Windows 7 Windows 7 Update not working!

Hi there
My names is janet and im going to pull my hair out
I have a dell xps 410 desktop, yes i know its a dinasour ,and just put windows 7 on it and for 2 days have been trying to download all sorts of audio drivers from the dell sight and other sight too and i get no sound, i see in the audio devices , i play movie and the bar goes up and down on the playback but dont hear anything, in device manager everythings working ,no yellows ??,please help me thank you

Hi Janet and welcome to the forum

Since you're new I'll let you in on a thing here on Windows Forum; it's best not to add your thread onto someone else's posted problem. It's better to start your own "thread" or what we call a "conversation request" or "help request". (kemical, can you move this thread over for her?).

In any case, yes, this computer is a dinosaur, it was made back in 2006 so it's indeed 10 years old and an XP-era computer which you probably already know. The problem you are having is that this computer only has Vista drivers which came out in 2007 certified for the xps 410 model, not Windows7 drivers listed on the dell support website as here: Link Removed
So I'm not sure where you downloaded those Win7 drivers from, other than using whatever your Win7 install program put in, but they are not certified by Dell to work with Win7, so there's a pretty good chance things won't work right with what we call "aftermarket" drivers. Those are drivers such as audio (sound) or graphics (video) and network drivers written by other non-dell programmers to work with your hardware under Windows7. However, those drivers are not guaranteed to work under Win7 as they haven't been tested by Dell nor by Microsoft.

Now the question is, can a computer as old as yours be made to work with Win7 properly, yes or no? My answer is--perhaps. Since Dell does NOT support this upgrade, officially the answer is no. But you may be able to find an aftermarket driver to work with your audio chip on such websites as driverguide.com. You can experiment with audio drivers for your model Dell there. No guarantees.

If you get no results from trying aftermarket audio drivers there, it might be you didn't do the XP to Win7 upgrade properly, or you didn't use legit Media (Windows7 disc). At this point you have to either revert back to your XP, or replace that computer with a modern computer; one that was built in 2009 or later (2009 is when Windows7 came out). If you replace the Dell, you can stick in a closet somewhere or give to the kids or grandkids as a toy, or recycle it at your local e-waste facility.

That computer was designed to run software that's 15 years old now, even older than the computer itself. It's also not designed to run Windows7 as per above. If you wish to force it to do so, I'd suggest you take it to a local Computer repair shop that uses licensed Technicians and pay him to fix it for you. Chances are he will re-do your upgrade, and while observing what you have, he may tell you that it is not possible, or he may put on his workbench for a week or two and get it going-for a hefty fee for you; or tell you that the computer is just too old to upgrade. Personally, the last few computers I've done for Customers with XP have resulted in me losing both time and money to the point where about April this year, I've decided to no longer offer service or upgrades on XP computers. You may have to go through a couple of repair shops and plow through the yellow pages to find someone to make this work for you-if they can.

You also have the problem that you are running computer hardware that's 10 years old, and hard drives rarely last longer than 5 years. So, if you haven't had the hard drive replaced in that computer since you bought it, that drive will most likely have failed and could also be causing this problem. A professional Tech will most likely test the drive, find it's bad, and charge you to replace it, adding your bill in the $140-$200 range or more to upgrade this XP-era machine. Again, that's if you can find someone willing to take it on. Analogy here is that it's like asking an auto mechanic to fix a 1950's era car and make it run good again. Parts are scarce, and the money to restore it can be very expensive indeed.

Best of luck,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

Thank you soo much for your advice , i have called many computer stores and no help , i think i called the 7th computer store before they told me i can get an usb stick with windows 7 sound drivers on it .just keep it plugged in

Hi again Janet. Thanks for posting back, and you're very welcome!!

That last solution sounds pretty lame to me. Keeping a usb stick plugged in with drivers on it harkens back to the early days of computers when you couldn't run you programs on you computer without having to keep a floppy disk or a cd disc in the floppy drive or optical drive in order to work. That last place you mentioned gave you a 20 year old fix for a 10 year old computer running software that's 15 years old!! Geesh!

If you can't get your sound (audio), graphics (video), or network connection to the Internet to work seamlessly on that old computer, it's probably time to e-cycle it, donate it to your local computer club, or give it to the kids or grandkids to use for Frisbee practice and get yourself something newer, at the very least a modern computer built in 2009 or later, that will give you about 8 years of life or so left on it.

I'm not sure what part of the country you live in, but that sounds like the skill level of the Techs in your area is pretty questionable. In the future you might try a reputable national computer chain such as Best Buy Geek Squad or Micro Center. Both of these are more expensive than local independent shops or Consultant Techs, but their training is pretty good nationally, and you can get quality service (for a price) regardless of where you live since their Techs undergo rigorous professional licensing and certification practices. fyi.

Best of luck,
<<<BBJ>>>