GX150 Win98SE Project

[Hoko]

Well I'm kindof at a standstill working on my Win95 computer until my ethernet card comes in so I'm going to go ahead and start on my Win98SE computer. Just bought this machine couple of months ago, the hard drive was wiped and I installed Win98SE on it and it is a :

DELL Optiplex GX150 (small desktop)

1Ghz Pentium 3 processor

512mb RAM

20gb HDD (going to have to upgrade that)

ATI Rage 128 Pro graphics card

Creative Labs SB0200 Sound Blaster Live! Was labeled as an Audigy 2 in the discount computer parts store I bought it from.

110w power supply

Intel 815 E chipset

Onboard ethernet port

Right now I would like to just find the correct drivers for everything and get the internet working and install basic updates and programs needed. I plugged it in to my router but evidently it needs more stuff before it will connect.

Edited May 13, 2013 by Hoko

[LoneCrusader]

For this one you should be able to go to Dell's website and enter the machine's Service Tag number. I haven't used Dell's site for a machine that old in a very long time though...

I actually have a friend who used to use that same machine. I have all of the drivers for it archived somewhere. If you can't get what you need from Dell with the Service Tag, then I'll see if I can find them.

[Hoko]

For this one you should be able to go to Dell's website and enter the machine's Service Tag number. I haven't used Dell's site for a machine that old in a very long time though...

I actually have a friend who used to use that same machine. I have all of the drivers for it archived somewhere. If you can't get what you need from Dell with the Service Tag, then I'll see if I can find them.

What is a service tag?

[LoneCrusader]

What is a service tag?

Somewhere on the machine there will be a sticker with a letter/number code on it. Usually it is even labeled "Service Tag." This is a unique identifier for each machine. When you enter it at Dell's support site, it will automatically give you all of the downloads for that particular machine.

See these: (I know your machine is older and will look different. )

If the sticker is missing, then it is usually encoded in the BIOS as well and can be read at the top of the screen there.

[Hoko]

What is a service tag?

Somewhere on the machine there will be a sticker with a letter/number code on it. Usually it is even labeled "Service Tag." This is a unique identifier for each machine. When you enter it at Dell's support site, it will automatically give you all of the downloads for that particular machine.

See these: (I know your machine is older and will look different. )

If the sticker is missing, then it is usually encoded in the BIOS as well and can be read at the top of the screen there.

Yes, there is a sticker on the bottom of the computer with the serial#, model#, and mfg date and the sticker on the back of the computer is the serial#. I'll check Dell site.

Yes! It worked, serial # brings up my computer and all the downloads it needs except I've only seen XP drivers so far. Downloaded non designated drivers (chipset, HDD, floppy, network card) I'll see if I can get on the internet with these.

Thx, LC

Edited May 9, 2013 by Hoko

[cyberformer]

Hi Hoko!

You must have visited the "usual" Dell support site most people usually find first.

There is another Dell support site that contains an abundance of "Legacy" drivers for most of the old machines!

I cannot find a link at this moment, since I am using another PC.

....I think I typed in "Optiplex GX110 video drivers", or something similiar. and found it that way.

[jaclaz]

As a "general rule", even if you find only the XP drivers, you can have a look at the inf files and use some of the pid/vids inside them to search for other OS drivers.

Is your PC one of these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOT-of-2-Dell-OptiPlex-GX150-SFF-Desktop-Pentium-3-Small-Form-Computer-PARTS-/261212632640?pt=US_Wholesale_Desktop_Computers&hash=item3cd17c7640

The GFX150 comes in different form factors.

The good guys at DELL have not (yet) understood that different products should have different names.

Manual is here:

ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_optiplex_desktop/optiplex-gx150_User%27s%20Guide_en-us.pdf

Drivers here:

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/04/Product/optiplex-gx150

(select Windows 98 in the drop down list)

should apply to all of them.

jaclaz

[LoneCrusader]

Yes, there is a sticker on the bottom of the computer with the serial#, model#, and mfg date and the sticker on the back of the computer is the serial#. I'll check Dell site.

Yes! It worked, serial # brings up my computer and all the downloads it needs except I've only seen XP drivers so far. Downloaded non designated drivers (chipset, HDD, floppy, network card) I'll see if I can get on the internet with these.

Thx, LC

No problem.

