OT: Diagnostics?

[AgentZero]

Hi folks,
I'm trying to fix a friend's laptop that he recently bought second hand. The problem is that as soon as he got it, he formatted the HD to remove Windows 2000, and put on Win98. Unfortunately, he didn't get any of the drivers for the laptop, so a lot of stuff didn't work. I've managed to get everything up and running except the video adapter. The reason for this is that neither of us know what kind he has. The laptop is a Dell, but the little sticker on the laptop with the code that tells Dell exactly what system you have is missing.
I'm wondering if there's any sort of diagnostic program out there that can tell me what sort of hardware he's got on the machine when the drivers for the device aren't installed. Right now it's running on 16 colour mode which is just U G L Y.

[Fyron]

Open it up and find the model number. Either look for the model number of the laptop, or try to find out what kind of video adapter it is. If it is integrated into the MB, you should check on the site of the manufacturer of the MB.

Generally, it is best to write down what is installed before the formatting, especially when you are going to install an old OS that lacks drivers for hardware made in the last 7 years.

Why would he downgrade from win2k, exactly? Unless he wanted to play a lot of 16 bit DOS games (and he didn't like DOS Box or something), I can't see much reason to do so.

[AgentZero]

I was rather hoping I wouldn't have to crack the thing open. The sticker with the model number is AWOL. All it says is that it's a Dell C500/600. I've checked the stats on that model and they all seem to think that it has an ATI Rage Mobility video card, but when I installed the drivers it didn't like that one bit.
I'm rather hoping there's a program out there that can identify the hardware without having drivers installed.
I'm pretty sure he downgraded in order to play older games, since his current favourite is the first Commandos game, but unless I'm mistaken it was designed to work in Windows. I think the Win2k ATI drivers are still on the HD, so maybe if he upgrades back to Win2k and uses Dos Box it might work out ok, or am I missing something.

[rdouglass]

I have pretty good luck doing this:

On bootup, as soon as you see the POST screen, hit the Pause key and record the BIOS code in the lower portion of the screen. Then go to:

http://www.wimsbios.com/

and see what kind of MB stuff you can find. I've tracked down virtually any drivers I might need for any MB I've ever come up against.

A fairly recent BIOS (last 10 years) should have all the info you need in the code to track down what drivers you need.

Hope it helps.

[DarkHorse]

Go to www.lavalys.com and download Everest Home edition v1.5.1. It is a free download and gives copious information about your system, from memory timings to windows CD key.

[LonghornXtreme]

Another good idea would be to go download a linux live CD like SUSE's or Knoppix or Ubuntu's live cd. That will let you find practically ANY hardware info you need all without touching the hardware at all...