Windows 7 on Latitude E6400

1. Yes, Windows 7 actually installs a lot quicker than Vista. Most drivers are already supported, no additional language packs to install, no dozens of Vista updates to install, etc. You only need to install Dell's Security drivers pack to get drivers for the Broadcomm USH device.

2. The Vista 64 bit drivers from the Dell Drivers Download page work in Win7 x64.

3. You can get the latest builds via bit-torrent.

 

- Dell Vista disk should be fully updated Windows
- Windows 7 is in BETA so you will need to live with some bugs.. even if it's RC, and you have no support, and you are using Vista drivers rather than Win7 drivers.
- Torrent of Windows might make you fall into a old one (older version that what you thought).

 

not really,
even if you have say 10 aps running, if they are not performing a task that requires any processing(cpu power),then they simply sit there ticking away in ram.

 

Dell Vista discs are SP1's. There have been dozens of security updates since then. Trust me, I installed and reinstalled the various OS on our new E4200's the last week. And then you have to download language packs if you need them. More importantly, you have to download a dozen or so drivers from Dell. Windows 7 installs most of those drivers automatically.

Windows 7 has bugs. But no deal-breakers. Overall even though it's still beta, I feel strongly that it is the best OS for the E series laptops. Support for Dell drivers is an illusion. Even you installed video drivers from sources other than Dell.

It's hard to imagine not being able to pick the right build to bit torrent. But if you missed it, just get the right one. It takes me less than 3 hours to get the latest build.

 

When I re-installed my OS in November, there was no update. All the latest updates was inside. Since then you have like 5-10 updates if you include Windows Live software. So it's really not much.

On my E6400 series with my Quadro NVS 160M, I see a decrease in performance in games using Vista drivers. Using the beta Win7 drivers the performance is higher, close to Vista performace, but not quiet there yet. Video card drivers are not ready yet. (If anyone wonders, the latest Win7 beta drivers for my Geforce GTX 260 on my desktop gives the same performance as under Vista 64-bit.. so its not the OS, it's the drivers). I have not been able to use WIn7 to know about the other drivers.

Also, Win7 doesn't support SecureW2 wireless encryption system, therefor I can't have internet at my university at the moment. So, if where you work i requires to install an specialized encryption certification to access their wireless internet, it may not work.

 

You can go to the update history and check your updates. I just did. I used Dell Vista Ultimate SP1 to start the installation. You know how many updates there have been since then that Windows automatically installed? Take a guess.

The answer: 83!

Granted, this includes the Hold 'Em game and the Chinese language packs (1 GB!), but that still leaves more than 80 updates.

The windows 7 drivers for the intel graphics are WDDM approved, and different than the Vista drivers. Not sure if that's true for nvidia drivers. Also, the Win7 drivers in general are much newer than the ones on Dell's driver page.

 

You can't include Windows Extras in the update. I have Windows Vista ultimate on my desktop. And there is more "updates" than the other Vista's.
By updates I mean, REAL updates... ones for security and bug fixes. Maybe your were unlucky and got an old disk. In my case I don't have many. If I look at Windows Update history, I have a list of all the updates that came out after SP1 all installed on the day I installed Vista on my system. These updates are included in the disk. So the only updates I have to do are from November to now. And beside... what a useless junk topic to talk about.

It's only an issue when you reach 3GB and larger like in Windows XP (unless you have SP2 or SP3 disk). Even on my desktop computer with Vista Ultimate disk pre-SP1, I have like <300MB of updates. About 500MB (from what I can remember) with all the extras and optional updates.

I have a feeling that I am saying that Windows 7 is bad. It's not. it's just beta.. that's the problem. So every time you'll have to re-install your system because you want the latest leaked build. If you have the time, SURE why not! I did with Vista beta... but not everyone has the time. I think our firend here is more focused on a fully functional system rather then a POSSIBLY buggy one.

 

is there a driver install order? I thought I saw it in the e6400 lounge but I can't find it now

 

here you go
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4328435&postcount=1387

 

There is only one Windows Ultimate Extra in those 83 updates: Hold 'em. The other one that people may not install is the language pack, although I would say a majority of worldwide windows users will install at least one language pack.

By updates we all mean windows updates that install automatically, like security and bug fixes...

I bought my machines later than you. There is only one SP1 Dell disc for each flavor. Luck has nothing to do with it.

Well you said 5-10 before. How many is it?

You better look again. Those were updates DOWNLOADED the day you installed Vista. Not included in the SP1 disc. Take a look at this website that lists all the updates. See how many apply to SP1? All my updates were downloads.

http://aaron-kelley.net/downloads/hotfix/

Since you installed Vista on November, doesn't it make sense that all your updates you did were from November to now

It may be a useless junk topic, but not useless enough for you to refute what I said. Then it became useless since you could not defend what you said.

I was making the point that it takes a lot longer to install Vista than to install Windows 7 new builds. The reason for that is that Win7 has almost all the drivers for the E6400, so they got installed right away. And there are a LOT FEWER updates because, well, it is a much newer release. If you need to install language packs for Vista, then you will be very pleasantly surprised that Windows 7 has those already installed.