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New 'Old' Laptop tech questions

JerseyBoy

JerseyBoy

in search of...
Joined
Apr 18, 2001
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just picked up this Dell latitude XPi P133ST 1.2 gig HD that is totally blank cept for Command.com

It has no CDrom nor can you use one with it...not that Ican see anyway.

What I need it for:
  • ACCESS 97
  • LAN Card to access local network where database is stored
  • thats about it!

I have CD's for Win 95 & 98 and startup floppies for both.

Which would be the quickest, easist OS to use, and how do I go about installing it without CDrom support?

thanks
 
JerseyBoy said:
I have CD's for Win 95 & 98 and startup floppies for both.

Which would be the quickest, easist OS to use, and how do I go about installing it without CDrom support?

thanks
Click to expand...
98 is much more stable, but you'll have to either get an external CD for it or buy a floppy version of the OS.
 
Plug the hard drive into a laptop that does have a cd rom???
I don't know just how interchangable the Dell hard drives are. Dell Support might be able to help you with this question.

Frequently, the floppy drives and the cd rom are removable/swappable- at least, that has been the case with both Dell laptops I have owned. BUT, buying a Dell cd rom aftermarket is a pricey way to go. (They also offer a cable to connect the non-installed device as an outboard- so, if the floppy is in the bay, you can connect the cd rom via cable.) This is probably of no help at all.
 
the floppy is not in a bay...there are no bays...ugh!

At first I thought I could just attach the CD from my other laptop with a parallel cable but forogt that only works with the floppy drive.

hmmm...this is going to be interesting...
 
Is there an infra red port? Are the drivers installed for it? This might be slow, but could work...
 
I have owned a laptop for almost 6 years, and never used mine. BUT, it is a way for one machine to communicate with another. Exactly how it works? Don't know.
 
Personally I'd call Dell and see about purchasing a CD Drive for that thing. The XPi came in 3 versions if I recall correctly. The basic "XPi" with no CD ROM, an "XPi CD" which added the CD ROM Drive and and a later version of the XPi CD that had used the MMX chips.

The CD is installed by removing/replacing the Floppy drive. Takes a total of about 2 minutes.

If that isn't an oprtion I'd cheat. I'd go to Best Buy or Circuit City and buty a parallel port CD ROM Drive, hook it up, install Windows and then return the thing after I was done and get my money back. :D
 
JerseyBoy said:
just picked up this Dell latitude XPi P133ST 1.2 gig HD that is totally blank cept for Command.com

It has no CDrom nor can you use one with it...not that Ican see anyway.
Click to expand...

Take it to a computer shop.

Most any computer shop should have the necessary hardware and software to network the laptop to another system and copy the operating system through the network.
 
thanks for the ideas!

buy something, use it, and bring it back? perish the thought, i'd never do such a thing...well not since I 'borrowed' an AC converter from Radio Shack for the car to use the TV/vcr/video games on our last 10 hour trip...
 
ma_guy said:
I'd go to Best Buy or Circuit City and buty a parallel port CD ROM Drive, hook it up, install Windows and then return the thing after I was done and get my money back. :D
Click to expand...

One minor problem with that idea -- without windows, you can't install the driver for an external CD-Rom Drive (whether it's parallel, USB or serial.)

It's a catch-22 situation.

Another possibility is Laplink or a similar file transfer program that will run under DOS. It would require a null modem or special parallel cable cross-wired to connect the laptp with another computer so you can copy the Windows CD through the link. (Win 98 will install from a a copy of the files on the cd on a harddrive -- I have done it that way so I don't have to dig out the CD everytime I add/remove programs that ask for the CD.)
 
remembered that I had an Iomega Zip drive that works with DOS. copied over the 121 meg of 98SE on two disks and I'm happening....even got the damn network card to work

funny thing, in my search for info I came across a post from 1996 from this guy who was beaming since he just got the exact same model I have here...$3,995 he paid...i got it for $70 on ebay...its just weird to see
 
JerseyBoy said:
remembered that I had an Iomega Zip drive that works with DOS. copied over the 121 meg of 98SE on two disks and I'm happening....even got the damn network card to work

funny thing, in my search for info I came across a post from 1996 from this guy who was beaming since he just got the exact same model I have here...$3,995 he paid...i got it for $70 on ebay...its just weird to see
Click to expand...

Congratulations!!!
 
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