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    Clean install Studio XPS 16 (1640)

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by Teknologic, Mar 21, 2011.

  1. Teknologic

    Teknologic Newbie

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    Hey there, been lurking here for a while and have a quick question. If anyone would oblige me with an answer.. :)

    I've had my Dell Studio XPS for a while now and I'm looking to format it and do a clean install because I've collected quite a bit of crap on it over the years and even replaced quite some parts without ever formatting.

    Now my question is this: Is it wise to just slap the old Dell Win7 on there, with some of the windows updates configured by dell and let windows update take care of the rest.. OR (and this is what I was thinking) get fresh Win7 OS (x64) on there (w/ SP1 or manually download it right after), downloading all the drivers by myself and thus eliminating the (mostly useless) pre-installed Dell software. Mainly McAfee seems to slow me down heaps.

    Has anyone had any experience with this, things I'm overlooking (like the soft-buttons, will they still work)?
    I'm guessing the fact that I payed for Win7 when I bought this does nothing to help me when I want a clean version of this OS, I'd technically have to get new credentials, right?

    Sorry to impose with these rather general questions, I've tried the search function and came up empty-handed.

    Advice will be greatly appreciated!
     
    Teknologic, Mar 21, 2011
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  2. erick_e

    erick_e Notebook Geek

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    Im going to say, since you plan on reinstalling anyways, go with the Windows 7 Disk install. Most of the Dell drivers on the installation disk are old and outdated, so you would end up reinstalling most of them anyways.

    Most of the drivers should be availabe for download from Dell, or the vendor ATI, etc..

    You shouldnt have a problem if you use the Windows 7 key (COA) that was provided for your computer by Dell, although you will have to activate it. Or you could use the preinstalled SLIC key which is already activated by Dell for you.
     
    erick_e, Mar 21, 2011
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  3. Teknologic

    Teknologic Newbie

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    Thanks for your quick response man. So as long as I use the same version of Win7 I should have no problem validating my clean install? That's great news!
    Now to figure out where the devil I can find that code, and a clean Win7 Home Premium.
    I just got it on a partition now and it installed without asking for a code :p
     
    Teknologic, Mar 21, 2011
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  4. erick_e

    erick_e Notebook Geek

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    Your Certificate of Authenticity (COA) on the bottom should have your installation key. If you want to know the preactivated one that Dell used, you could use something like The "Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder" to find it out.
     
    erick_e, Mar 21, 2011
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  5. Teknologic

    Teknologic Newbie

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    Thanks for dropping that name man, I can now whipe my HDD with an easy conscience :)
     
    Teknologic, Mar 21, 2011
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