reinstalling windows 7 - driver question

When I get my m17x I plan to upgrade to Win 7 professional. I don't know what drivers to download and what order they are to be installed in.

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

I was wondering what the On-Screen Display Manager Application, Media card reader driver, and the Remote control / Infrared driver were?

 

OSD is the facial recognition login software by alienware, media card reader is your literal media slot reader (for cameras or the like) The M17x has an IR device for remote controls like every other laptop built within the last 15 years(ie for DVD/BLU playback and some game controllers). Some people swear by device installation orders, however you can really install media devices in any order you like. preferably you would want to install chipset video then audio devices first, after that it doesn't matter a lot.

 

go here pick your model and os and download.

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...osl=en&SystemID=ALW_LP_M17X&catid=-1&impid=-1

also it should come with a resource disk with most of the drivers.

 

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...erviceTag=&SystemID=ALW_M17XR2&os=W764&osl=EN

I went here but do I install all of them?

 

there are at least a dozen there that will not pertain to your system. You need to be aware of your system's configuration and download the appropriate files. IE, you don't need to mess with the DVD/BLU firmware updates (unless you want to) don't download the ATi drivers if you have Nvidia graphics cards. Use the device manager to identify your wireless card..ect.

 

is yours r1 or r2?

not all just only just download according to your specs.

 

I am getting an R2.

 

the link i sent was for r1 so change the model to r2.

take out your reciept and download according to your specs

 

This is the system I plan on purchasing:

System Color Lunar Silver - Anodized Aluminum
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
Power Adapters 150 Watt Adapter
Display Panels 17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p)
Video Card 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 4870
Hard Drive 640GB Raid 0 (2x 320GB 7,200RPM HDDs)
Nameplate Personalized Nameplate
AlienFX Mars Red
Avatar Alienhead Chrome Red
Wallpapers Alien Red Glyphs
Adobe Reader Acrobat SW Adobe Acrobat Reader
CD ROM/DVD ROM Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Burner (BR-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Sound Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
Wireless Intel® Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology
Automatic Updates Automatic Updates: On
Service 1 Year Advanced Service Plan
Factory Installed Games Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
Bluetooth Internal Wireless Bluetooth® 2.1 with EDR
Standard Nameplate Trigger Thank you for Purchasing Alienware

 

Alienware dosent bog down their fresh os installs with crap like most oems do, unless you are performing a custom windows install there's no need to do a fresh install on a new system.

 

The only reason I am doing it is because I have Win 7 Professional from my school that I want to put on instead of Home edition.

 

Here is the section on w7 and vista for the alien 51 M17x http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/alienware.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=6052&p_created=1244239181&p_sid=FR4sIRZj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=6066&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9NCw0JnBfcHJvZHM9JnBfY2F0cz0wJnBfcHY9JnBfY3Y9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vycy5zZWFyY2hfbmwmcF9zY2ZfND0yMDUmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1kcml2ZSBpbnN0YWxsYXRpb24gc2VxdWVuY2UgbTE3eA**&p_li=&p_topview=1

I do not know if there are any problems with Windows 7 and the machine getting along together, however. It appears that I can only get FX and Sence working...
There may be other threads about this inconvience....

 

Win7 can be upgraded on the fly using "Windows Anytime Upgrade". No need to reinstall...

 

so all I would have to do is insert the professional disc and click upgrade? How does it keep all the settings and drivers?

 

don't know how it works. just got my M17x this morning and haven't even turned it on yet. Dell sent me a Win7 Ultimate DVD and it has a new OEM serial # code on the back.

the way it's described is that it's not a reinstall, it's an in-place enabling of the features. supposedly, all the software is already installed, it's just not activated and that's tied to the serial #. my first guess is there's a WAU application on the PC and you run that and it asks for a new serial #. you feed it in and it walks you through the upgrade. I'm sure google has the actual procedure explained and youtube has videos of it.

 

You don't even need to do that. Use the "windows anytime upgrade" tool within windows 7 (control panel I believe) and it will ask you for your new key. Type it in and watch it run. You shouldn't even need to use the CD.