Just got my 9300 - next steps?

So I just got my new 9300 and I'm very excited. I've read through a lot of the threads here, so I have a sense of the issues.

However, I'm hoping some of you gurus can tell me what I can do to improve the overall computer and make my life easier (i.e., getting rid of all that Dell crap on the desktop, etc.). Essentially, any "must do" modifications I should take as soon as I boot her up??

9300, 1.8Ghz, 1G RAM, 6800 Nvidia, UXGA (truelife)

elysium

 

to fix all the prob's u have as soon as u get it out from the box place it in the freezer for 3 hours so it can adjust to indrifate temperature ... making it more stronger to different temparature drops ...

BUT remmeber AS SSON AS U GET IT OUT FROM THE BOX PUT IT IN FREEZER ASAP for 3 HOURS !!!!

** Dell Inspiron 9300 ... Centrino 2 ghz ... 1 Gig Ram ... 256 Nvidia Geforce 6800 Go ... 100 Gig Hardrive ... 17 inch WUXGA screen with Truelife ... 8 x Dual DVD Burner ... Wifi **

 

Well, the very first thing you need to do, is create a backup copy of all your drivers. If you have net access, you can download all of the drivers off the Dell website, but of course in order to do that your network driver needs to be installed and working -- Catch-22. heh So at least have the Network Driver handy!

Dell = crapload of bloatware. Since I'm not a patient person, what I did was simply re-partition the HD, reformat it, and did a fresh re-install of winXP Pro. You can manually remove each program one at a time, but then you also have to check the register to see if any of them left any crap in there, it's just too time-consuming and oftentimes frustrating I think.

Did you get the 9300 w/ the Nvidia Go6800? If you did, you probably want to head off to video2go.com or a similiar site and download the latest video drivers for optimal performance. FYI video drivers is *very* important -- sometimes a new version of the driver can boost in-game performance by as much as 30%!

If you are a DIY type of person, you might want to open up the back panels to see if everything is seated properly. I actually removed the cooling assembly on my video card and re-applied better quality thermal grease, and made sure that there is 100% contact.

There are a variety of fan-control software that you might want to look to put on the Dell, cuz it does get kinda loud if the fan is running full speed.

cheers,

yass

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by elysium246

 

wow, you're special - you must have one helluva life to take time to write that.

i thought the whole point of a forum is to provide information for others in a constructive manner so it's a beneficial portal for all. Though sadly you always get an ass or two.

elysium

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by elysium246

 

why ohh why won't ppl listen to my advice and put it in a freezer hehehe[ ][ ]

** Dell Inspiron 9300 ... Centrino 2 ghz ... 1 Gig Ram ... 256 Nvidia Geforce 6800 Go ... 100 Gig Hardrive ... 17 inch WUXGA screen with Truelife ... 8 x Dual DVD Burner ... Wifi **

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by supremelord

 

yass, aqua, thank you.

I've never reformatted a HD before so I'm a bit reluctant, but it sounds like it's a must do - so I'll do my fair share of research and put it to use. I'm currently in Africa, but will be back in the States in a few days where I'll take care of it all.

thx again.

elysium

 

Supremelord , are you the yoyo who wanted to dismantle his brand new 9300 without a clue ?

Going at other people laptops now ?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Aquanoobie

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by yassarian
Dell = crapload of bloatware. Since I'm not a patient person, what I did was simply re-partition the HD, reformat it, and did a fresh re-install of winXP Pro. You can manually remove each program one at a time, but then you also have to check the register to see if any of them left any crap in there, it's just too time-consuming and oftentimes frustrating I think.
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

For those who do not feel confident in storing/retrieving all the necessary drivers (like me!), I plan on spending some time manually cleaning up my system. I highly recommend the following program which not only uninstalls, but safely cleans windows and the registry. I've been using it for about a year on my desktop without problems. Of course, save your registry when it prompts you to do so, but I've never had any problems.

