New hard drive question here.
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Thread: New hard drive question here.

  1. #1
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    Cool New hard drive question here.

    So I bought a new Western Digital "WD5000AAKX" 500 GIG 7200RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5 hard drive. I am trying to install Windows XP Pro 32 bit.
    It's going into a Dell 4700c tower which is the space saving style.
    Its service tag is 4WN5L71.
    I went to the Dell Drivers site to see the correct order of their installation and to save the drivers to a memory stick.
    I have a few questions.
    If you go to that same page I was on at Dell's site about installing the drivers in a certain order they list it as being done in 7 steps.

    1. Desktop System Software.
    2. Chipset.
    3. PCMCIA/Smartcard controller.
    4. Intel Storage.
    5. Audio.
    6. Video.
    7. Network Interface Card/Ethernet Controller

    I've got the drivers for steps 1 and 2 but cannot find the PCMCIA/Smartcard controller driver they list. In fact, its not there! What is this "PCMCIA/Smartcard controller" anyway??

    Step 4 "Intel Storage"
    This is what I assume as being the driver for the hard drive? But I won't need this will I, as the replacement hard drive I'm installing is not the same as the original that came with the system? How do new Hard Drive drivers install themselves?
    Or am I wrong?

    Step 5 "Audio" I have the drivers

    Step 6 "Video". I am a little confused here as I see a list of drivers but I have the current driver for my video card ( Radeon 300 series) on a memory stick. I got it from the ATI site. Will I need any of these drivers listed on the DELL site if I choose to install the driver I have from ATI?

    Step 7 "Network Interface Card". I have the drivers for.

    Now, one other thing. This here new drive! Do I have to set the jumpers to a different position? Seems to me that in another of my posts someone stated that I would have to do that because of the current configuration of the "DELL 4700C" model.

    I know its a lot to ask from you folks but any help to this post is greatly appreciated. "Hey!!" I'm learning!
    Last edited by Mudflap; February 5th, 2013 at 12:24 PM.
    I once made a hat out of a Lobster and a stick!

  2. #2
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    Pcmcia cards are for laptops they are the expansion cards like network and serial port or parallel port.
    common sense isn't all that common

  3. #3
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    Thanks "jstanek7". Why would it tell me to install that then, as this is a desktop.
    I once made a hat out of a Lobster and a stick!

  4. #4
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    As jstanek7 pointed out, you likely don't have a PCMCIA controller on that system, or any cards for it if you did, so that is unlikely to be an issue.

    The Intel Storage drivers are for the hard drive controller on the motherboard, not the drive itself, so you will want those.

    The Video drivers would be for the onboard video, if there is any. I would download and save these in case you need them in the future, but if you are using an add-in card, you probably won't need to install them.

    That new drive is a SATA 6 drive. If it has any jumpers, I would leave them as they are and try installing. There should be no problems.

  5. #5
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    Thanks "jdc2000". But when I go to the Dell driver site and choose the "Serial ATA" category all that is listed is "Maxtor" options. I took a Maxtor drive out of this system years ago but my new drive is Western Digital. Can anyone explain this?
    I once made a hat out of a Lobster and a stick!

  6. #6
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    I have no idea why Dell would list the drive manufacturer instead of the motherboard controller info. While that was the drive used in the original system, you would think that it might occur to them that if it failed, it might get replaced with a drive from a different manufacturer. What happens when you select that driver download? Do you get any other options or information displayed?

  7. #7
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    Nope

    No other options. Just the Maxtor deal!
    I once made a hat out of a Lobster and a stick!

  8. #8
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    I'd download in case you need it, regardless of the name.

  9. #9
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    1. Desktop System Software.
    And that includes any and all SP s if there are any.

  10. #10
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    Note that Dells are usually built-to-order (BTO), so you may not have all the hardware listed.

    I would ignore 3 and 4, unless you see something missing in Device Manager after you install everything else.

    Like Train mentioned, update XP to SP3 first. What is the SP level of the original installation disc?

  11. #11
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    I'll keep plugging away here.
    I once made a hat out of a Lobster and a stick!

  12. #12
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    So after running several tests on my hard drive and having them all pass I have sent the new drive back and will troubleshoot again.
    I once made a hat out of a Lobster and a stick!

  13. #13
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    Confused. So what exactly is (are) the problem(s)? So far, you have asked a bunch of questions about installing drivers and now you say you ran tests (what tests?) on the hard drive and it passes, yet you sent the drive back.

  14. #14
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    I'll explain

    Falcon.My whole issue began about 2 months ago. I would cruise the internet and most sites would make my computer rev really fast and use 100 percent of the CPU power. It would freeze up and report that "This program is not responding".(Internet Explorer 8).
    Wait about a minute then the system would be ok until I clicked on any link and then it would start all over again.
    I reformatted in hopes of killing this problem but it came back immediatly.I suspected a bum hard drive. I ordered a new one. While waiting for its arrival I ran Western Digital's tests on my suspect bad hard drive. The tests all passed. I ran the Dell diagnostics and they passed too. The hard drive is not that old and as it passed all the tests I sent the new one back.
    Long story short, I am back at square one.
    The memory tests did reveal a Modulo 20 error though so I now have to dig into what that means. RAM I think.
    Last edited by Mudflap; February 7th, 2013 at 12:17 AM.
    I once made a hat out of a Lobster and a stick!

  15. #15
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    Run Memtest86+. If you get _any_ errors, replace the RAM.

    (Download, unzip, burn the .iso file to CD and then boot from the CD).

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