Setup Mobile Broadband on Dell XPS M1530

A couple of years ago I bought my Dell XPS M1530 Laptop. At that time I had the chance to include mobile broadband with the package. Unfortunately if I had I would have been tied to a 12/18 month contract etc. With the amount I was already paying for the unit, I decided against the extra cost.

This resulted in the laptop coming without a HSDPA module.

It was a good job I did, as I found out the other day that the modules that are factory installed are "locked." Fixed to the Vodafone network.

Time passed and a friend of mine introduced me to his new USB T-Mobile 3G dongle. 3.6 Mbits of highspeed, wireless broadband awesomeness. Then came along smartphones and the ability to use them connected to your PC for access to the internet, via 3G networks. All this is great and works very well, but having an extra piece of hardware dangling from your laptop can be annoying if your moving around. It was time for plan B.

Error Updating Dell Laptop BIOS

Most of our Laptops are Dell Latitude's. As they come in for repair, we like to keep them up to date with the latest BIOS version. Most of the time this is a nice, smooth process.

• Download from Dell
• Login as Administrator on the Laptop
• Run the BIOS Update
• The Laptop reboots and updates
• Job Done

However this morning on a couple of laptops that we had installed Windows 7 on: (I later found that although this is an OS issue, it is NOT specific to Windows 7) we got the following error.

Configure Windows 7 64 Bit & Media Direct on Dell XPS M1530

Last year I treated myself to a nice new Dell XPS M1530 Laptop.

Specification: Intel Dual Core Duo 2 2 GB CPU, 2 GB of RAM, 250 GB HDD, 256 MB Graphics, Blue Tooth, Wireless, Finger print reader etc.

It came with the dreaded Windows Vista Home Premium 32 Bit. By this time I had already used Vista at work and was NOT a fan. It was slow and clunky, used way too many system resources and was full of annoying bugs.

Admittedly Vista Service Pack 1 did solve a few of these issues and Vista ran smoothly on the XPS M1530.

Configure Windows 7 - XP Compatibility Mode

Here is a great way of having the latest Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System but still being able to use your old Windows XP software that wont run on Windows 7.

Create a Virtual PC

Available in Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate (32 and 64 Bit) is the Windows Virtual PC add in. This will run on any PC that Supports Hardware Virtualization. This will need to be enabled in your BIOS.

Once your Windows 7 OS is installed and patched, download the Windows Virtual PC add in from Microsoft and install. After a reboot you will have an extra entry in your START menu.