[Dr Some-what Evil]

Nothing new but thought I'd share my experience with it. I did not modify the OEM cd in any way, shape or form. First I performed 2 low level wipes of the internal SSD with my favorite tool. The 2nd wipe was apparently needed to get rid of the remaining files that were embedded on the drive from Dell. At first I had a tiny problem with missing device drivers but a quick search of this forum and I figured out they were the missing drivers for the JMicron device/card reader. After installing that, I had no issues. Everything works fine and appears to be a bit quicker in start-up than the default Dell install. After I get everything installed and up-to-date, I will make a clone of this on a external drive for ease of re-install should something go bad or I finally purchase the Runcore 64Gig drive and then can have a fresh install on it. One small issue I have is the lack of free space but I will deal with that later in removing components and programs I do not nor will I ever use. This forum has been so helpful to me and to so many others that I would like to thank every member for the contributions they made.

On another note, I am willing to purchase 1 (one) unwanted AT&T WWAN card from a member. I cannot go higher than $20 at the moment so if you want to make a quick buck on that unwanted card, Id be willing to purchase it from you. Please feel free to PM me with the details.

[attachment=0:1yebh6gc]PHTO0004.JPG[/attachment:1yebh6gc]

~~EDIT~~

Officially I am looking for a Sony Ericsson 5530 card originally supplied to many Dell branded laptops. I know $20 is too cheap. Just looking for one that someone is willing to sell. I looked them up and going through Dell it will cost $120-$140 plus S&H. I am in no hurry to purchase one at the moment but will keep in touch with whomever offers theirs to me at a decent price, Perhaps $60-$70.

One thing I have noticed is that my mini has gotten more stable since the reboot. I no longer have to re-enable items to be shown near the clock, the battery meter and the wireless (wifi) seem to work much better. Although the install took up much more space than I thought it would, it might be worth it. I'll keep playing with it and get back to here when I have more information.

[hasteveha]

I have a question, did dell ever give out windows xp sp3 discs?? I got a windows xp sp2 disc,and then I had to slipstream sp3 on it.

[WolfKeeper]

I don't know if any have shipped with Mini 9s but Dell does have XP w/SP3 CDs available for their other systems. I can only assume by now they are.

[Dr Some-what Evil]

Although mine did come with a re-install disc from dell that had the SP3 on it, I used another disc I bought a few years back that was marked as OEM from a retail outlet. I then updated it to SP3 and have had no problems with the device since. Seems the dell install was a bit buggy and some things would not start every time the computer was booted up. Cant wait until I can clone this onto a much larger SSD so I'll have room for all sorts of stuff OR I'll just buy some 16 and 32 gig flash drives, Might be cheaper in the long run.

Dr Some-what Evil

[cookiemonster]

Yep. Purchased from the outlet in December, included XP disc had SP3.

[MoInSTL]

I'd like to know what tool the OP used for low level formatting. I haven't done that in quite a few years so I don't know what's out there now. Suggestions?

[cookiemonster]

I may be wrong, but I think Dr Some-what Evil was referring to the use of a utility which securely deletes or "shreds" files, rather than a low-level format prog.

[Dr Some-what Evil]

I'd like to know what tool the OP used for low level formatting. I haven't done that in quite a few years so I don't know what's out there now. Suggestions?

I used a tool available from White Canyon called Wipe Drive. Mine is version 3.1.1. I am sure it has been upgraded since I bought it over two years ago. Mine cost about $40-$50 for a two license package. Its a very useful program even if your just wiping HDD's to sell or throw away so no average user can recover your data. There are several options to choose from including very intensive operations that provide DoD (department of defense) standards.

Good Luck!
Dr Some-what Evil

[MoInSTL]

Dr Some-what Evil, I'll have to review my Utilities folder on my desktop to see what I have.

Thanks for the reply.

[jingo5]

anyone know where to get the sim connector? Great picture but it doesnt state who the manufacturer is to assist in sourcing the parts.