Slow installation of Windows XP on XPS 720

We've just got a Dell XPS 720 and as we normally do, we image it and then
re-install Windows XP with SP2 from scratch. The first green Dell Windows XP
install CD-ROM I tried (we have loads of them!) had trouble copying
kodak_dc.icm. The next (older one) I dug out blue screens during the initial
part of the installation process.

I've just found a pretty up to date 2007 one and that has gone through
copying the installation files to the hard disk. It's carrying on with the
installation but the initial copying of files (i.e. the non-Windows DOS kind
of display) was really slow - it kept pausing for a minute and then carrying
on.

Any ideas why this is happening?

Are all these Dell green Windows XP with SP2 CD-ROMs made alike or do Dell
update them over time? Maybe to add more core drivers required for the base
installation (e.g. SATA)?

Thanks, Rob.

I'd bet that you need to download the SATA and/or RAID drivers from Dell,
the hit F6 during the initial portion of installing XP and add the drivers
when prompted.

If the XP CD was one that came with the 720 then it should have the drivers
slipstreamed into it, but because you're using a XP install CD that didn't
come with the 720, then you'll probably have to F6 and install the drivers.


"Rob Nicholson" <rob.nicholson@nospam_informed-direct.com> wrote in message
news:c7adnd9XkI3BH4LanZ2dnUVZ8qGdnZ2d@bt.com...
> We've just got a Dell XPS 720 and as we normally do, we image it and then
> re-install Windows XP with SP2 from scratch. The first green Dell Windows
> XP install CD-ROM I tried (we have loads of them!) had trouble copying
> kodak_dc.icm. The next (older one) I dug out blue screens during the
> initial part of the installation process.
>
> I've just found a pretty up to date 2007 one and that has gone through
> copying the installation files to the hard disk. It's carrying on with the
> installation but the initial copying of files (i.e. the non-Windows DOS
> kind of display) was really slow - it kept pausing for a minute and then
> carrying on.
>
> Any ideas why this is happening?
>
> Are all these Dell green Windows XP with SP2 CD-ROMs made alike or do Dell
> update them over time? Maybe to add more core drivers required for the
> base installation (e.g. SATA)?
>
> Thanks, Rob.
>

"hdrdtd" <hdrdtd@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:2MCdnSlSSeB2A4LanZ2dnUVZ_jKdnZ2d@giganews.com ...
> I'd bet that you need to download the SATA and/or RAID drivers from Dell,
> the hit F6 during the initial portion of installing XP and add the drivers
> when prompted.
>
> If the XP CD was one that came with the 720 then it should have the
> drivers slipstreamed into it, but because you're using a XP install CD
> that didn't come with the 720, then you'll probably have to F6 and install
> the drivers.
>
>


It would also be helpful to know the model/capacity and configuration of the
hard drives in the machine....

> I'd bet that you need to download the SATA and/or RAID drivers from Dell,
> the hit F6 during the initial portion of installing XP and add the drivers
> when prompted.

It did finally install, just darn slowly...

Cheers, Rob.

> It would also be helpful to know the model/capacity and configuration of
> the hard drives in the machine....

Well until I get Windows XP back on there, it's tricky :-) It's a XPS 720
with 500GB SATA, non-raid - just checked on the order. Nice quad CPU as well

Cheers, Rob.

> I'd bet that you need to download the SATA and/or RAID drivers from Dell,
> the hit F6 during the initial portion of installing XP and add the drivers
> when prompted.

The latest CD-ROM I'm using has these on there. I know so because I did
download the latest drivers from the Dell site, dug out the company USB
floppy disk and did the F6 thingy and Windows reported that the drivers on
the CD were actually newer than ones I'd just stuck on floppy. So the CD is
slipstreamed. Shame Dell don't have the latest drivers on their website :-)

Anyway, I'm going ahead at the moment with the drivers off the floppy and
those are copying faster than before so maybe it is a SATA driver version
issue.

That said, I'm getting the growing feeling with this PC that *something* is
wrong. You know after been in the industry for 20 years when something just
doesn't feel right :-)

Cheers, Rob.

"Rob Nicholson" <rob.nicholson@nospam_informed-direct.com> wrote in message
news:sqSdnV0oGNYsLb3anZ2dnUVZ8vmdnZ2d@bt.com...
>> I'd bet that you need to download the SATA and/or RAID drivers from Dell,
>> the hit F6 during the initial portion of installing XP and add the
>> drivers when prompted.
>
> The latest CD-ROM I'm using has these on there. I know so because I did
> download the latest drivers from the Dell site, dug out the company USB
> floppy disk and did the F6 thingy and Windows reported that the drivers on
> the CD were actually newer than ones I'd just stuck on floppy. So the CD
> is slipstreamed. Shame Dell don't have the latest drivers on their website
> :-)
>
> Anyway, I'm going ahead at the moment with the drivers off the floppy and
> those are copying faster than before so maybe it is a SATA driver version
> issue.
>
> That said, I'm getting the growing feeling with this PC that *something*
> is wrong. You know after been in the industry for 20 years when something
> just doesn't feel right :-)
>
> Cheers, Rob.
>

Pay particular attention if that single 500gb hard disk is a Samsung, as
someone on here posted of issues with that brand and capacity drive, which
is the reason I was asking for that information.

