320gb hdd to 128gb ssd problems

The Dell drivers for the 560M are in folder R308310. Those are pretty old by now, but start with them, and you can update to the most recent 560M drivers from the Nvidia download site after everything else is working properly. It is recommended that drivers for the Intel integrated graphics be installed prior to the 560M drivers. The Intel drivers are in folder R303343. As with all drivers, just open the applicable folder and run Setup.

Let me know about the wireless card. There are several different ones.

 

Thanks appreciate the info. Hope it works after this. Is it best to do a clean reformat of hdd after aswell then gradually reinstall the games and apps again afterwards? Just thinking it may prove fruitful to start all over again, i have saved my game saves on a mrmory stivk just in case it all goes pete tong,

EDIT:

well the other hard drive won't boot now. Joy typical just when I found a use for it. Won't be able to get to that dell folder now methinks. Would have been fine but I don't have a back up drive (all my hard discs are mac os extended and holding my digital media library like films, music etc).

GREAT went to dell website and it keeps making me download a driver manager program instead of the drivers themselves. I can't seem to get it to forget the settings it's on and let me download them individually. I'm on a mac can't use pc programs.

 

Gogul1, you shouldn't need to boot from the HDD to get access to the files located there. Just boot from the SSD, open Windows Explorer, click on the HDD (probably d:, but it can vary), and then drag and drop the Dell folder into the c: drive (the SSD).

 

I tried but the folder is blank. The hard drive only shows the space thats available not the space used and has nothing inside. very odd.

I think there is a naff partition on it somewhere but cannot see what the hell happened.

I'm downloading the drivers now, deleted the cookies and that worked.
Do I need all the drivers in the video section or just the ones referring to the 560m card?

Obviously if they do not mention a specific card I will download as I assume they are general drivers for all.

"First thing to be done is to install the R3 chipset drivers. It is critical that the SSD is the boot/active drive when the drivers are installed. This is ordinarily not an issue, but for the time being you have two bootable drives/Win 7 installations in your 3, and you have to be certain that you're using the right one, i.e., the SSD, during the driver installation process. To install the chipset drivers, go the c:\Dell\Drivers\R298407 folder and run (double click) Setup"

This driver is not in the list for the M17X R3 on dells site.

R290940.exe (4MB) says it applies to management engine interface. Is that the chipset? I have that but not sure as there are 3 different things in the chipset category and I will not touch anything until it's clear.

Ok lets just get things straight from this point on.
Windows 7 installed.
Auto driver updates disabled.
dell m17x r3 drivers downloaded.
Drivers placed on usb stick.
Usb stick in laptop.
Drivers folder opened.
I'm now waiting to find out what gets installed first from the list.
The link given says Chipset first
This is the list:
1. Chipset Driver
2. USB 3.0 Driver (11xR3, 14x, 17xR3, 18x only)
3. Intel RST Driver / Intel Management Engine
4. Freefall Sensor Driver (Optional - many members choose not to install this. Also, as long as your drive supports it, the 'App' will work with aftermarket drivers)
5. Alienware On-Screen Display Driver

6. INTEL/AMD/NVIDIA Display Driver
Optimus systems require the Intel Driver be installed prior to the NV Driver. So if you have an M11xR2/R3, M14x or M17xR3, install the Intel Driver FIRST.

If you have a 17xR3 with 3D option, Optimus does not apply to you and the Intel driver is not needed

For M17xR3 with AMD, install the AMD Display Driver. AMD owners report the Intel HD Graphics driver is included with the AMD installer.

For M18x with AMD,
If you are unable to switch between the AMD GPUs and the iGPU (Intel HD 3000), try the following:

1. FN+F7 to initiate the GPU switch call.

You will be greeted by a dialog box:

Quote:
BinaryGFX Keypress Detected. Choose Yes to continue (a system reboot is required) or No to cancel.
2. Select 'Yes' and the system will shutdown.
3. Once the shutdown has completed, power up the system.
4. When you are back at the desktop, run the IntelHD driver installer (grab it from the M18x Driver Download page - linked earlier in this post).
5. Once the driver is installed, reboot and when you return to the desktop, hit FN+F7 again (dialog box will display).
6. Select 'Yes' to switch and the system will again shutdown.
7. Once you power back up you will again be in discrete mode (AMD GPUs active).

