installing Windows 7 on M17x

I know that there are a lot of threads about this but I just want to make sure that I know what Im doing. This is my first time installing an OS and I have heard a lot of bad things about windows 7 on m17x. I dont exactly know what to do first...should i just follow the instructions that came with my windows 7 cd??

 

if your m17x is brand new just follow the disk instructions for upgrade but if you have long time with your laptop you need to do a clean install that means everything is going to be erased and you have to install all the drivers manually :wink:

 

ive had my m17x for about a month so should i do a clean install? And how do i install the drivers manually?

 

after you install windows you need to go to dell site and download all the drivers listed for windows 7 and run one by one and restart as many times the program wants that's all

 

ok, to do a clean install do i just use the respawn disk?

 

no you need to boot from your windows 7 disk and do a custom install you going to be warned to loose all your data and programs click yes

 

my upgrade disk just came today in the mail (yay!). Just boot from the w7 disk and do a clean install. Go to dell, support, drivers, and pick m17x and just install the ones u need

 

In the following order. Same order as Vista 64:

http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/alienware.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=6066

 

ok so do i install everything that it says to on the dell website? Like for the chipset theres nvidia and theres also ricoh so do i install both of them?

 

Yes. But when you install the Nvidia drivers, most people say to untick the ethernet drivers to install all the others Nvidia ones except the ethernet one which is suppose to cause problem under Win 7.

See here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=428533

 

so, do i go to network and sharing center and disable my local area connection then install the drivers?

 

1- you install win 7.
2- install the drivers following the install order here : http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/alienware.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=6066

3- When you install the Nvidia chipset driver, untick network (ethernet) card driver

 

ok so i installed all of the drivers and everything but the thing that i cant find on the dell site is the webcam install.

 

Dell has not released a Win7 Creative Webcam Driver - until they do, use the Vista 64bit or the default microsoft driver.

Vista 64-bit:
v1.1.1.1227 A00, Last Updated: 06/02/2009