Pre-Dell m15x-r1 Drivers and Software

Hi @colt45 guess that you are reluctant to install Windows 10. We like Windows 7 and installing Classic Shell onto our Windows 10 x64 restored many of the Windows 7 features. Also Windows 10 is very good at installing the appropriate drivers. Advocate that you embrace Windows 10 x64 + Classic Shell. Kind regards. 

Hi @colt45 it is possible to have Win10 Run compatibility troubleshooter so that legacy applications can be used. Or create a virtual environment that mimics the appropriate OS so that legacy applications run. Kind regards. 

I am not able to install above Win 8 due to legacy software that I have to run and is not compatible above this version.

Thank you for that, I will give it a try tomorrow. I did try and download the nvidia driver and it has reached EOL on their download sight so will have to try and find version 186.81 as that is the last one that works.

It looks like Win10 is possible but you'd have to have a chat with the guys in this thread

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/m15x-windows-10-1809-acpi-bios-error.831856/

Yeah you can,

using the troubleshooting tool called compatibility something,

you can run older applications even as back as windows XP to windows 8.1.

Hello @colt45 you are now using Win7 x64 (or if you decide to try Win10 x64), here is an example of using an application's compatibility function. These two images show what Windows x64 has to offer by right clicking on an Application.exe file and selecting Properties and then it's Compatibility tab. (and no, Classic application runs in Win10 x64 mode). 

You also can run a 32 bit application on a 64 bit OS but you can't run a 64 bit application on a 32bit os.

Also any driver released after October 2009 seems to crash they system. This is probably not the exact date, but where I am drawing the line from personal experience.

Good.

For some reason my post keeps disappearing.

Sorry for the delay in response.

I have this system working to a satisfactory level to run the program needed.

My "IT Department" aka neighbor, and I looked at installing Win 10 and concluded that was not an options after reading through the thread linked above and some others. For one, I would not have been able to run the external graphics card as it cannot be updated to DirectX 9 or WDDM 1 and would have had to run off of the chipset graphics. This is not ideal when you only have a T6400 to start with. Second, one person has tried it and had to install a very specific version and had to stop at a certain update. I don't know the specifics, just what he stated in another forum.

I have 2 items not working on the machine. One is Command Center and I just need to find an install file for it (version 1.0.xxx) that no one seems to have. I also seem to need a BIOS update. BIOS and CPU-Z are showing 2 x 2GB ram when 2 x 4GB is physically installed.

The thread that has the link to the drivers is a valid thread and I can personally confirm these drivers to be good. I have also figured out a work around to Command Center. I boot to my original HDD with Vista x32 and make whatever changes I want to in Command Center and then reboot to Win 7 x64 and the changes remain in place.

My mistake.

@colt45says "The thread (@mattyb3) that has the link to the drivers is a valid thread and I can personally confirm these drivers to be good." 

Please remember to close your thread. Thank you. 

Thank you for helping him @crimsom.