On Oct 25, 10:51 pm, "S.Lewis" <stew1...@mail.com> wrote:
> "Rob Nicholson" <rob.nicholson@nospam_informed-direct.com> wrote in message
>
> news:sqSdnV0oGNYsLb3anZ2dnUVZ8vmdnZ2d@bt.com...
>
>
>
>
>
> >> I'd bet that you need to download the SATA and/or RAID drivers from Dell,
> >> the hit F6 during the initial portion of installing XP and add the
> >> drivers when prompted.
>
> > The latest CD-ROM I'm using has these on there. I know so because I did
> > download the latest drivers from the Dell site, dug out the company USB
> > floppy disk and did the F6 thingy and Windows reported that the drivers on
> > the CD were actually newer than ones I'd just stuck on floppy. So the CD
> > is slipstreamed. Shame Dell don't have the latest drivers on their website
> > :-)
>
> > Anyway, I'm going ahead at the moment with the drivers off the floppy and
> > those are copying faster than before so maybe it is a SATA driver version
> > issue.
>
> > That said, I'm getting the growing feeling with this PC that *something*
> > is wrong. You know after been in the industry for 20 years when something
> > just doesn't feel right :-)
>
> > Cheers, Rob.
>
> Pay particular attention if that single 500gb hard disk is a Samsung, as
> someone on here posted of issues with that brand and capacity drive, which
> is the reason I was asking for that information.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

errors copying files during windows setup are almost always due to bad
or marginal ram. *slow* copying of files...well, could be the same,
or could be a marginal CD/DVDROM drive. I'd try it with a known good
USB one and see if it helps, and if not swap out the RAM.

Ric

"ric" <publicmail@infobubble.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1193391549.236047.79940@z9g2000hsf.googlegrou ps.com...
> On Oct 25, 10:51 pm, "S.Lewis" <stew1...@mail.com> wrote:
>> "Rob Nicholson" <rob.nicholson@nospam_informed-direct.com> wrote in
>> message
>>
>> news:sqSdnV0oGNYsLb3anZ2dnUVZ8vmdnZ2d@bt.com...
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> >> I'd bet that you need to download the SATA and/or RAID drivers from
>> >> Dell,
>> >> the hit F6 during the initial portion of installing XP and add the
>> >> drivers when prompted.
>>
>> > The latest CD-ROM I'm using has these on there. I know so because I did
>> > download the latest drivers from the Dell site, dug out the company USB
>> > floppy disk and did the F6 thingy and Windows reported that the drivers
>> > on
>> > the CD were actually newer than ones I'd just stuck on floppy. So the
>> > CD
>> > is slipstreamed. Shame Dell don't have the latest drivers on their
>> > website
>> > :-)
>>
>> > Anyway, I'm going ahead at the moment with the drivers off the floppy
>> > and
>> > those are copying faster than before so maybe it is a SATA driver
>> > version
>> > issue.
>>
>> > That said, I'm getting the growing feeling with this PC that
>> > *something*
>> > is wrong. You know after been in the industry for 20 years when
>> > something
>> > just doesn't feel right :-)
>>
>> > Cheers, Rob.
>>
>> Pay particular attention if that single 500gb hard disk is a Samsung, as
>> someone on here posted of issues with that brand and capacity drive,
>> which
>> is the reason I was asking for that information.- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> errors copying files during windows setup are almost always due to bad
> or marginal ram. *slow* copying of files...well, could be the same,
> or could be a marginal CD/DVDROM drive. I'd try it with a known good
> USB one and see if it helps, and if not swap out the RAM.
>
> Ric
>


He's got the OS on.

> errors copying files during windows setup are almost always due to bad
> or marginal ram. *slow* copying of files...well, could be the same,
> or could be a marginal CD/DVDROM drive. I'd try it with a known good
> USB one and see if it helps, and if not swap out the RAM.

This beast only came with the minimum 1GB of RAM as we always find we can
get RAM cheaper elsewhere. There's another 2GB on order so I can try with
that.

The installation/copy with the downloaded drivers did appear to progress
better and Windows is now installed. There are four missing drivers:

o SMBus
o PCI device (sound card)
o Network
o Video

The drivers are on the CD and the first three install without a problem. The
NVIDIA Forceware install hangs copying (hmm, copying again) the device
files. I've tried the latest from NVIDIA with the same effect.

It does feel like there's something amiss and I agree, RAM is the first
candidate. I'll run MEMTEST...

Rob.