc "Drivers and Utilities" That I have yet to run.
The last known functioning state was that Vista was up and running, Internet was connected, an auto update attempted to "Upgrade" to Windows 10 and failed with an error message that said "Not enough Hard drive available" or something to that extent. But this info was from someone that knows far less than I about how these things work.
I can't imagine that I won't be able to get this thing running with the Vista OS, I might be wrong but I don't know.
Assuming I'm able to get Vista running;
Should I upgrade for free to Windows 10?
I hate Vista.
Should I bother with the hundreds of Vista "Upgrades" prior to attempting a Windows 10 upgrade?
BTW, I'm still waiting for it to complete installation on my second attempt. Another 40 minutes as I type this.
No errors and the machine hasn't froze up.
I don't have any other OS's on a disc so I'm not sure what I can do.
I'm looking for ideas.
Advice
Why? Low-Spec laptops are pretty cheap, especially refurbished ones.
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/03/26/one-free-step-to-make-aging-computer-run-like-new.html
http://www.neverware.com/
Thanks.
My choices of “Where to Install” looked different.
Partition 1: was about 27gb and was labeled as “Primary”
Partition 2: was about ~100 gb and was labeled as “Logical”
I had no choice to “Delete” or “Format”, just “Refresh” or “Load”.
I’d love to reformat the drive and start from scratch.
I'd consider a distro with a lighter desktop like Lubuntu. Have it working well on an old atom processor with a gig of ram.
I have tried this before with a laptop I had, a Acer. It had Vista on it when I got it but I had a buddy switch it to XP and it ran great.
It caught a bug and I tried to fix it using the Vista backup disc I made but never could get it to load.
I had a Dell Desktop that ran on XP and ended up using the Dell software to get the thing working again. Finally decided it was time for a new laptop. But the old one worked fine, except I never could load the wireless LAN specs back on.
My suggestion is to go on Ebay and buy either a Vista or a XP professional home program, they should be pretty cheap and reload from that. Should work just fine.
Buy a Roku.
If you have two hard drives or partitions, check the size on them before you try to install the OS, especially if someone already ran out of space trying to upgrade the OS. If there is no available space on the OS partition, then you can’t simply install another OS to that drive. You’ll have to install the OS to the other drive, or reformat the drive before you do the installation.
If I could get XP on that machine I would be thrilled.
I run XP on my Desktop and it is rock solid.
The thing is, I don’t have the XP OS disc.
I just installed a Seagate 8 Tb in a Dell workstation last night as I’m writing a review for it that was requested by Seagate. It took 3 attempts. The first attempt the drive would not even initialize, and the second attempt I couldn’t set the partion. But the third attempt went so smoothly I couldn’t believe it when the 8Tb came up. Computers can be tempermental like women.
Go to Ebay, that is now a very cheap program to buy. I bought a new HP XMAS and it had windows 8.1 and I updated to 10 but really don’t like it.
I had a Dell desktop in my home office and got rid of it and put my old Acer laptop up there and it was geared to Windows 7 and after putting info back on it and looking at it I can see I would almost rather be running that rather than 10. 7 is so much easier to deal with and I may buy a 7 Professional to load on the new laptop.
Anyway I just checked on Ebay and even Windows 7 programs are cheap now. So I bet that XP is real cheap and you could even use Dell XP software to make it work.
Get off the Microsoft Plantation!
It’s a matter of Principle for me, and maybe some stubbornness.
I have a machine that functioned very well when it was built and “IT Didn’t Know what would come after IT”
It should run as a stand alone machine.
That’s the first challenge I face.
I’m now 2 hours into my second attempt to get an OS, Vista, installed and working.
Makes no sense.
It would be really cool if I had even a basic DOS prompt and could wipe the drive clean. But I digress.
This might help you. You need to get to the advanced setup before you install. Page down this link to get the the instructions.
http://winsupersite.com/product-review/windows-vista-installation-super-guide-part-3-clean-install-windows-vista
There are many “small Linux” distros that work fine on older computers. I’ve got one running on a Celeron with just 360K of memory.
Best link and info so far.
Thanks
If you can’t access the vista recovery setup on the cd (maybe it is an upgrade cd only???), but you have another windows system that works, make a recovery cd off of that working system. It doesn’t matter if it is not vista because you just want the recovery tools to let you repartition and reformt the HDD on the laptop. Once you do that, you can then boot off the vista installation cd and install to the clean HDD.
Boot the laptop with that (if it has a DVD ROM) and install Linux Mint.
If you have no DVD drive there, get Linux Mint 8.0. It can be burned to a CD. Dump Microslop altogether.
I have resurrected dozens of Dell laptops of every model and to get one working, I always go with Linux Mint. It...just works.
Then how are you posting on FR? Use the PC you are using now, download a Linux Live CD image and burn it. Then boot to it on the dead laptop.
Windows does not auto upgrade Vista to Windows 10. Per their web site, you would have to buy Windows 10.
Consider using Linux Mint. You can go here https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php and download an iso file that you can burn to a DVD. From there, you can boot from the DVD. That way, you can try before you install.
Grab the 64 bit version as your CPU will support it. If you have the money, upgrade to the maximum memory.
I upgraded my mother-in-law’s vista laptop to Linux Mint and she loves it.
The Disk drives have terrific magnets in them. Wrap them in black tape, or dip them in the liquid rubber stuff, and a hurricane won’t blow your notes off the refrigerators. Amaze your friends with moving them around on the kitchen counter with another magnet underneath.
Disk platters make very nice coasters also. Put felt on one side if you like.
The little CPU boards make great office wall ornaments.
As a reward for being green, it’s time for Target Practice with what’s left.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.