Windows 7 on Inspiron 8600

We are only having trouble with the display. Where did you go to find the bios and driver updates?

Hello, in answer to your question, I found the drivers on here the Dell web site.

The drivers can be found at this address, just copy and paste into your address bar:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&ServiceTag=&SystemID=INS_PNT_P4M_8600&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid

The BIOS I used is the first item on the list.

The driver is the 2nd item on the list.

First update the BIOS then the driver. you may have to do them via the device manager.

You could also try the ATI Catalyst legacy display driver: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Legacy/Pages/radeonaiw_vista32.aspx scroll to the bottom of the page to find the driver links. Personally I would use the first driver on the list. Once installed go to the display setting via control panel and see if you can change the screen resolution, if you can then you've cracked it.

I think this driver is meant for Vista but it also works with Win 7 you don't get the WDDM 1.1 features that support aero and the other fancy stuff Vista and Win 7 can do, but hey who needs them.

Thank you so much, I will try it today.

I would like to say you did the wrong thing with this computer. I also have a 8600 with win7.

You shouldn't have downloaded those drivers from dell. Those drivers are for XP Windows 7's update manager will download the necessary drivers including the ATI driver for full aero effect. The only driver I downloaded from dell are the modem and sound drivers.

My son has a Inspiron 8600 running windows xp, this for some reason kept having the old BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) Not knowing if this was a problem with his HDD or a windows problem I decided to do a clean install of windows 7. Two hours later his laptop was up and running win 7, this was not without it problems though. Their was no sound enabled and the network and wireless internet connection were not working and the graphics were on minimal. Downloaded and installed the latest chipset driver from Dell: Intel-driver ver 5.00.1012.A06 Downloaded the latest sigmatel driver 5.10.0.3952 from Dell and updated the driver via the device manager, this enabled the sound. Downloaded the latest network driver, Broadcom 440x 10/100 intergrated controller driver and installed, again from Dell. Downloaded and installed wireless driver: Intel-driver (R) Pro/Wireless 2100 LAN miniPCI from Dell and installed. Last but not least the graphics drivers, update graphics card BIOS first:  ATI - BIOS Mobility radeon 9600 series 8.11.29.26.A03 Then the driver ATI - Driver Mobility radeon 9600 series 8.162-050803a2-025875c, A06 It was then just a matter of setting up the screen resolution and connecting to the internet. I did a scan via Driveragent.com to see if their were any better drivers but none were found. Note: the graphics card drivers do not support WDDM, therefor  you cannot enable areo in Win 7. Its much like having Vista home basic installed, but who uses it anyway. Hope someone finds this useful.

Hi, intrested to read your comments.

All I can say is I'm no expert at this and just to get win 7 installed was a big achivement.

Do you think gettingf win 7 to download the correct drivers would still work?

PERFECT!!!

I installed windows 7 as a last ditch before the laptop ended up in the bin! After the initial elation that it installed and was running all of the above problems meant the bin still beckoned!  I would have tried some of the drivers on the dell support page, but you have saved me LOADS of time and effort!  Thanking you greatly!!!

Jose

Great, glad I could help. I haven't had any other issues. Running great.

i have the same exact pc and installed win7 ultimate and had the same problems but all is resolved except the ethernet driver will not update....can u recommend one...my research is showing that there is not a compatibly ethernet driver for this pc and win7.

I don't mean to bring up a long-dead thread, but I have an 8600 as well, and with the impending XP expiration, I'd wondered if my old lappy could support WIn7 and apparently you've had luck with it.  My main question is if the max of 2GB of RAM is enough for the machine to even run with 7 as its OS if I were to update it?  It's the only mobile machine I have that has a native serial port to interface with a couple of stereo items I have in my cars, so it's of great use to me for tuning and saving settings that the car mounted item is incapable of. 

So I just wonder if the 2 gigs of memory in mine is enough to allow 7 to even function without major hangs and what not.

it worked fine for me and i upgraded to 2gigs of ram. you may have to tweek a few things one u have it running. you wont have wifi until u connect by ethernet or have drivers. i have a usb wifi adapter with drivers so thats what i did. once u run all the updates then the onboard wifi will work.

Hi Thewiz666,

You can check this link which will suggest you whether to upgrade or not by checking the system compatibility http://dell.to/1nFPaxl 

There is a Windows 7 driver for the ATI Mobility Radeon 9600/9700 on the Microsoft Update Catalog at version 8.561.0.0:

http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/ScopedViewInline.aspx?updateid=78ac1ded-4b58-4bb5-991f-1d2891161931

The Microsoft Update Catalog requires use of Internet Explorer for details in its use see here:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/downloading-drivers-checking-hardware-ids-and-downloading-and-installing-dell-system-drivers-in-the-correct-order/checking-hardware-ids-in-the-device-manager/the-microsoft-update-catalog/

You should then install the driver via the device manager:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/downloading-drivers-checking-hardware-ids-and-downloading-and-installing-dell-system-drivers-in-the-correct-order/checking-hardware-ids-in-the-device-manager/driver-installation-via-the-device-manager/