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OT: Now that I've reinstalled Windows, how do I get new drivers?


Apendecto

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My buddy gave me 20 bucks to clean out his computer, format it and reinstall windows.

 

I've done that and now I can't get things like audio to work, since I don't have the right drivers for it.

 

He has a Dell and I can get them at the Dell website, but I don't know what he has in his computer. Since he doesn't have the original sheet which tells what he got, any way of making everything run right with out the specs?

 

Thanks.

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There should be a service tag on the case somewhere. Punch in the service tag to Dell's support section and it'll list the drivers. You might be able to just search for the model, too; it's probably on the front of the case.

 

If you can't find the drivers there for whatever reason, just head over to www.driverguide.com. Look at the components themselves and search for the model numbers, FCC IDs, etc. The site requires registration but the password is the same for everyone; I'm sure if you search through all of this post, you can figure out the username and password, in the appropriate order.

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slightly related>

 

once you've reformatted and installed the software/drivers, etc...can you install the Windows Service Pack 2 or whatever it's up to now?

 

I had problems installing it last year and after having to reformat, i've been declining the update since

 

...but i'd like to sweep my machine clean again and install it this time...

 

sorry for butting in, but there seemed to be some knowledgeable people responding:(

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Hahah. Yeah, I almost knew what I was doing, but I was too dumb to look and see what drivers he used before I formatted.

 

I went to Dell and put in the code but millions of drivers came up.

 

I downloaded one and it came up as a cabinet file (?). Even after extracting it, my computer didn't recognize it as a driver file.

 

Hmmm.

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well, the drivers pop up by category.

There can be multiple ones in there because they don't always use the same parts in each model.

 

It's a desktop right? Open it up, look at the soundcard. See what kind it is, then look for the driver that matches the name.

 

As long as that is the original sound card, you should be fine.

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Originally posted by beam

well, the drivers pop up by category.

There can be multiple ones in there because they don't always use the same parts in each model.


It's a desktop right? Open it up, look at the soundcard. See what kind it is, then look for the driver that matches the name.


As long as that is the original sound card, you should be fine.

Or you could just...

 

a) download all of the drivers for the devices that seem dodgy.

 

b) unzip all of them into the same directory.

 

c) for the Yellow Question Mark parts, select to update the drivers and have them search in the folder you put all of the drivers in.

 

 

Windows should find something it likes.

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Originally posted by 500Hz

slightly related>


once you've reformatted and installed the software/drivers, etc...can you install the Windows Service Pack 2 or whatever it's up to now?


I had problems installing it last year and after having to reformat, i've been declining the update since


...but i'd like to sweep my machine clean again and install it this time...


sorry for butting in, but there seemed to be some knowledgeable people responding:(

Some problems people have had when trying to install SP2 are viruses or some types of spyware.

 

You might want to grab some utilities and clean up your computer before trying to install it.

 

I would suggest...

 

Spybot S&D / AdAware / MS Antispyware

 

Your choice of Antivirus...if you don't want to pay (or pirate) for one, you could always use AVG, which is free.

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