But you should have the option somewhere to choose other Operating Systems besides XP...

At any rate, the links jaclaz gave will provide the correct packages as well. The only advantage to using the Service Tag over the general download page is that using the Service Tag will filter out packages that do not apply to your machine. For example, sometimes Dell may have produced the same model of computer but used different Video Card manufacturers in some of them, so the general Downloads for that model will give you both video driver packages, while the Service Tag option will only give you the ones for your specific machine.

[Hoko]

Is your PC one of these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOT-of-2-Dell-OptiPlex-GX150-SFF-Desktop-Pentium-3-Small-Form-Computer-PARTS-/261212632640?pt=US_Wholesale_Desktop_Computers&hash=item3cd17c7640

jaclaz

Yep, that is the one. Thanks for those links

hmmm, the manual shows you 3 different versions of this computer. The Small Form Factor computer, the Small Desktop system and the Small Mini-Tower system. On ebay, the one I bought was listed as the SFF but mine is actually the Small Desktop system.

Edited May 10, 2013 by Hoko

[Hoko]

Installed display driver for 128 Rage Pro, thats working. Installed onboard sound driver, that's not working. Not showing any conflicts in Device Manager with sound. Do those html documents in the sound driver folder need to be installed for the sound to work? Installed IE 6, so slow i uninstalled it.

[LoneCrusader]

Installed display driver for 128 Rage Pro, thats working. Installed onboard sound driver, that's not working. Not showing any conflicts in Device Manager with sound. Do those html documents in the sound driver folder need to be installed for the sound to work? Installed IE 6, so slow i uninstalled it.

No, the HTML documents are just for reference. Have you checked the BIOS settings to verify that the onboard sound, etc is all turned on? Have you already added the other sound card? If so, you should remove it for this...

Also if the onboard sound was turned on during your Win98 install, you may have to remove any "unknown devices" from the Device Manager in order for it to be redetected.

Edited May 10, 2013 by LoneCrusader

[Hoko]

Installed display driver for 128 Rage Pro, thats working. Installed onboard sound driver, that's not working. Not showing any conflicts in Device Manager with sound. Do those html documents in the sound driver folder need to be installed for the sound to work? Installed IE 6, so slow i uninstalled it.

No, the HTML documents are just for reference. Have you checked the BIOS settings to verify that the onboard sound, etc is all turned on? Have you already added the other sound card? If so, you should remove it for this...

Also if the onboard sound was turned on during your Win98 install, you may have to remove any "unknown devices" from the Device Manager in order for it to be redetected.

Ah, yes plenty of unknown devices, I'll try that.

[Hoko]

Hey LC, do you have a list of updates, programs, IE and DX that Win98SE needs or should have? Do I need some kind of virus protection for it before getting on the internet with it? I don't know what version of IE comes with 98SE but I couldn't access some websites and was just bad.

Edited May 11, 2013 by Hoko

[LoneCrusader]

Hey LC, do you have a list of updates, programs, IE and DX that Win98SE needs or should have? Do I need some kind of virus protection for it before getting on the internet with it? I don't know what version of IE comes with 98SE but I couldn't access some websites and was just bad.

NUSB (version linked is not the newest but it will handle everything), Direct X 9.0c, IE 6 SP1, WMP7 (or WMP9, or even MDGx's Unofficial WMP10, depends on your preference). Firefox 2.0.0.20, Adobe Flash Player 9.0.289.0, Java 6 Update 7 (right click to save).

Also take a look at the Adblock Plus, PlainOldFavorites, and User Agent Switcher addons for Firefox. You will probably have to search older versions of those, especially Adblock Plus, to get one that works with FF2.

I don't use any AV software myself, but other members here can advise you better than I can on that issue.

Edited June 3, 2013 by LoneCrusader

[dencorso]

Your NUSB link is 404 now, LC... so here's one of mine, this one to a well tested but not the latest version of NUSB.

As for AV software, I think aru's fixed ClamWin may be the best bet, nowadays, for a new installation. I don't favor no AV at all, nor do I believe in security through obscurity.

@LC: There's no avoiding it: the spx subdirectory at MDGx's is toast, and, thanks to an /spx/ entry in its robots.txt, there's no backup at the wayback machine. So, all that went poof! (= vanished in the ether).