Will Windows 7 work on dell dimension 3000?

Pablo24k said:

hey Stan....i have a Dell Dimension 3000 and can't seem to get Aero working...any ideas....

After making sure you have the latest display driver, rightclick on Desktop, choose Personalize and select an Aero theme.

If you don't transparent windows, type Aero in Start Search box, then click on "Find and fix problems with Aero Transparency" troubleshooter.

It will either fix it, tell you how, or tell you why it won't work (most likely a driver deficiency).

StanAnderton said:

I am using a Dell Dimension 3000 with the onboard video right now. Yeah I know it doesn't meet the minimum specs that MS says you need, but it works just fine. I did an upgrade to the V word (Ultimate) just over a week ago on this old warhorse just for kicks, and then downloaded 7 Ultimate and decided to go for the gusto. I have a couple of virtual machines on my work computer with 7 and I use 2008 Enterprise server with Hyper-V as my desktop OS.

The only real trick with the video is this: Download the drivers from Dell for your original configuration, R106458.exe, and run it to extract the files to your drive. Following the 7 install you will have a glorious 640x480 desktop that made me want to lose my dinner, but don't lose hope. Navigate to the location of your driver files, c:\dell\drivers\R106458 if you went with the default, and locate the setup.exe file. If you try to run it you will be cussin' me 'cause it will choke and laugh at you and say you can't run this file on 7. So don't give it the satisfaction and just right click on the file and select properties. Select the compatibility tab and click the box for XP mode, and hit enter. You won't be able to see the whole dialog in the window nor could I scroll to bring it to view, but just hit enter. Then run the setup.exe and it will tell you that it needs to restart. Do it and when it comes up again you should be looking at a 1280x1024 screen.

Hope I didn't miss anything. Enjoy! You wont get video quality and performance as you would with a high performance video card, but it beats Vista or XP for that matter. A bit of a learning curve, but if you can figure the workarounds life is good.

Stan

thanks man .... worked for me =)

I just tried this and it worked like a charm. Didn't have to go out and buy a new video card. Good job Stan.

Be sure to check optional Windows Updates for newer drivers including some built by MS to plug holes manufacturers won't.

Also enable auto hardware updating so newer drivers are cued in optional Updates: Automatically get recommended drivers and updates for your hardware

After these steps, any drivers not in the installer or delivered by optional Updates can be found on the Support Downloads webpage for your model computer or Device.

Google can help you track down evasive drivers which are increasingly rare with the fortune MS spent on Win7 drivers, after the experience with Vista where manufacturer's refused to update drivers to force new hardware purchases.

i installed windows 7 in my Dell demission 3000, and the video display is not working well. I can not ajust the resolution up above 800x600, just can not get the driver to support it.
someboday recommend to run driver installer in compatiblity mode, do not know how and it seemed like not working.
I think there should be a way to let the graphic controller to function at least as good as windows XP, otherwise it will be the defect of windows 7.
any ideas?
any help is appreciated.

thanks again

That model comes with Intel 845 g/gl graphics chipset or Intel 82865G chipset.

Which one does yours show under Device manager>Display adapter and also by inserting your Service Tag number into Dell Drivers webpage?

The Dell drivers for either are very old, but I believe Intel has newer drivers for those chipsets on their Support Downloads webpage which might be worth a try.

You should also enable now Hardware Auto-updating and check optional Windows updates after a few restarts for newer drivers since Win7 is very good with updating its own drivers: Automatically get recommended drivers and updates for your hardware

gregrocker said:

That model comes with Intel 845 g/gl graphics chipset or Intel 82865G chipset.

Which one does yours show under Device manager>Display adapter and also by inserting your Service Tag number into Dell Drivers webpage?

The Dell drivers for either are very old, but I believe Intel has newer drivers for those chipsets on their Support Downloads webpage which might be worth a try.

You should also enable now Hardware Auto-updating and check optional Windows updates after a few restarts for newer drivers since Win7 is very good with updating its own drivers: Automatically get recommended drivers and updates for your hardware

thanks, you have good energy!
My computer started to work. It is Intel 82865G chipset. I downloaded the driver from intel web, and it did not work.
today i run the same thing, and run the driver file on desktop: win2k_xp1217, and it is working now. That is why i say, you have good energy.
thanks.

qisheng

That's an XP driver so i'm assuming you checked if Intel had a Vista driver for that chipset?

I would also try the Dell driver given for your Service Tag to see if there's any difference.

MS may have also modified drivers for that older hardware so keep an eye on optional Updates with hardware auto-updating enabled.