Can Windows 7 64-bit be installed on a Dell XPS 420?

Hello!  First of all you shouldn't have your Service Tag on the forums as its a violation of TOS and could compromise your privacy :-) 2nd.  I didn't see any drivers for windows 7 in support.dell.com.. it is kind of odd as the 420 isn't that old.. it just means that dell decided not to support windows 7 on it for whatever reason.  If you have a 64 bit processor (and you should) then I would just find out what hardware you have in your system and download the drivers directly from intel or ati or nvidia.. also you can go to microsoft.com/windows7 and download the upgrade advisor and see if it detects any problematic hardware... it will take some extra time and energy but if you can find the drivers on the manufacture's website you should be o.k.

As for your warranty.. it shouldn't effect the warranty itself, however if you have any problems in which they would need you to access something in windows, they will tell you that you will have to re-install whatever version came with the computer first before conitnuing, unless its something like the hard drive crashing or something..

Hello! Thank you for very helpful information and sorry for mentioning the tag.

The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor is happy with my PC. It is only the Dell web-site that doesn’t mention the XPS 420. I appreciate that you are saying that it only means that they are not prepared to support Windows 7 on this PC but not that it won't work.

The processor is an Intel Core 2 Duo processor E8500 with the Intel X38 Express Chipset and has 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 800MHz - all with 64-bit support. The graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT and with the GeForce/ION Driver Release 196.21 (2010.01.19) Windows 7 64-bit is supported.

Q1: How to make a complete list of device drivers for me to check out?

Q2: If I can’t find a Windows 7-64 bit device driver for a particular unit which one to choose: Windows 7-32 bit or Vista 64-bit?

Hello!  sorry for the late reply.. first off go to www.intel.com and download the drivers for your chipset, then go to nvidia for your graphics.. from there I would go to device listing in the system control panel ... you need to know what type of LAN card you have and sound card.. then go to their websites and see if you can download the drivers for those.. make sure to get the model numbers for your cards in the system properties..

Thank you. I have now ordered the W7 upgrade and will follow your advice in the coming weeks. I will let you know about the outcome as I assume that it could be useful information for other XPS 420 owners.

The customer upgrade of my XPS 420 to Windows 7 Professional 64-bit took less than an hour and the Device Manager reported no problems. Later I spotted that the Dell driver for CAB-200 64-bit had not been installed so I downloaded and installed the Vista 64-bit version. I have now upgraded to 8GB memory and the system is running very well. Thanks again for all the good advice.

hi, i have same question with you. i purchased windows 7 home premium upgrade and windows 7 home premium full, when i runs the 64 bit disc it always show that the installation disc isn't compatible with your version of windows, i'm not good with this, i have dell xps 420 vista 32bit, how my suppose to do to upgrade to windows 7 64 bit, i did upgrade to windows 7 32 bit. how to downloaed and installed the vista 64-bit version ? and what is clean installation and how to do that?

if anyone can show me  a step-bystep solution would be very helpful !!

You can not upgrade a 32 bit OS to a 64 bit OS. 32 bit to 32 bit or 64 bit to 64 bit. You need to install the FULL version of WIN 7 64 bit. Be aware that all of your files and applications will be wiped out, so back up the files and have the discs to reinstall your applications.

Do you really need the 64 bit OS? Most applications are still 32 bit. How much RAM do you have? A 32 bit OS can address up to about 3.2 to 3.5GB RAM. If you have 6-8GB or more of RAM it would be worth it. If not you might want to wait. Remember: "If it ain't broke - Don't fix it!!!!!"

Jeff

You can use the upgrade edition to do a clean install. I've done it several times. The difference is you do not erase or format the hard drive until you boot to the upgrade disk. Then you format the drive by deleting and recreating partitions using the Custom Install option on the upgrade disk and then install Win 7--either the 32 or the 64 bit. The XPS 420 is capable of running the 64 bit, however some peripherals might not be able to run on the 64bit--some older printers are a good example of hardware that cannot run on 64bits.

HI,CAN YOU TELL MORE DETAIL ABOUT A CLEAN INSTALL?  OR IF A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDELINES WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL? I'M REALLY NOT GOOD WITH THIS. I HAVE GOT WIN7 HOME PREMIUM FULL VERSION,WIN7 HOME PREMIUM UPGRADE VERSION AND WIN7 HOME PREMIUM 64-BIT FOR SYSTERM BUILDER. WHICH ONE IS BETTER TO CHOSSE. I HAVE 6 GB OF RAM AND IT'S ONLY SHOW 3 GB OF RAM ON SCREEN, SO I NEED A 64-BIT OS TO SHOW THE FULL RAM.

HI,CAN YOU TELL MORE DETAIL ABOUT A CLEAN INSTALL?  OR IF A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDELINES WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL? I'M REALLY NOT GOOD WITH THIS. I HAVE GOT WIN7 HOME PREMIUM FULL VERSION,WIN7 HOME PREMIUM UPGRADE VERSION AND WIN7 HOME PREMIUM 64-BIT FOR SYSTERM BUILDER. WHICH ONE IS BETTER TO CHOSSE. I HAVE 6 GB OF RAM AND IT'S ONLY SHOW 3 GB OF RAM ON SCREEN, SO I NEED A 64-BIT OS TO SHOW THE FULL RAM.

Hi, If you want your system to see all of your 6GB of ram, then its better to do a clean install of Win 7 64bit. There is a support journal which will take you through a clean install of Win 7,

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html?ltr=C