On Sunday, August 27, 2017 at 1:34:40 AM UTC-4, micky wrote:
1)Shouldn't I be able to buy an OEM CD (DVD??) that includes all the
drivers for this laptop. It has a DVD drive. The only CDs I've found
so par are created by 3rd parties**. Or were these laptops sold
commercially so there were only a few CDs for 100 laptops?

**And I'm pretty sure they just gather all the files I have found,
irrespective of the paradoxical nature of the pages they come from.


2) The new laptop Dell Latitude E4300 has a FnF key marked DCP, Dell
Control Point. Pursuing that, I find

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us...driverId=WR2GG

which says "This package provides the Dell ControlPoint System
Application and is supported on OptiPlex, XPS Notebook, Tablet, Latitude
and Precision models that are running the following Windows Operating
Systems: Vista (32-bit) and Windows 7 (32-bit)."

Alas, I have 64-bit, but further down it says "Format Description: Dell
Update Packages (DUP) in Microsoft Windows 32bit format have been
designed to run on Microsoft Windows 64bit Operating Systems. Dell
Update Packages (DUP) in Microsoft Windows 64bit format will only run on
Microsoft Windows 64bit Operating Systems. When selecting a device
driver update be sure to select the one that is appropriate for your
operating system."

Yet even farther down it says
" Supported Operating Systems Windows 7, 32-bit Windows Vista, 32-bit "

So if I have 64-bit, can I use this????
I added 64-bit to the search terms, but because of this language, I pick
up all these ambiguous pages and haven't found anything recommended for
64 yet.


This page, for another part of the system, uses the same paradoxical
language
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/...driverId=0KRP3




This page uses similar paradoxical language except it's for winXP
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us...driverId=RGK9G

This page, which is only for 3 models, for XP, Vista, and 7, uses
similar paradoxical language but ends differently:
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us...driverId=RY9W7

Fixes
- Fixed a vulnerability in the Biometric authentication to Windows XP.

"Dell Update Packages (DUP) in Microsoft Windows 32bit format have been
designed to run on Microsoft Windows 64bit Operating Systems. Dell
Update Packages (DUP) in Microsoft Windows 64bit format will only run on
Microsoft Windows 64bit Operating Systems. When selecting a device
driver update be sure to select the one that is appropriate for your
operating system."

"Supported Operating Systems
Windows 7, 64-bit
Windows Vista, 64-bit
Windows XP, 64-bit"

No mention of 32 bit


this is similar
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us...driverId=V3P97

"is supported on OptiPlex 580, Latitude E6510 and Precision
M4500/T7500/T5500/M6500 that are running the following Windows Operating
Systems: XP, Vista (64-bit) and Windows 7 (64-bit).

Fixes - Fixed several Pre-Boot issues

Enhancements
- Enhanced Winbond TPM driver for Windows XP Precision Desktop platforms
- Enhanced installation of Windows XP Smart Card driver on some E-series
platforms
- Enhanced Smart Card Keyboard driver
- Enhanced AuthenTec AE2810 Fingerprint Sensor driver for E5xx0 systems"


Thanks.

What I have found out time and again with drivers is that if the name brand company (e.g. Dell) does not have the driver you need, it is time to do some speelunking in Windows Device Manager. First, click on a device that has no driver, then right-click to examine the properties. Next, click the Details tab. Now scroll down and look at the hardware IDs. In this Dell tower system, for example, one of the hardware IDs is PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_1681 . Do a Google search for PCI Vendor 14E4 and you'd find out that the vendor is Broadcom. Drill down further, and Broadcom device 14E4 is a gigabit 57xx Ethernet chip. Finally, see if the vendor has the drivers you need. If not, search again for the vendor ID, device ID and the word drivers.

Why does this all work? Well, Dell, Lenovo, HP, Asus, Acer-eGatewayMachines and all of the rest of the name brand computer SALES companies do not write drivers. They simply repackage the drivers supplied by the chip manufacturers. In Dell's case, that means wrapping a Dell look-and-feel around the driver install software.

Now I've given away one of my secrets of successful troubleshooting. Oh, well. Back to dismembering Macs with the special pentalobe screwdrivers required... Ben Myers