Done - iGPU driver has been installed.

7. LAN Driver
8. Wireless Network Driver
9. Audio Driver
10. Bluetooth Driver
11. Touchpad Driver
12. Media Card Reader Driver
13. Remote Control/Infrared Driver (Older systems - M15x, M17xR1/R2)

14. Alienware Command Center
NOTE: Command Center should always be installed last.

Problem is there are 3 drivers in the Chipset list. Which one are they on about? All of them?
These are the drivers in the chipset list...

Intel-Driver
R290940.exe (4MB)
Recommended 19/01/2011 7.0.1.1141, A01
Applies to:
Management Engine Interface

Download File
Realtek-Driver
R289405.exe (9MB)
Recommended 17/01/2011 6.1.7600.64, A00
Applies to:
RTS5209 Card Reader

Download File
Intel-Driver
Intel_HM67-Cougar-Point-chip_A00_R289402.exe (2MB)
Optional 19/01/2011 9.2.0.1015, A00
Applies to:
HM67 Cougar Point chipset

 

Here's an older version of the Cougar Point chipset (R289402). Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]. This will work fine. The updated version I referred to before is temporarily unavailable.

 

so is this the first thing I install?
sorry for the long post I just wanted to clarify everything up to this point in case it gets too confusing.

 

That's the first thing.

 

yep, double clicked it, Installed, asked me to restart, I did. And now... IT'S FROZEN ON THE STARTING WINDOWS SCREEN with the windows logo not actually materialising at all.
Joy.

ok, re booted in f12 and chose hard drive again. (Only one installed now as the other was just confusing the computer).
Do I install the second chipset now? the management thingy?
The other driver seems to be installed ok.

Is this next?
Bet you love me Revelator eh?

R290940.exe (4MB)
Recommended 19/01/2011 7.0.1.1141, A01
Applies to:
Management Engine Interface

 

Yeah, install both the Intel Mgt driver and the Realtek driver, one at a time.

As you double click on the driver files, are they unpacking to c:\Dell\Drivers prior to installing?

 

yes they are. The next one on the list that I have got to is the Alienware on screen display driver. Doesn't seem to be a driver matching that description. Any idea what one they are on about?

FYI I have downloaded ALL the drivers and put them on usb. Just writing down which ones I install and looking on the list for the next one.

 

This one: Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]. R315150.

 

sorry been a long day its the OSD application isn't it... doh!

got an error unzipping the OSD file "part of a multi disk set".

tried googling it but doesn't seem to help much.

 

Mystery error. Try right clicking on R315150 and then click on Run as Administrator. If still a problem, download again.

 

yeah already tried that no joy i'm afraid. will re download

ok done.
Right these explanations are vague. whats the intel nvidia display driver? I don't mind I just wish he would just say the file name and I can install it.

 

Install the Intel IGP driver first. R303343.

 

yep installed. wheres this intel display display driver thingy.

 

Does your screen look better/normal? Right click on the desktop and see whether there is an option for Intel Display Control or words to that effect.

 

no
graphic properties
graphics options
new
screen resolution
gadgets
personalize

(plus paste and the usual poop)

Dispaly looks better but type and icons are tiny

 

See what Graphics Properties is. My Intel IGP is currently disabled so I can't check on this computer. If necessary, I'll enable it. If that doesn't give you control options, etc., we'll check Device Manager to see whether it installed cleanly.

You can right click on the desktop and select View, then medium or large icons if you prefer. The view at 1920x1080 is small if you're used to lower resolution screens.

 

goes into a set up wizard
basic mode
advance mode
wizard mode

will have to come back to this tomorrow as I have to be up at 4am for work and it's nearly 11pm here.
Revelator you are a great person. Can't thank you enough so far you are my saviour!

 

Some progress. Tomorrow, the Nvidia drivers for the 560M.

