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#21
Windows 7 Install on Optiplex GX280
Hello. I have a Dell Opitplex GX280 that I was able to successfully install Windows 7 on. It is running on factory specs: P4 2.8GHZ, 3 GB RAM, stock Nvidia graphics card, stock sound card. I was previously running Windows XP Professional on this system. First off, you cannot boot from USB Drive on this system. It's lame. I tried first to upgrade from XP, but you sadly cannot do that. Here is how I did it. Go to the dell website, drivers and downloads, and find your system. Download the drivers for your ethernet port so you will be able to connect to the internet after installation. Put them on a cd or jump drive and sit to the side. I placed the Windows 7 install cd in the internal dvd drive and when booted up, hold down F8. Go to boot selection option and move boot from cd/dvd drive up to the top. Also go to your graphics card memory setting and set your video card setting from 1MB to 8MB. Restart the computer. Once you see the press any key to boot from cd, press a key to start installation. Once you get through to where you select your partition, select the partition you want to install on and format the drive. After the drive has formatted, installation should begin. If during the end of installation you get a message about your graphics card not being big enough to support Aero, ignore the message. Continue on with the install and when you get to the home screen, upload your ethernet driver. If your using a wireless card, install your drivers for that. From here, you should be able to go to the dell website and download whatever remaining drivers you may need or you can obtain the drivers if you use Windows Update. I found that windows 7 already contained a majority of the drivers for the optiplex, except for my sound card. I recieved the blue screen of death a few times during install, but just kept retrying and it eventually worked. I did this same procedure for my Dell Dimension 3000 with a P4 2.4GHZ and 2GB RAM and it worked like a charm. I also even tried installing Windows Vista Home Premium and then upgrading to WIndows 7 that way, but sadly it did not work.