Fingerprint Drivers Without the Bloat?

I'm getting ready to wipe the Dell out of the M6400 and do a clean install of Windows XP 32-Bit.

Is there a way to get the fingerprint drivers without having to install all the different Dell ControlPoint software? I don't need the Connection Manager, System Manager, and Control Point.

Thanks in advance

 

Maybe try Windows 7 RC (build 7100) 32-bit - this OS already has integrated fingerprint reader software...

 

I need some Windows XP 32-bit specific programs installed, that is why I am installing the o/s on the laptop.

I've tried running them on a virtual machine on my desktop but because the lack of video drivers, it was pointless after 2 minutes of fighting.

 

If you have fingerprints enrolled already, you can ditch the CP software and use pre-boot authentication - at most, you may still need the Security Manager driver package (the smaller of the two "Security Manager" downloads, ~110 MB and not the 160 MB one). I have it set up in the BIOS to require swipe on power/reboot/resume... all I have installed are the drivers and System Manager (latter is not needed) on Win7 x64.

 

Are you sure? I am on win7, I dont see any builtin Fingerprint reader soft.

 

I installed windows 7 on my Acer 6530G laptop and the fingerprint reader worked fine, didn't need to install anything at all. Also I used the 64 bit version if this helps.

 

Hi guys

Regarding Windows 7, do a search of these forums. If your Dell shipped with the Broadcom USH device (that manages the fingerprint reader and smartcard reader etc.), then you need to use Dell's Embassy Wave Suite to use the fingerprint reader. Until Dell/Broadcom update their drivers, there's no way to use Windows 7's built-in fingerprint reader support.

It's really a shame, as my old HP's fingerprint reader 'just worked', and was beautifully integrated and easy to use. It's a shame the same can't be said of Dell's software.

As for the XP, I expect it's the same situation. XP has no native support for fingerprint readers, so you need to use third-party software and drivers. However, if you've got the Broadcom device, there's no way to use UPEK's or Authentec's nice software (since the Broadcom device 'hides' the fingerprint reader).