http://www.ccleaner.com

 

please note that uninstalling and playing with your registy is infintely more complicated and dangerous than simply downloading files from dell's website (it's idiot proof), booting to your windows xp disc and reinstalling the OS

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by elysium246

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>

Flyrooster's words of "Caution" are to be taken seriously. I wont go into extreme detail about a reformat/clean install . If it's your first time do not do this without being 100% prepared w/instructions and possible problems. Take your time! There are many other suggestions (in this thread there are 2 others) that you can do for now and when and if you feel comfortable then go ahead. Research what you're going to do other than on this forum or any others. If you have a problem, then there are tons of people here that will help you step by step! Supremelord rushed into a few things admitted by him and ended up posting for "help" immediately. There is no rush if It's your first time! There is a tendency to be persueded and want to do what the majority on this forum and others suggest ASAP ! Don't do it until you are fully prepared in your own time!
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

Heart - yes I agree, too many people, me included, just say "hey reformat", but if you haven't any experience with it, you should proceed with caution.
always best to have another computer available with internet access, a cd burner and a usb port that you can put files onto with a memory keychain or something you can "move" the files around with.
The key is understanding the reformatting of the drive and partitioning. Then having the needed drivers available on a cd, downloaded from the dell site.
You are correct, there are many here that can help and preparation is important. If you have an old beater computer to test on, that is good as well to understand the process. It's not difficult if you do not rush and are prepared IMO. The first time I did it I was up all night I remember ( but that was windows 3.11 ) []

Dell 9300 * 2.0ghz sonoma * 1gig ram * 256mg nvidia wuxga * xp media center * dvd dual layer * 80gig 5400 * bluetooth * wireless a/b/g *

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by elysium246

 

Okay, thank you to all. Looks like you've all created a solid forum here. I am a wine hobbyist, so I spend some time on a wine forum, and know how every forum has its nutcrackers. I also know that it can be tedious explaining "basic" concepts/instructions, so I appreciate everyone's advice on what you all probably interpret as fairly "basic"

Yes, Heart/Gold, I will be sure to have plenty of knowledge before I begin the process, but better yet, I'll probably get a tech friend of mine to help me (probably the best option). Also, Heart, Africa is interesting to say the least; I've been here for a year now - I come back to California in 2 days, and then come back here in June (for another year).

thanks again everyone.

My last tip to all: my experience from my wine forum is that if you make a concerted effort to answer everyone's questions, as asinine as they may seem, it usually pays off in the end....because the newbies come in and learn from the veterans, and as they learn and become apart of the forum, they start answering the more basic questions - thus relieving the gurus from having to take on the more simpler questions. just my 2 cents. cheers.

elysium

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by elysium246

 

RE: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Go Video Driver Problems Upon Clean Reinstall

I just received my new Dell Inspiron 9300 (1GB RAM, 80GB HD, DVD+/-RW) and the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GO 256 MB video card.

I find the display beautiful. Everything was working fine with the default installation from Dell. I watched a James Bond movie in stunning color. Unfortunately, the installation from Dell contained an unbelievable number of third party applications, and so I decided to do a fresh install of Windows XP Pro (SP2).

However, after reinstalling WinXP Pro (SP2) and all the 9300 drivers from the Dell website (you can only get the GeForce 6800 Go driver from the Dell website, as far as I can tell), the machine bluescreens every 2-15 minutes.

Upon reboot, Windows offers to report the failure, and reports that the error is:

Error Caused by Graphics Device Driver
Error message: STOP 0x000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=293078

Naturally, I re-installed the driver ( N41DA00), and also followed Microsoft's instructions to work around a bad video driver (which includes setting the video Hardware Acceleration slider to None, and then clear the Enable Write Combining check box).

Neither the driver re-install, nor turning off video hardware acceleration works, and the machine continues to bluescreen. Right now, it's a $2500 paperweight.

