New Install....No Cable Internet


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Old 08-07-10, 02:47 PM
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New Install....No Cable Internet

I had to put a new hard drive in my 2004 Dell desktop with XP Pro. Reinstall using recovery discs went well with the exception of two things.

I am unable to adjust the screen resolution from 480 x 640 and 16 colors. The slider will not move to the right. I have followed every HELP procedure within Windows with no results. A couple of programs state they will not work at that resolution and fail to install. A friend said that I may have to update the video card driver or something related. That leads to my next problem.

I have Cable One internet service using a Motorola Surfboard modem. I have a Netgear wireless hub that is up and running one laptop wireless and an IBM laptop through an ethernet cable. All is well with both computers. I used the wizard to try to set up the internet on the Dell using the "On all the time no log in required" option and it says it is configured and should be ready to use. Wrong, no connection. Could someone please walk me through getting this thing online.

Mike
 
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Old 08-07-10, 03:25 PM
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no proxy

are you hard wired ( a ethernet patch cable ) to the netgear wireless router?
if so then there should be nothing to do

if you go to control panel --- system --- hardware ---

and check you network device, your dell should have the drivers installed for your internal ethernet port, with that you should also have the TCP/IP protocol installed with it, if you got the drivers the protocol stack is automatically installed by windows

there is nothing to configure, no wizard to run, it should work

open internet explorer

check tools

under network settings
uncheck the use proxy settings
make sure auto detect network settings is checked

then try to see if you can get onto the internet

then download your video driver
 
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Old 08-07-10, 03:58 PM
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I have an ethernet cable plugged into the router. In device manager I have no ethernet controller. Does that mean no driver? It obviously is not on the drive or it can't be accessed. Using the INSTALL DRIVER button leads me around in circles asking for a CD or to search the internet for the driver.

What now?

One other problem is I get a black line in the center of my screen that is bold white text that says ADC Calibration Completed and after a few moments to goes away. It happens almost every time I run the CD drive or open something up. It has no borders like an applet would and can't be moved because the cursor hides behind it as you move over it. Any idea what that is?

Thanks
 
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Old 08-07-10, 04:24 PM
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you have no ethernet driver installed

so on one of your other computer download it
to a usb drive
also download belarc advisor
let it install and run
it can help identify which network interface ( NIC ) you have on your computer among other things , it can also help identify the video card

the ADC issue is probably tied to the fact that you do not have the video driver installed and your display monitor calibrate to a given resolution / display / refresh setting, so when you open the cd drive it might trigger the calibration routine like you were going to install a driver

what is the make and model of the monitor?
 
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Old 08-07-10, 07:02 PM
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The monitor is the Dell that came with the system. The model is E151FPb.

As I sit here now I have no idea what I need to download or where to get it. When I have that info I suppose I will need to know how to get the video driver or whatever.

I wonder what would cause the install to miss this ethernet & video thing?

I'm sorry to be so helpless with this but have not had to ever do this to get one going.

Thanks
 
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Old 08-07-10, 09:19 PM
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Dell model number

what is the model of the dell
on the bottom or somewhere will be a case sticker with a model number and a service ID number
from that i can look up and see what you got for system specs and point you to the proper drivers
 
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Old 08-08-10, 06:19 AM
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OK, the PC is a Dell 4600C and the Service Tag says 7952W31

Is this what you need?

Thanks for your time on this.

Mike
 
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Old 08-08-10, 06:26 AM
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Try this link

Drivers & Downloads
 
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Old 08-08-10, 11:23 AM
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OK, maybe there is some assumed knowledge one must have to follow this stuff at the Dell site. It states to enter the tag to get a concise list of components and drivers for my computer but for the life of me I can't find it. This link is as close as I get

Dell System Information / Dell Warranty Extensions & Upgrades / Dell Warranty Status

I see nothing that helps me here. It seems to be for a TV of some sort. I did check the tag again and I have the correct number as seen in two places on the tower.

Perhaps there is a newbie area or somewhere I should be.

I'm thinking about formatting and doing the install again to see if it comes out better next time.

Mike
 
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Old 08-08-10, 12:20 PM
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The Service tag took me to the TV also - but I backed out of it and went for your model number.


Edit - it did it to be again !!

Try starting from www.dell.com - and follow the Drivers/desktop/dimension/4600C path.
 

