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Windows 7 Pro on Inspiron 11 3000
I just bought a pair of Inspiron 11 3000's and am almost finished "down" grading the o/s from Windows 8 to 7 Pro. I have all of the drivers loaded and working except for a Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller (listed under Other devices). Can anyone help me find the Windows 7 driver for this? The Unknown Devices program shows it as Dell and Intel Corporation.
Thanks,
Jon
Cheetah Compute
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January 20th, 2014 20:00
ieee488
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December 6th, 2013 14:00
You are only allowed to downgrade if you have Windows 8 PRO.
jsmorada
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December 6th, 2013 15:00
That's not answering my question. I have a legal copy of Windows 7 Pro and was told by Dell that it can be done. If you can't answer the question there's no point in making any other comments.
jsmorada
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December 6th, 2013 16:00
four (4) LEGAL copies of Windows 7 Pro.
ieee488
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December 6th, 2013 16:00
Don't you mean you have two (2) LEGAL copies of Windows 7 Pro?
ieee488
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December 7th, 2013 07:00
http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/us/en/04/KCS/KcsArticles/ArticleView?c=&l=en&s=bsd&docid=268873
schleeb
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December 17th, 2013 14:00
I'm trying to do the same... whatever OS (XP, Vista, Win7) that I try to install it always hangs on installation asking me to insert the disk with a DVD device driver on it. I'm using an external DVD drive to do the installation.
How were you able to get to the point you are at... i.e. how did you do your install to this point? Finding a USB driver shouldn't be that difficult. When I get to that point I'll find a solution.
jsmorada
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January 21st, 2014 06:00
Thanks Jason, that did it. However, when I ran the installer and rebooted the machine went bonkers trying to install the device drivers for everything I had connected to the USB ports (I had a USB hub in the mix as well). I ended up uninstalling the package, shutting down with all USB devices disconnected and manually installing the Intel USB drivers through device manager. Then I connected the devices one-by-one and after they successfully installed I did a couple reboots just to make sure everything was stable. Working like a charm now! Jon
jake898
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March 27th, 2014 03:00
Jon: thanks for starting this thread. I'm considering buying an Inspiron 11 and installing Windows 7 on it. It's good to know that it's possible!
Where did you find most of the drivers that you need for it? Within Dell Support it seems to only show drivers for Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and BIOS. Not Windows 7.
Also, did you need to purchase an external CD/DVD drive to help with installing any software?
Thanks for your assistance on this.
Cheetah Compute
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March 27th, 2014 19:00
jake898
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March 28th, 2014 01:00
Thanks so much for the info, Jay. Sounds like an external USB DVD drive should be bootable from the machine's BIOS, so that'll help.
And as for a USB flash install of Windows 7, I just discovered Rufus which should work for that (I guess using the USB 2.0 ports that are included).
I'll poke around for Win7 drivers a bit more on both the Dell site and the Intel site.
TedNitchov
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April 3rd, 2014 08:00
Any chance you can share some insight as to how you got Windows 7 installed on these great little machines? I keep trying a fresh install, but get a red bar across the top with the logo "starting windows".
Cheetah Compute
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April 3rd, 2014 12:00
jsmorada
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April 3rd, 2014 14:00
That's correct...I had to do the same thing and also make sure the drive setting is ACHI not Legacy.
jsmorada
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April 3rd, 2014 14:00
I don't think you'll find Windows 7 drivers for this machine on Dell's site. I was able to use the default installer for the majority of the drivers but for some (unfortunately I can't remember which) I had to manually install them through device manager.