Old Dell Latitude D820 acting up, anything I can try before it goes in the trash?

I will extend that offer one step and send a pre-paid shipping label.

 

7200RPM drive already present. Flashed the bios to the latest revision about 3 weeks ago, didn't help. Cable was good, display now works, but I really don't know whether it was from reseating the cable or slapping the screen, lol.

Main issue right now is that the internal NIC and wireless card are disabled by random deletion of LAN settings, and that it's having great difficulty configuring USB devices.

you think I can possibly sell this thing? what do you think the market value would be for this...it's got a C2D T2300, NVS 120M, 2GB DDR2 RAM (will check and update speed later...), and a 75GB 7200RPM HDD (1.8" form factor I think)

 

Well until you actually wipe it out and see if the issue was just from age and strangeness, it would be a tougher sale.

 

mmk. you guys think I should just DBAN and wipe it, then reinstall, or just reinstall it over the old boot...?

(oh, and I noticed I never mentioned this. It still SEES the NIC and wireless card via Device Manager, it just doesn't make a LAN)

 

DBAN? What's that?

Just formatting the HDD with the Windows disk should be adequate (a full format wouldn't be a bad idea). After you reinstall, be sure to defrag the drive.

 

I vote for a clean windows reinstallation as well. I reinstall windows at least once a year to keep my system fresh.

 

DBAN is another name for a program called boot and nuke. It will write over the drive totally erasing all the data on it.

In this case I would just do a regular format, and if the issue is still there then you can go all out guns blazing.

 

Quick test without reinstalling the notebook: get a Ubuntu Live CD and boot that. All hardware should run right out of the box, with the possible exception of WiFi (ootb if Intel, after driver download if Dell/Broadcom).

If Ubuntu cannot use the hardware, it is probably broken. Run Dell Diagnostics to be sure.

BTW: Dell D820 are still very viable - even though I will phase them out later this year as the extended warranties are starting to expire. However, they are great for all kinds of office work, internet and even HD video on the go.

If you throw it out, let me know where your trashcan is!

(Or more seriously, give it to charity - it still has a lot of life left)

 

Aight, gonna try a Ubuntu Live then.

Blaaagh, this was ordered through a business...so technically, I'm not really allowed to get rid of it by giving it to someone...sooo.....lol. I could TRY I guess...ehehe.

 

Whhaaa so if you give it to someone it is not like it has a warranty left so it would never go back to dell.

I forgot about the Ubuntu disc that is a good idea as well