Driver Help For Inspiron 6400

In the next few days I will be upgrading to Media Direct 3.0. As you know, I will have to completely format my latop to do so, along with re-installing Windows XP MCE. My only concern is acquiring and installing the correct drivers. Can I get all of the drivers I need from dell.com? Any help would be appreciated in this matter.

Dell Inspiron 6400:
Windows XP Media Center
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16 GHz (T7400 I believe)
1 GB RAM
ATI x1400 Mobility
60 GB HDD
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945
No special audio software
24x CD-R+RW/DVD-R Optical Drive
Broadcom Ethernet Card

 

I have a question about this as well. I just formated my friend's Inspiron 6000 and I have everything running on it again except for the ethernet card.

Anyone know where I can get those drivers.

Also, when you press the front buttons (like the volume one) it does work. The volume will increase or decrease but it doesn't display on the screen. How do I make it display?

Thanks for the help.

To answer your question Matt is Pro, you'll need your Windows CD (as your probably know). The ATI drivers can be downloaded from ATI's website. If you don't have your Interl Pro/Wireless 3945 CD you should be able to get the drivers online. The audio drivers will probably be downloaded through a windows update. And I'm looking for the Ethernet Card drivers myself.
But all you need is your windows CD. Everything else can be downloaded.

 

http://support.dell.com has all the drivers you need. But you might want to get the newest Catalyst drivers for your video card from ATI, they're at 6.12 and I think the Dell drivers are 6.9. I'd also suggest installing the driver only for your Intel wireless card from Intel's website and let Windows handle the wireless connections, Intel's PROset program uses like 80mb ram and runs 7-8 processes.

@Thibault the on screen display on Insirons is tied with QuickSet so just download and install Dell QuickSet from the above link and the display should come back.

 

Wow, I didn't know that the Intel Wireless program used that much RAM. I knew I could switch over to let Windows control my wireless options, but I figured I'd stick with Intel's program. Thanks for the info.

Yeah, once I get done reformating and installing and all, I'm going to download the Dell Support and Dell Quickset (which is required for Media Direct).

Oh, and I was wondering, which chipset driver do I get?
Intel Mobile Chipset, or the Ricoh R5C832?

 

The Ricoh driver is for the 5 in 1 card reader under your headphone and mic jack.

 

So, I would get both?

 

You probably don't have to download the Intel Chipset drivers, Windows usually recognizes all of that w/o any problems. The Ricoh driver is required to be able to use the card reader. However, it's probably best if you download both just to make sure all the drivers for the motherboard are up to date.

 

Thank you mr_bots.

But I'm still having problems finding my ethernet drivers. If I do a search for Ethernet Card and specify the Inspiron 6000 as the model I get no results.

 

Sounds good. I'm just going to download all of the drivers that look relevant to my system, burn them to a disc, and go from there.

But yeah, I want Media Direct 3.0, and plus...because of all the junkware included on new laptops these days, my laptop runs 60-62 proecesses....IDLE.

 

What is the network card? Is it running Windows XP?

 

I have no idea what the card is. When I go under Device Manager it doesn't identify it at all.
There's a question mark next to Other devices.
And in the sub category there's a question mark next to Ethernet Controller.
If I click on it doesn't know anything about it.

And yes the computer is running Windows XP.

 

My specs are in my first post.

I'm in school right now and will be changing periods soon. So, if I do not reply, I will be back on the forums at around 2 P.M. Central Time.

Thanks for the help everyone.

Regards
Matt

 

If its the original one that came with it, it should be the Broadcom one. I just did a search and it's the first one listed under "Network" on the drivers and downloads page for the Inspiron 6000/Windows XP.

 

Wow how did I miss that.
That should work. Thanks a lot for all the help.

 

Any Time..

 

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