 

right, decided to get a bit of this done before work. I keep having errors while booting up at the moment, it freezes 4 out of 5 times and gets stuck on the starting up screen.

ok GTX 560M VBIOS A02a installed via a bootable cd from the iso. (double clicked and burned to disc, booted from f12 command and chose cd/dvd) rebooted to windows 7 now.

now atheros ar8151-aw Lan driver installed.
Trying to find what wireless connect hardware I have installed

oh poop cannot find the info on what wireless card I have installed (secondhand computer did not come with which one it had) I cant do it through dxdiag or device manager as it does not read it (Probably because there are no drivers for it...)

 

That is the vbios for the 560M, which is completely different from the display drivers for the card. You can use either the Dell display drivers by running R308310 (v269.03) or download and install the most recent 560M display drivers from Nvidia here Drivers - GeForce (v296.10). You can always update to the most recent drivers later if you prefer.

 

I'm still getting problems when booting up, it usually goes past the alien head screen then freezes on the starting windows screen.

installed the display driver but when I restarted it froze again and I got to the starting windows screen but no further... This is a better way? Sadists is what you are lol

Sometimes it goes to starting screen. I reboot I can get the starting windows screen plus the four square logo and then I reboot again
on the third or four attempt I usually get the eroor screen that offers to repair errors or start windows normally. The repair doesn't work as it always frezes on the loading screen and then I can get into it by clicking start windows normally.

Also trying to find out what wireless card is in my laptop. With no paperwork I simply do not know. How can I find this out? No drivers = no info.
Installed intel r wifi link 630 R304458 and am now able to connect online.

Ok am up the the media card reader driver...what one is that theres none there that match the description. Thought it might be in the input section but it's not

 

Gogul1. You may as well stop, the installation is bad for some reason. Win 7 should be rock steady at this point, with smooth startups. All of these glitches and hiccups are a clear signal that the installation is unstable and will only get worse the farther you go. It is very difficult to determine why. The SSD or other hardware component could be defective, the Win 7 installation USB stick could be corrupt, the SSD may not have been properly formatted (with all partitions removed), you may have departed from the installation procedures discussed here and in the video that Mr. Fox referred to or other reasons not known. I know this must all be very frustrating, but I don't know what else to suggest that hasn't already been said. Performing a clean Win 7 installation should not be this hard and ordinarily is not. If it were mine, I would clean it out and start again; it is absolutely certain that continuing down the current path will never result in a stable setup. Maybe you need a better guide/mentor. Where did this notebook come from?

 

It seems to be ok for the moment since the last few drivers went on. (restarting and booting fine without any hiccups) I think as I can now get online if I update os etc near the end it may clean it up a little. How about this media card reader driver, it's the last one before the alien command centre. If I install that, update os etc I will see where the land lies after that. it is all done now so installing one or two more drivers isn't going to change much. Also, is there a way to find out what wireless card I have now? The one I installed worked but not sure if it is the main one for my card.

bought the laptop from a computer seller on ebay. It was fine until I tried to install the SSD and fooked things up. The laptop was running brilliantly.

 

Well, maybe it cured itself; sally forth. There is a section at the Dell Support page that lets you use your Service Tag to look up the original configuration of the notebook which should include the wireless adapter.

Edit - go to Dell Support ( http://support.dell.com/support/index.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs). Over at the left side of the page, under Product Support, click on System Configuration. Enter your Service Tag and it should show the warranty status, initial config, etc. Click on the down arrow next to Components. There it is in somewhat cryptic form.

 

It messed up again just as I said it was ok. Now that I have the drivers, and list order to install them (I wrote them all down as I put them in so I don't have to go through the headache of interpreting them from the linked page again)

I installed the iso with the program provided and it said everything installed. I have no doubt it probably didn't. Can I create a bootable disc or usb via my mac? That may save me a bit of pain.
Also I have it running now if there's no mac solution, can I download the usb maker again and install the iso again? Just wondering if there is a decent link to get the iso to be reliable.

