Posted: 11/11/2009 9:50:48 PM EDT
| My hard drive recently went out on my Dell Inspiron E1505 and I bought a replacement. I just installed Windows XP on the new hard drive but can't figure out how to get my wireless card to work again. I assume I need to download the drivers from Dell but can't figure out how to get online since I can't get on using an ethernet cable either. Any info and help would greatly appreciated. |
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You really have 2 options:
First, you can locate the restore CDs that came with the laptop originally and use the driver CD to install the drivers. This is the easiest option. Second, you can go here and download the drives. You would then burn them to CD or copy them to a flash drive and install them on the laptop from this media. Note that you'd only need the Broadcom Driver to enable the ethernet port. You could then connect the laptop to the internet to download the rest of the drivers. |
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You will need one of those cheap USB thumb drives for a start. Then borrow a friends or work PC to download your drivers from www.support.dell.com
Put them on the thumb drive and install them to your PC. Also, when you bought your Dell PC they should have sent along a driver restore disk. If you have no disk go the UISB thumb/jump drive route. |
| Good ideas guys thanks. I would have used a restore Cd but Dell wasn't sending them out with the computers when I bought it. They had a restore feature built into a back door on the hardrive. I had to use it once in the past to reformat the computer after a fatal mishap but this time my hardrive went out all together. Oh how I love Dell. I even bought the new hard drive myself rather than dealing with their lovely tech support for hours on end to use my warranty. |
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If you still have your service tag number from your original unit you can order a replacement set of discs from dell for free. I have a 4 yr old e1705 that didn't have any and ordered mine this past summer. Came in a few days with the most current version of the original software. https://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/en/backupcd_form |
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Quoted:
If you still have your service tag number from your original unit you can order a replacement set of discs from dell for free. I have a 4 yr old e1705 that didn't have any and ordered mine this past summer. Came in a few days with the most current version of the original software. https://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/en/backupcd_form Good To know. Thanks |