Inspiron 1520 - Want to move to clean Vista install

Question

I have an Inspiron 1520 that has XP loaded on it.  I want to 'upgrade' to Vista.  I know...I know...but for this laptop, that is the right choice.    Questions:  From a bios/driver standpoint, is there good Vista support for the 1520 running a NVIDIA GEforce 8400M, 1 gig memory (I know 2 is better, but I've run 1 on many machines), T2330 processor.  Is this model even still for sale? I no longer see it on the website.  I could swear it was there last week.   Any Vista issues? My thought is to try to do a clean Vista Install.  Although I guess since I think I just have a Dell restore disk, not sure about this process.  Then I'd have to install the Video drivers, chipset drivers?  Audio drivers?  Who knows what else.... Thoughts?   A thought I had would be just buy a clean hard drive, maybe a bigger one, swap it out and install Vista on that.  But I'll still have that clean install, Vista upgrade disk issue.  But I don't even see that hard drive listed.   Any suggestions or experiences with Vista on this laptop?  Any tips on a clean install/Vista driver upgrade process?? I've built vista systems from the ground up.  But in this case, I am starting with what is there.   Thanks, BillJ1298

DELL-Donald K · Answer

Vista should run fine on the 1520   The drivers are available on Support.dell.com   The new hard drive idea sounds good.  A Clean Vista install is always best.  If you have a Vista Upgrade DVD, then install XP on the new drive, then immediately run the upgrade.

kirkd · Answer

You can do a clean install on a new drive with an upgrade disk (search the web for procedures, lots of posts on this). You do not have to worry about drivers, as Vista installs a set of generic drivers that work pretty well. You can also get an OEM disk a little cheaper, but I don't know what it does about drivers. If you may want to continue with XP for some apps, with a large enough HD, you could partition and do a dual boot instead of an update, using an update disk. The Vista install here will also be "clean".

1GB is rather thin for Vista. 2GB +/- Readyboost is significantly better, but 3GB is best for snappy perfromance. You would need to go with 4GB to get 3.2GB addressable.

Dimension 9100, Dual-Boot Win XP / Vista Home Premium, 3.0 GHz P4, 3 GB DDR2 533 MHz RAM, 160 GB SATA II Samsung (XP), 300 GB SATA II Seagate (Vista), 250 GB SimpleTech USB (WD Drive), Nvidia Go 6800 (425/825 MHz - XP, 400/800 MHz - Vista, Vista Driver - 169.25), Dell 1901 UltraSharp FP

Inspiron E1705, Win Vista Premium, T7200 Core 2 Duo (4MB, 2.0 GHz 667MHz), 2 GB DDR2 677 MHz RAM, 120 GB Samsung HD, Nvidia Go 7900 GS - 156.69 Driver, 17” Sharp UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-Screen WUXGA

bacillus · Answer

the 1520 has now been superseded by the 1525 model.

Billj1298 · Answer

Thanks to all.  I think I am going to go the replacement/upgrade hard drive route. Unfortunately I have not been able to obtain the information I need from the parts center.   In calling parts, they have a 5400RPM refurb part for part replacement for the drive it came with, a Fujitsu MHY2080BH.   Other than that, all of the larger drivers they have are 7200RPM which of course are faster, but like my other laptop, I know run hotter.  Which may be okay. I just want to make sure they are okay for the 1520.  Further, I could not get the Fujitsu part numbers for the drives, just the Dell parts so I cannot research any of the specs!  They do not show up under the web/parts store.  The part numbers I have are: 120gig 341-6004 160gig 341-6009 200gig 341-5997   These are all 7200RPM drives.  Can anyone translate the above numbers into Fujitsu part numbers so I can tell what I am getting????  Only info I could get was that they are 7200RPM.   I almost need a magic decoder ring for the Fujitsu part numbers that I do see for sale...   Thanks for any help you can provide.   BillJ1298

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