I have contacted Dell, and their technical support professional recommended that I restore the machine to its default Dell-provided OS. They also recommended that I do run the 9090 Dell hard drive diagnostic utility to identify a bad hard drive (which I was unable to do since the machine does not ship with either the restore CD (it's on a hard drive partition), and I don't have a floppy drive to boot from).

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Any ideas about how to figure out what might be wrong without reverting back to the default Dell install.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you might have. If I get any offline suggestions, I'll be sure to repost them here along the the eventual solution so anyone else who has this problem can benefit from our shared knowledge.

 

wasn't there a post somewhere about getting the nvidia drivers from their site instead of dell's?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by drumfu

 

the link heart has posted is where I got the drivers I use (76.41 forceware driver w/mod Inf.) They work great and haven't had any problems with them.

Dell tech support should be able to talk you through a compleat factory restore, well that is uless you deleated that partition when you reformated.

also download driver cleaner and run it just to be sure you have no left over stuff before you install the new driver.

hope this helps you...

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Gargoyle

 

Tennispro,

Look at the subject date 4/15 "which drivers should I user 9300". AdamMD also posted the same link in this thread/subject. Plus maybe you'll find something else to help. I would appreciate you ignoring the horrible comments made to me by Adam ,supremelord,mikeakarb or rj and Yass throughout the entire forum . You should be able to understand the point I was trying to make by stating to be cautious and not rush into this!

Anyone that reads this might understand once again that if you don't know what you are doing, don't rush into it!!!


Heart [ ]

Karma,It'll Get You!

 

BTW - let me know if it works - I may try reformatting myself as long as I can restore if things go wrong.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by tennispro

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Gargoyle

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by flyrooster

 

no need to send it. I have not restored mine as of yet, I just couldnt check cause im not on it. but thanks cause now I'll just bookmark this page if i ever forget how.

so what video drivers are you using? factory?

If so do you know a way to tell what the factory preset clock speeds are?

thanks...

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Gargoyle

 

Tennispro,

OK! You have not posted back which could mean so many things...not neccessarily bad!

If you're still having trouble , no matter what keep the link to the drivers!!! It worked for many people concerning the one issue!

I think I was too hard on you because I was tying to make a point to so many people on this board that have come down hard on me about "reformatting". To people that end up in your situation because they rushed into it , felt pushed into a clean install/reformat ,etc...before they were ready or even needed to.

I understand how you must feel or felt (depending on if it's resolved). I'm so sorry that in a way I was using you as an example to make a point...possibly rudely towards you.

I still wanted to try and help. I didn't know and still don't know how bad off you are with your system. IT can all be RESOLVED! I wouldn't pannick about that.

Please keep the link to your specific driver in case you decide to use it now or when you can. It's a site that at least five people used and "All" found after a reformat or whatever that it was the only or best answer!

Please come back and post how you are doing and what you ended up having to do...

I would be interested in knowing and I'm sure others in this thread also are interested. Not to mention that you might end up helping someone else.

I'm waiting to hear back, Wish you all the best and I'm genuinely Sorry if I was rude!

Heart [ ]

Karma,It'll Get You!

P.S If you are not experienced enough (or whatever the reason), It's just too confusing,etc... Then you're like most people "ME" that would need to be talked through it by phone OR use a local technician! It's not a warranty issue for Dell to come out and fix it if you did this yourself but tech support to guide you through step by step "IS" under the warranty! Everyone on this board wants to help but not all realize that the simplest way is not to do it on your own!

Edited by me...Heart [ ][ ][ ]

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by flyrooster

 

so did anyone put it in freezer yet? i swaer it feel's awesome[ ]liek u get super speeds cause the internal dyinxlet portals need to be reset by below zero temperatures in order to function properly ...



** Dell Inspiron 9300 ... Centrino 2 ghz ... 1 Gig Ram ... 256 Nvidia Geforce 6800 Go ... 100 Gig Hardrive ... 17 inch WUXGA screen with Truelife ... 8 x Dual DVD Burner ... Wifi **

 

that sounds like such a bad idea