Fancy Paperweight

I attempted to install the 12.8 mobility drivers and during the install I got a blue screen. Something got corrupted so i did a system restore, but it said I was missing a dll file and system restore could not complete. Okay, whatever. I wanted to get a fresh install anyway. I pop in the Win 7 install disc that came with the laptop. I deleted the backup partition and merged it with my RAID 0 main setup. So I have a 39MB OEM partition that I left alone (What is this?) and a 600GB partition i'm trying to install windows on. I get to the finalizing installation step and an error message pops up saying my hardware is not compatible with Windows and I should restart the installation. I've tried multiple times and I always get the error.

I tried to call Dell, but they said I have a hardware warrenty and not a software warrenty. They wanted $140 to guide me through the install. There's no way i'm paying that so i'm hoping the great community here can show some love and help me out.

 

Do you have a spare HDD floating about? Try a fresh install on that? see if you get the same error? Or removing one and trying to install without RAID?

 

You should remove all the partitions before a clean install. Be sure to set to raid mode in bios beforehand and once it is set you don't want to change it anymore.

I actually recommend just performing a factory restore with the dvds that you made. You did make them right?

You really don't gain much these days with a clean install other than to get back 9gb from the restore partition. If you do a factory restore from the dvds it will recreate that partition.

 

The RAID mode is set in the bios. It's 2x 320GB 7200 RPM HDDs in RAID 0. I deleted the backup partition already, but i'm not sure what the 39MB partition labeled OEM is so i'm not eager to touch it until someone could explain its purpose. I did not make a backup DVD (yes I know, it's recommend to make one). Like I said i'm attempting a clean install, but it claims my hardware is not compatable with Windows.

 

At the partition screen you need to load the Intel Rapid Storage Driver before proceeding with the installation. Check the guide below

Alienware M17x R3 & M18x: Windows 7® cannot finish the installation

 

Hi, this is not really a tech answer but did you try and negotiate the price with dell down? Also did you try multiple agents, because they offer different prices? I had a windows 7 issue and the first guy quoted me at 200 dollars for help, and a called a second guy and he said $90, but I managed to negotiate it down to $40, so you might want to try that, if all else fails.

P.S. - I also tried to install 12.8 on my 6990m and I got bsod ("atikmpag.sys" error) and had to system restore, apparently the 12.8 does not work with the 6990m, as many people have difficulties installing it, even though it is mentioned to work in the release notes.

 

Thanks for the suggestion Luis. The Dell driver site appears to be down right now, but i'll give it a try whenever it's back up.

EDIT: Success! Windows installed correctly. Thank you!