Reloading Dell Programs after a Windows 7 Clean Install

Hi Dan2252, 

I do NOT have a Dell Operating System CD/DVD or a Dell Resource CD/DVD and cannot figure out if I even need these since nobody on these Dell Forums has mentioned them.  And if I do need them, WHERE do I go to get them?

Click on the link at my signature, where you can order an set of disc's. If your system came with Win 7 preinstalled, then just press F8 when you see the dell splash screen, and then click repair windows. If your system came with a different OS, or you are doing an clean install, you will need the media disc's that dell sent you with the system. If they are missing, then phone dell support, as you are allowed 1 extra free set.

Thanks for your response.  The link you provided in your note was not any help to me considering my initial inquiry.

My XPS M1530 came pre-loaded with Windows Vista when I bought it in NOV of 2008.  I have problem after problem with Win Vista and that is why I decided to buy the full version of Windows 7 and do a Clean Install.  When I first contacted Dell Support to get the CD/DVDs that I felt I needed (but did not receive when I ordered my laptop) they sent me the following disks:  1)  A reinstallation DVD for Windows Vista (which I obviously did not need!),  2)  Roxio Creator DVD (which I have never used and did not intend to load it after the Windows 7 Clean Install),  3) Dell MediaDirect DVD (also which I have never used and did not intend to put it onto my new Operating System), 4) Drivers and Utilities DVD (However, this DVD states on the front that COMPUTERS SUPPORTED are Dell Inspiron and Dell Studio) My laptop is an XPS M1530!

So, as you can imagine, I am not sure what to do at this point.  Maybe the DRIVERS and UTILITIES DVD they sent is adequate for my system, but since my computer was not even listed as one of the "Computers Supported", It does not seem so.

Thanks again for your assistance.

Hello,

Here is the downloads page for that system model. If you input your service tag number on the page it will give better options, and make sure to use the 'browser' download option instead of the 'Dell' download option.

I did not find any fingerprint reader, or LoJack files listed. I'm afraid you may need to call Dell support for any software or special features you can't find.

Just having copied your program files may not be of help unless the program you use allows copy and paste of user data.

You may want to look at Microsoft's, "Windows Easy Transfer". It can help get most of your settings and personal data installed after Windows 7 is up and running.

You can also look at the Windows 7 install instructions on my web site if you wish.

HI - I've just upgraded my XPS M1530 to 64 bit Windows 7. This has been pretty trouble free but there are 3 smallish outstanding issues I'm hoping someone can help with. Note all the drivers etc. for this upgrade were downloaded from the Dell Vista 64 bit XPS M1530 download page.

1. The windows mobility centre does not have a presentation settings tile. Does anyone know how to install this - Microsoft help says that it is dependant on the system drivers and notebook manufacturer and may not always be there. It was for Vista, it's not there under Windows 7.
2. I've used Windows 7 Quickset 64 bit R226931. I also tried the XPS M1530 Quickset R182249. The Win 7 64 bit is currenlty installed as the R182249 version didn't provide any additional functionality.
3. Fingerprint reader - R173506 comes with two options x64.vista and x86,vista Anyone know which one I should use? This is a minor issue - windows 7 reports that the currently installed generic driver causes a slow restart from sleep.

Many thanks for the help, Simon

 

Howzit Dan

When I bought my pc it also came with (in the box) a whole lotta cd's for reinstallation of programs and the OS etc. What are you using to do your reinstallation of Windows 7? A disk? Ghost? or a program already installed on the pc that does it all for you?

Reinstalling the programs from your external hard drive,  you'll need to copy and paste them into your program files folder under C: and then run them from there so that all the file associations are connected with your pc and not the external hard drive.. You should then look for a file that either says "setup" or "install" or something to that effect or if you right click on the file (not a folder), select properties it should say in the dialog box "windows installer package".

Hope some of that helps...

simon,

Read thru this blog of the full procedure for upgrading a 1530 to win 7 64 bit and see what you can accomplish from it.

http://keyliner.blogspot.com/2009/10/dell-xps-m1530-windows-7.html

Hope it helps and good luck.

Thanks! Looks like the best guess might be the graphics card driver (to address the presentation tile issue). Very helpful blog, thanks

My suggested answer is different for different software.  Most of the resource CD is drivers and I think Windows 7 will find all these, but if not if you have the make and model number etc of the device, which you can find before the install, you will probalby be able to download any missing drivers from the manufacturers website (or try and detirmine which from the list on the Dell site). This includes the fingerprint reader. You can also download user guides from the Dell site.

The McAfee anti-virus: Your subscription is surely with McAfee not Dell? I have Norton and when I changed machines their support gave me a link to download the software with the current subscription after the change. (I contacted them before I made the change, because like you, I wanted every thing in place first, and one doesn't want to be too long without protection).

If you have any software such as Microsoft Word then you will need the installation disc.  You cannot just copy files and folders as this doesn't set up the registry keys. So if you didn't purchase this software separate from the machine, and the seller didn't give you the discs, then as far as I know you will not be able to migrate this. (There may be some tech wizard out there who could do it but it is beyond me).

I am actually in a very similar position myself for a very similar reason. One thing I have noticed about Vista 64-bit Ultimate that is a fundamental cause of problems is that although it can detect updates that are "not suitable for your system" it doesn't remove them from the install list, but just puts multiple warning messages in the Event Log (see in the Event Viewer).  So what I am hoping to do is change the option for updating to "Search for but don't install" then I can look in the Event log to see if there were any warning messages and if there are I can manually remove the items from the list before installing them. I am hoping this has been fixed in Windows 7 but I don't want to take any chances.  (Looking at the logs of failed tasks a frequent comment is "couldn't change the status of update....").

Good luck with the clean install.