Installing XP SP2 on a DELL latitude D505

Hi,

Hope this can save somebody else from wasting a lot of time. For me
it's just to late ;-)

Up until yesterday I had immense trouble with XP SP2 on my latitude
D505. What apparently really messes up an SP2 installation on a
Latitude, is when the BIOS is of an "older" version. Mine was D505 A02.
A perfectly working laptop before installation and afterwards a
complete dog. Even though the installation process runs smoothly the
old bios somehow messes things up completely. Upgrading the bios
afterwards did not solve the problem.

My solution was:

- Upgraded the bios to the newest version
- Cleared the drive
- Installed XP from scratch
- Added all patches from Windows update
- Downloaded and installed newest drivers for everything (especially
the - bluetooth driver is important).
- Installed SP2 once more

According to Dell this could be done by rolling back the SP2 upgrade
and then reinstalling it. I just felt an urge to start from scratch.

My conclusion is: Installing SP2 on a laptop is only recomended if you
check the SP2 information from Microsoft and the hardware manufacturer.
This most likely applies to all PC's.

Please don't be fooled by the simplicity of the process indicated by
MS.

Martin

Sorry you had so much trouble, but had you read this,
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/s...hattoknow.mspx
you might have saved yourself a whole lot of headache.
I have come to realize that most of the problems associated with SP2 comes
from people not doing their homework. You would think MS would have all the
info in one spot, but they don't..you have to search, but it's worth it.
Dell users in particular, (OEM's in general) have to do their research.
I don't have SP2, and I might not get it, and that, along with all the
precautionary steps required, are the reasons I do not have Automatic
Updates enabled.
<> wrote in message
news: oups.com...
> Hi,
>
> Hope this can save somebody else from wasting a lot of time. For me
> it's just to late ;-)
>
> Up until yesterday I had immense trouble with XP SP2 on my latitude
> D505. What apparently really messes up an SP2 installation on a
> Latitude, is when the BIOS is of an "older" version. Mine was D505 A02.
> A perfectly working laptop before installation and afterwards a
> complete dog. Even though the installation process runs smoothly the
> old bios somehow messes things up completely. Upgrading the bios
> afterwards did not solve the problem.
>
> My solution was:
>
> - Upgraded the bios to the newest version
> - Cleared the drive
> - Installed XP from scratch
> - Added all patches from Windows update
> - Downloaded and installed newest drivers for everything (especially
> the - bluetooth driver is important).
> - Installed SP2 once more
>
> According to Dell this could be done by rolling back the SP2 upgrade
> and then reinstalling it. I just felt an urge to start from scratch.
>
> My conclusion is: Installing SP2 on a laptop is only recomended if you
> check the SP2 information from Microsoft and the hardware manufacturer.
> This most likely applies to all PC's.
>
> Please don't be fooled by the simplicity of the process indicated by
> MS.
>
> Martin
>

iear Martin,

I have a D505 myself and had no problems at all installing SP (even though I
run my own firewall, remote control software etc. from it). Why are you so
sure it was the BIOS?

Just wondering...

Pien

"" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Hope this can save somebody else from wasting a lot of time. For me
> it's just to late ;-)
>
> Up until yesterday I had immense trouble with XP SP2 on my latitude
> D505. What apparently really messes up an SP2 installation on a
> Latitude, is when the BIOS is of an "older" version. Mine was D505 A02.
> A perfectly working laptop before installation and afterwards a
> complete dog. Even though the installation process runs smoothly the
> old bios somehow messes things up completely. Upgrading the bios
> afterwards did not solve the problem.
>
> My solution was:
>
> - Upgraded the bios to the newest version
> - Cleared the drive
> - Installed XP from scratch
> - Added all patches from Windows update
> - Downloaded and installed newest drivers for everything (especially
> the - bluetooth driver is important).
> - Installed SP2 once more
>
> According to Dell this could be done by rolling back the SP2 upgrade
> and then reinstalling it. I just felt an urge to start from scratch.
>
> My conclusion is: Installing SP2 on a laptop is only recomended if you
> check the SP2 information from Microsoft and the hardware manufacturer.
> This most likely applies to all PC's.
>
> Please don't be fooled by the simplicity of the process indicated by
> MS.
>
> Martin
>
>

Pien: That is what Dells technician told me. Of curse it could be
outdated or non compatible drivers as well. I only know for certain
that it works now.

Ivee: Thanks for pointing out, that I could have saved myself a lot of
headache. For some reason this come as no surprise to me ;-) That is
excactly the reason why I posted this thing in the first place; to save
someone else from doing the same mistakes.

Martin