 

I don't know any legal free download link for Win 7 other than Digital River. I suspect the iso itself is fine; otherwise it would have been rejected prior to or during the burn process by the USB/DVD Download Tool. The USB installation stick is probably OK as well, or it would have refused to launch the installation procedure. Still, wouldn't hurt to do a fresh burn.

I don't know enough about Apples to know whether you can use the Mac for this purpose. Sorry.

 

BTW what is TRIM? does this do anything to assist? maybe the ssd it failing. its settings in bios is raid.

 

At its most basic, TRIM is a Win 7 command feature that allows the operating system to tell an SSD which blocks of data on the drive are no longer in use and can be wiped internally and reused/reassigned. Without it, there is a progressive performance degradation of write operations on SSDs. TRIM functionality is now included on all or nearly all SSDs and is a crucial feature. It can be disabled, but I don't know why that would ever be done. TRIM functions automatically. It is not part of the problem you are dealing with.

You can use either Raid or AHCI for SATA mode, selectable in the BIOS. Traditionally AHCI was recommended for SSD, but recently Intel says RAID (as the SATA mode, with no arrays) is equally effective. I use AHCI out of habit and have had good experience. Whichever you choose to use, it must be set in the BIOS before formatting and installation of Win 7. That's not the problem either. If the BIOS SATA mode setting and the installation format were different, it wouldn't boot from the SSD. Check here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/657211-raid-ahci.html.

 

Cool I have downloaded the iso again and have deleted the original version. The whole win 7 file is about 3.05 gb or there abouts. Is that correct/ I read in one of the info parts it should be about 7gb. I got from the digital river link and is the sp1 pack: X17-58997(1).iso
Is this the one? I believe so it was on forum post Legal download from digitalriver: windows 7 SP1

 

Yes, that the one and the right size for the iso - 3.1GB, more or less. I think the 7GB reference is the installed size of Win 7 on your SSD/HDD. Bon voyage.

 

I think I will need to buy new shorts after this, I have a 16gb memory stick to put it on, is this too big?

 

No, no, that's fine.

 

Right there's something very wrong. downloaded iso, put onto usb stick, booted from the usb, installed, went through entire installation process, showed the starting windows screen, then went black and... nothing. It's an OCZ Petrol 128gb sata 3 drive. Thought they were meant to be good.

 

Wish I had a different usb stick now keep thinking it's not fast enough or something. I want my mum, this is very unfair.

 

Anyone able to break the installation process down for me, theres a raid video at the start but I think my SSD already is configured to Raid 0

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...llation-questions-troubleshooting-thread.html

 

Right I changed the OCZ PETROL 128GB SATA 3 to ACHI and I have had no problems at all, fast and easy. Typical that it would be something as simple as that eh?

 

Great news! Rock on.

 

yep I have you to thank revelator, I bow at your feet. Windows 7 is taking up 44 gb of space though? Any ideas why?

 

I did disk clean up but it only got rid of 400mb.

 

Good Lord. Ought to be maybe 8-10GB. Use Windows Explorer and see what's on the SSD. Sounds like it might have archived an old Windows installation. Disabling indexing, System Restore and page file will let you recover 8-10GB when you tweak the SSD setup, but something else large is going on.

 

clicked on windows explorer theres a doc folder music,video and pictures. nothing other than samples in any of them can access the ssd from windows explorer folder

 

Click on c: drive over in the bottom left area.

​

 

yep clicked it

 

So what's there?

 

folders:
dell
intel
nvidia
perflogs
program files
program files x64
users
windows

disabled hibernate, what about pagefile?
only taking up 37gb now...

OK used spacemonger and it is telling me the pagefile.sys is 17gb in size. Taking up almost half or used memory. I have 16gb ram in my laptop do you think I need this? It's 50/50 on the internet at the mo as to whether I need it or not.

 

With that much memory, no, but you can take the more conservative approach and leave the pagefile active but select Custom size and set to 2GB (entered as 2048KB).

 

reduced pagefile.sys to 2gb and I have reduced windows to 19gb. Does that seem ok?

winsxs is 6.2gb
sytem 32 is 2.7gb
gonna look into winsxs cleaning, theres alot of empty soace around that folder.