Can a Dell XPS T 700 be reformatted or is it proprietary?

[adarryl]

I just received a request for help from a co-worker and I am not sure how to advise him. Here is what he sent: "An aide at work has an older Dell computer that she wants to give to a relative. Everything works, but the husband did not want the hard drive to be passed on to anyone due to security issues (credit card, social security numbers, etc). So they bought a new hard drive and physically put it in.

Now for the problem (if you haven't guessed). They do not have the original disk(s) that came with the computer to load the Windows system. They believe it was Windows 98 (a sticker on the front of the computer says it was built to handle NT and 98.

When I start it up I ,of course, get the prompt "No operating system found". Putting a windows 95 start up floppy from a laptop into the system, and a Windows 95 CD in, I am able to get to the point of installing 95. However, I did not proceed because I am hesitant as I don't want to mess any thing up. I don't have any plain Windows 98 CDs, but I do have a Windows 98 upgrade (from 95) CD.

Going to the Dell site, there are about 90 driver downloads available for this particular computer, depending on which items are physically present.

What would you suggest I do to help this gal? Can I just go ahead with the 95 installation, and then upgrade to the 98? Or is this too complicated? Do I need a disk that is proprietary to this computer?"

Please advise on best course of action and I will pass it on. It should be obvious that this PC is not cutting edge, but would a Windows install for this older model be proprietary or could a Win95 --->Win98 be done? How about a flat out Win2K install? I could supply him with that! THX!

[Thrax]

Install 95, upgrade to 98, prepare for driver headaches galore and a very vulnerable machine.

I'd suggest Win2k, but the driver hunting would be even harder because dell doesn't provide them.

[adarryl]

Thanks Thrax! I am hoping this is just going to be a glorified typewriter when its through, but I will see what the intended usage might be.

[kryyst]

Find out the intent. If all they want is a glorified typewriter, that can surf, get emails and perhaps play music. You could potentially save a lot of headache and put Ubuntu (or some other friendly linux version) on it.

[primesuspect]

Linux might be a very viable alternative for that machine, Kryyst is right.

[adarryl]

Thanks! Haven't heard back since I passed along Thrax's recommendation. When I do, I'll check back.

[edcentric]

I would go the w2k route, you can usually use XP drivers if you need to. It is so much more stable than 98.

[muddocktor]

The Linux idea sounds great to me. Download the latest Ubuntu iso and install that if this machine is going to be a basic use machine and glorified typewriter.

If you have to go Microsoft, I would recommend 2000 or even XP if you upgrade the ram to a minimum of 512 mb. I try to strictly stay away from Win9x nowdays as it's just too unstable for me and it is also an EOL product with no security updates.

[adarryl]

Well, it took a while but he finally got back to me on this. He says she wants to use the PC for: "general purposes--word processing, emailing, playing a few games. So would Linux work in this situation? Would Linux have the drivers for mouse, keyboard, modem, etc?"

Opinions? Anyone? THX!

[kryyst]

Linux would certainly cover what she wants out of that machine, firefox + evolution (very close to outlook in terms of feature/function) + OpenOffice covers her basic needs. 'A Few Games' is a variable. If she's talking about solitaire, minesweeper and typical built in windows games no problems. If she means purchased off the shelf games then it gets trickier. The portability is become more possible but it's still on a game, by game basis. Also if she needs to do anything like QuickTax or other off the shelf software that could be a linux deal killer.

As far as hardware drivers are concerned. There shouldn't be any issues. But it's easy enough to find out. Just boot the machine up with a live linux cd and see what works. You could also use that to show her what she'd be getting into with linux and see if that's something she can live with.

I wouldn't market linux to her as it's kinda like windows - but etc...etc...etc... It's a different OS all together along with it's own strengths and weaknesses the same as if she bought a Mac. Linux is not a free windows alternative. It's a different beast and should be treated as such.

[adarryl]

Thanks! However, it sounds like Linux is not the answer for a person who is not computer literate. It would probably more of a headache than a solution for her. Sometimes you just gotta shTTcan an old PC and just start over, anew.

[kryyst]

Well here's the thing. If she's really just surfing, office work etc... you don't need to know linux to use it. I mean you click the firefox icon firefox starts up. You click the openoffice icon and it starts, you save files to your home account (like 'my documents') etc... if it's setup right it will do what you need and you don't really have to know how to use linux.

What you do have to understand is that linux isn't windows so if you want to install simple software on it you can't just download anything. You have to install linux software, the same as a mac user needs mac software and a windows user is limited to windows software.

It's not hard to use, it's just different.