Last edited by tribe_fan; 08-08-10 at 12:27 PM. Reason: Did it to me also.
  #11  
Old 08-08-10, 12:30 PM
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It sounds like your computer is using a default video driver and not the one for whatever video card or integrated chipset you actually have.

Belarc Advisor will tell you what you have, but your Dell Restore discs usually would have the OS disc, and then the one with all the drivers and stuff. Have you installed everything on the Drivers disc?

the link posted below a few posts takes you right to the 4600C part of Dells site, but here it is again:

http://support.dell.com/support/down...id=-1&impid=-1

KIM though if you have upgraded the video on your own that these drivers won't fix that. You'd need the actual disc from the card manufacturer
 
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Old 08-08-10, 06:44 PM
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I had my daughter look for more CD's and she found several. One is drivers etc. so I ran it. Still no ethernet anything to be found. I suppose I will take it to some shop and get it straightened out. I have done many hard drive changes through the years and have never had one act like this.
 
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Old 08-09-10, 10:55 AM
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that's not the DIY spirit! it IS a driver/software issue. The problem is most likely you are running on integrated video off your motherboard, and you need to install the drivers for your video card.

Do this. Click start, right click Computer, click properties, click device manager, click the + next to Display adapters... what does it say? if it says anything like intel, it's most likely integrated video. Look at that link Alathea just posted. You most likely have one of the optional 64MB DDR nVidia GeForce4 MX video card or ATI All-In-Wonder 9000 video card in your computer and just don't have the drivers installed for it. Look inside your computer case and you should be able to tell which is your video card by what your monitor cable plugs into. What brand name does it say on it? Try downloading that cards driver and installing it. It may also be the integrated video driver that you need if you r machine does run on integrated video, but that is very unlikely.

as for the ethernet, have you flashed the BIOS? you can download that BIOS and put it on a thumdrive, put it in a USB port and then go into bios (keep hitting delete on startup) and select EZflash(that's what it's called on mine) and select USB and flash the BIOS that way. that may give you ethernet functionality.
EDIT: actually, first try Alathea's link Drivers & Downloads
and under the "network" section, the first driver is Broadcom 4401 integrated NIC. try installing that driver first and see if it fixes it...
 

Last edited by sarawent; 08-09-10 at 11:13 AM.
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Old 08-09-10, 11:21 AM
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Easiest solution I have found for failure to recognize an onboard Ethernet connection is to add a PCI Ethernet card. The cheap ones almost always are recognized and for less then $10 on Ebay or Newegg it saves a lot of frustration. Once you have the Ethernet connection up you may be able to download and install the video drivers.
 
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Old 08-10-10, 04:43 AM
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You probably don't have audio as well as no ethernet and no video driver. If so you just need to install the drivers. It's been a while but I helped a friend do this and I believe you need to go through the individual components on the driver media and do the install. It may be a 2-step process - download then install. Wish I could be more specific but I don't have access to that system.
 
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Old 08-10-10, 07:36 PM
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Sarawent....you nailed the ethernet thing! Got the driver you suggested and jumped right online.

Now for the video issue. I have no display adapter in device manager. I looked in the case and I don't see anything that looks like the video cards a Google image search turns up. Maybe its on the mother board but I can't see any identification. Here is a link to the search results at Dell.....

Drivers & Downloads

I hate the service tag number is useless, it could have told us all we needed to know. Any thoughts on which driver to try?

I thank you all for taking the time to work this thing out for me.

BTW, I used to moderate four forums here sometime around 2001 or 2002. Obviously not Computers... I ran a foul of Sharp Advice (he wasn't called that then) because we couldn't mention brand names in our advice so we wouldn't offend potential advertisers. Think about that a minute...how could we help posters get the right materials and more important the ones to stay away from if you can't call brand names. Anyway I enjoyed it and wished there was some way to work it out.

LMK something on this video problem if anyone has some "Sharp Advice".....

Mike Merritt
 
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Old 08-19-10, 06:07 AM
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I got the Belarc Advisor......pretty nice program. I took the tower to work to play with it some so its not here but what I remember about the video section the adviser test shows no video card, adapter or whatever. So I still have a list of video drivers at Dell that I have no idea which one to try. They are listed here Drivers & Downloads under the video section.

Could I get the drivers one at a time until one works deleting the others after I get a good one? Once again the reason I think I need a video driver is I can't adjust screen resolution which causes several programs to fail to install.

Much thanks for any help.

Mike
 
 

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