Got a new to me laptop

genoski · 02/11/2012 @ 7:57:38 PM

Never been one who likes laptops.. small screen, small keyboards, fat fingers don't agree with pad thingy. Anywho, a friend got a new Dell XPS to replace his last Dell, an Ispiron 1520, which replaced his Compaq whatever..

So, he gave me the Dell 1520. I'm backing up his data files to dvd's and will wipe the drive and reinstall Vista which came with it. The battery is prolly croaked, the laptop does not even see it, so it only runs when plugged in, defeating the whole idea of mobile computing. The power cord is wonky too I assume since he has black electrical tape wrapped around it, so I'll be looking to replace that as well.

I found a battery online for $36, or a combo deal battery and AC adapter for $49.95. Not a bad price for Facebooking on the deck this summer

Cngevpxhaqrefpber · 02/12/2012 @ 8:35:29 AM

TechGuy · 02/13/2012 @ 6:42:32 AM

genoski · 02/13/2012 @ 10:23:04 AM

Seems the AC adapter is fine. I took the tape off the power cord and it was just the plastic covering over the wires that has a small crack in it, prolly from bending so much (design flaw). They should have had the rubber at that point articulated. Anyway, I replaced the tape with some shrink wrap tubing and it'll work fine.

I tried to flash the BIOS from the AO4 from 2005 to the latest AO9 from 2008, but before the flash would start a warning popped up indicating the flash program will not work if the battery is below 10%. I know you should only flash a BIOS while under AC power, and I always do, but I guess you have to have some battery power just in case. Oh well, I ordered a new batter from BatteryEdge online.. $36.. should be here in 3 to 4 days.

Then I'll do the flash and then use the Factory Restore mode to bring the OS back to the way it was when shipped new.

TechGuy · 02/13/2012 @ 12:10:32 PM

Cngevpxhaqrefpber · 02/13/2012 @ 12:50:34 PM

ManofGod · 02/15/2012 @ 5:10:34 AM

Techguy, Vista will work just fine on that machine. With 2GB of ram that it has and a fully updated Vista installation, it should run quite smoothly. Personally, I only run XP in a virtual machine now although XP can still be useful on older hardware than what geno has. Hope you have fun with that lappy.

Ryan · 02/15/2012 @ 5:31:31 AM

I've been using Windows 7 Thin Client on my (my wife's) old core duo laptop with 2GB mem and it runs amazingly. The whole install weighs in at around 3 GB and all the extraneous crap is removed. I wish they would release the version to the public as I think it'd be hugely useful for a lot of us.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/evaluate/windows-embedded-standard-7.aspx

If anyone wants a copy and/or a key let me know.

TechGuy · 02/15/2012 @ 7:47:14 AM

genoski · 02/15/2012 @ 8:29:44 AM

Cngevpxhaqrefpber · 02/15/2012 @ 9:20:37 AM

Ryan · 02/15/2012 @ 9:51:47 AM

ManofGod · 02/15/2012 @ 11:39:21 AM

Techguy, sounds to me like you have the pagefile turned off or set to a limited size. Either that, or you are running out of hard drive space. Geno, the default config for that machine is 2GB of ram according to what I found online. As far as SP installations go, I would just download SP1 and SP2, install each in order, then run the updates through the app after that. (That is what I do anyways.)

genoski · 02/15/2012 @ 2:12:36 PM

True, 2gb was what it had when he bought it. The previous owner updated it to 4gb

TechGuy · 02/15/2012 @ 7:54:49 PM

Cngevpxhaqrefpber · 02/16/2012 @ 3:13:13 PM

TechGuy · 02/16/2012 @ 7:05:05 PM

genoski · 02/17/2012 @ 5:28:44 AM

OMG 5 years old?? Throw it in the garbage.

Cngevpxhaqrefpber · 02/17/2012 @ 9:34:27 AM

ManofGod · 02/17/2012 @ 11:38:28 AM

Well, a hard drive and ram upgrade would help. However, you need to know your way around the inside to do that. (I figure it would cost less than $200 as well.)

TechGuy · 02/18/2012 @ 8:28:41 AM

TechGuy · 02/18/2012 @ 8:35:08 AM

genoski · 02/19/2012 @ 7:04:17 AM

genoski · 02/19/2012 @ 7:15:28 AM

Cngevpxhaqrefpber · 02/19/2012 @ 3:41:32 PM

ManofGod · 02/20/2012 @ 5:45:22 AM

Cng, that looks like a good deal to me. Even if it is little more in Canada, it would still be worth it.

Cngevpxhaqrefpber · 02/20/2012 @ 7:16:06 AM

genoski · 02/20/2012 @ 9:34:43 AM

genoski · 02/20/2012 @ 9:47:29 AM

ManofGod · 02/20/2012 @ 10:42:10 AM

That would not be possible or even desirable. However, the AMD card should have dual outputs on it.

Cngevpxhaqrefpber · 02/20/2012 @ 11:57:49 AM

Got a new to me laptop

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