Dell problems

[Alex Petermam]

I have a Dell computer that is over ten years old and to be honest it was crap.  However, I bought compressed air and cleaned (as well as recabled) the system to a point where it looked and felt new.  I turned it on and it ran exceptionally faster.  I then decided to reinstall the operating system it came with, Windows xp, but I could not connect to the Internet.  After some research it became apparent that I required some sort of drivers or software to connect to the Internet.  I am not really sure we're else to go as the main purpose for this project was to install a new OS and make it somewhat useable for now.  I even tried installing a new OS on a usb drive and to boot it off that but no matter how much I tinkered with the boot drive on the motherboard setup menu it would not accept the drive.  I could buy the software but I am not sure which specific software to get.  To be honest this was my first PC project attempt as I am rather young, 14, and I would appreciate advice from someone more experienced.  

 

Also I should mention I only have 6 months to do this as my parents would like to remove the computer if I cannot fix it.  And for those of you who think I should just buy a new PC believe me I would love to build one but as with most people my age money is a problem.

[alexhelvetica]

Install Linux on it, not XP.

XP isn't support anymore (since April 2014) which is bad and it is very vulnerable to virus' because of that. 

[PalladianPD]

Is it not recognising the USB drive you are trying to boot from, or will it just not boot from it after you select it in the boot menu? Some older motherboards will simply not see particular USB drives and there is no workaround, you need a different USB drive. Also check that when you authored the drive it was formatted for BIOS install mode, not UEFI because that PC will not know what that is. Out of interest, what model is it?

[Alex Petermam]

21 hours ago, PalladianPD said:

Is it not recognising the USB drive you are trying to boot from, or will it just not boot from it after you select it in the boot menu? Some older motherboards will simply not see particular USB drives and there is no workaround, you need a different USB drive. Also check that when you authored the drive it was formatted for BIOS install mode, not UEFI because that PC will not know what that is. Out of interest, what model is it?

It is reading the usb in the boot menu so I will check to see if BIOS install mode is on as soon as a I can get around to it. Regarding to the model it is the Dimension 3000. Also, thank you for answering with such swiftness.

[Alex Petermam]

22 hours ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

Install Linux on it, not XP.

XP isn't support anymore (since April 2014) which is bad and it is very vulnerable to virus' because of that. 

The main problem I have is connecting to the internet which I being halted because of the dell hardware and even states it requires hardware software from dell so installing linux would not help.  Although, my original plan did involve trying linux out.  Like I said in my previous post I appreciate your input to the problem.

[alexhelvetica]

36 minutes ago, Alex Petermam said:

The main problem I have is connecting to the internet which I being halted because of the dell hardware and even states it requires hardware software from dell so installing linux would not help.  Although, my original plan did involve trying linux out.  Like I said in my previous post I appreciate your input to the problem.

Sorry, did you try and install Linux but you couldn't get drivers, does Dell not have offical drivers for Linux or is it you cannot boot off the USB?

If your computer cannot boot of a USB, burn a CD.

If Dell doesn't have any offical Linux drivers, Linux has good generic drivers so you should be fine.

If generic drivers don't work, I'd google the hardware id to try and find drivers.