Alienware 17 r3 best practices for setup

Hi, 

Yes, any updates on the drivers will be most likely be installed with the Windows updates. This system is fully supported with Windows 10. Let us know if you run into any issues with the drivers.  

Hi Tnleafer, your questions a little vague.

Are you asking if windows will overwrite drives while doing normal update or will it overwrite when it installs.

The answer for Win 10 is complicated.

Windows 10 installation or upgrading from another OS will overwrite most of your "alienware" drivers, some of them will transfer across, but not all.

Windows 10 will try to overwrite some of your drivers with inferior versions during regular updating if you don't change the setting, specifically Intel GPU and NVidia GPU drivers will be replace by the dreaded WMMD Microsoft rubbish.

To prevent this you need to adjust the setting in windows to stop it using any drivers it feels like.

1. Tap/Click the Start Button and search for system. Tap/Click the Control Panel result - it should be the top one.

2. When System Properties opens up click/tap on Advanced system settings

3. Click/Tap on the Hardware tab and then click/tap Device Installation Settings

4. Click/Tap on No, let me choose what to do to expand your other options

5. Once you click on No, let me choose what to do there are three other options to set.

Option #2 continues to download and install the best driver software from Windows Update.

Option #3 prevents the automatic install of driver software from Windows Update

Option #4 toggles the ability for Windows Update to download hardware related apps and other info from Windows Update.

Check your system BIOS config too - If battery charging is set to Express then change it to standard unless your into overclocking or you have a GTX980 (In which case you should have a 240W PSU, not 180)

If your doing a clean windows installation, then it may be a good idea to check what setting the boot options are set to, the way Dell set the BIOS on these laptops is not the best.

To clarify, this is a new system and should have win 10_on it. It is set to arrive next week.

Thank you, I've been reading about windows overwriting the drivers and causing havoc with a lot of systems.

I assume that windows 10 will want to overwrite drivers when it updates during initial setup. This is what I am trying to prevent. Will windows 10 allow me to get to the control panel before it updates during setup?

I have a 17 r3 with gtx 980 8gb and a 256 ssd and 1 tb drive coming and didn't want to wreck the drivers during initial setup.  I intend to use Macrium Reflect and an external HD to image or clone windows 10 asap so I have an easy way back to a working config should a driver issue occur.

I assume from your answer that I want option 3, prevent windows from overwriting drivers. Would I maintain the graphics drivers from nvidia or Alienware after setup, or just leave them alone?

I get the feeling windows 10, overwriting drivers is causing many of the complaints I see in the forum, and Alienware doesn't seem to offer a good way back to a working config.

Thanks for your answer.  I hope you are able to help with my last few questions.

I know these driver issues are easier to prevent than fix and I really appreciate your answer, it should be included in the Alienware setup docs.