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"Windows XP Drivers for Inspiron 531" on by AndyBoucher
Pros: Fast when running Windows XP and is priced very well for the performance obtained
Cons: Slow when running Vista and would need memory and video upgrades to be as good as one running Windows XP
Summary: I have successfully installed Windows XP on an Inspiron 531 and am really impressed with the speed and performance of this machine. For the relatively inexpensive cost of this machine, running XP makes it seem like a system that would have cost hundreds of dollars more.
It came with Vista Home Basic, and the 'User Experience' was rated a 3 out of 5 and it did not really run that fast.
Most software that I need to run on this box is not compliant with Vista, which nags often about that fact when trying to load and run most of the software titles that I own. Most of the software vendors that produced the software I use have upgrades available to make it work on Vista, but they usually charge for the upgrade and at this point in time, what I have works and I am not anxious to go through any upgrade process.
I located the drivers needed by Windows XP on the Inspiron 531 at the following locations:
Chipset Driver-Included NIC Driver too...
http://tw.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboard/Driver_DownloadFile.aspx?FileType=Driver&FileID=2841
Video Driver - NVidia 6150 LE graphic GPU
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/162.18/162.18_forceware_winxp_32bit_english_whql.exe
Modem Driver
http://www.driversplanet.com/device.php?id=94787
The 'Unknown Device" Driver (AMD Away)
Use Dell's R151573.EXE
Realtek Audio Driver
Use Dell's R162030.EXE
That was about it... Was a pain to locate all these drivers, but hopefully posting them here will save others a whole lot of time finding them should they decide they want to run XP on this system.
Regards,
Andy
- 9 replies to this review
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hey man thanks for that info i just put xp on my inspiron 531, That was a big help
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Great review with very helpful pointers. But I can't get the USB 2.0 to work (as 2.0). Any hints?
Thanks! -
Thanks. This is very helpful.<br><br>JK<br>http://mdjosephkim.blogspot.com/
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I'm just starting to shop for a new desktop. But I was shopping on Dell's site last night and I noticed the option to buy systems with XP Pro. (Perhaps it was through their Small Bus, which is one of my options.)<br><br>Anyway, if you don't want Vista, wouldn't it be better to just buy the system with XP Pro? Or am I missing something?<br><br>BTW, I bought a HP laptop with Vista 6 months ago, and I'm still finding it awkward to do common tasks with Vista.
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Thanks for the post!<br><br>Looks like mine has a GeForce 6150SE bulit-in video card, and an nforce 430 chipset (which manages the network/audio/usb/other stuff). <br><br>FYI - the drivers posted won't for for Windows Server 2003 64-bit. But knowing the video card and the chipset, I was able to download them directly from nvidia!<br><br>Here are the links to the files I used:<br><br>Video: http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp64_163.71.html<br><br>Chipset:<br>http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf4_winxp64_8.26_11.09.html<br><br>Looks like the drivers in the post are 32-bit for xp/2k3 server and these drivers are for 64-bit xp/2k3 server.
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this site has all the drivers you will need for xp <br><br>http://outerheaven.c-reality.com/
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i love you andy! haha I couldnt find the drivers for NIC on this, your info was very very helpful.. Thank you
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Superb article.<br><br>Ordered the same PC with Vista Home. Me and the OS didn't get on very well, so installed XP Pro but there were loads of items in Device Manager that hadn't installed properly. With the help of this article I have now downloaded the correct drivers for running XP.<br><br>Thanks for saving me a lot of time pal - You're a good man! <img border="0" src="http://www.cnet.com/i/mb/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)">
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Going to install XP on mine as a dual-boot OS, so nice to get a heads-up on where the drivers can be found...
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