I am wondering about formatting...and Keyboard lifespan (17R)

I was never able to make a Dell Data Safe Local Backup when I got my machine, for some reason the option was NEVER in my options or list of All Programs. I have my Win 7 OS disk from Dell, and the Utilities Disc and a Dell Webcam Disc, and I can get other drivers off the dell website. My question is would I be able to reformat this computer and still be able to use the wireless and all? It's a newer 17R, the 7110. I love it, but also worried, what is the keyboard's lifespan?

So far I am at one year just under actually, and I wonder how hard would it be to replace? Because I can see I use this thing DAILY for over 8 hours and granted I'm not always typing, but I'd call it heavy use. Can I just buy a replacement keyboard for it? We had to replace the LCD in my Dell Mini 1012 last year after my kid punched it being stupid. So my son's dad did that and it wasn't too terribly hard, how hard would it be to replace the keyboard on this big beast?

Thanks in advance! Oh I have the 525 Graphic card with 1 gb on it if that has any bearing on the answers....

 

I'm not sure what your concern is with reformatting... just make sure you have access to all the appropriate drivers and it should be smooth sailing?

You should not worry about replacing the keyboard. Short of external damage (spills, broken-off keys, etc), it should last the lifetime of the laptop. It should also be easy to replace if need be, though; you can take a look at Dell's HMM for the 17R.

 

I am just afraid something will go wrong because it will be the first time I've reformatted this machine or a laptop in general. I bet you're right though, if we have all the drivers it will be fine and dandy.

So the keyboard seriously can take this kind of use and live on well and good? That's awesome Commander Wolf! Thanks for the info!

 

If you use the Dell recovery media/recovery partition, you won't need to worry about drivers/activation, only if you use a non Dell Windows 7 disc.

Yeah the keyboard should last the life of computer, but I always eat around my computer, and my Vostro 1500 keyboard had quite a shine before I bought a replacement keyboard off Ebay.

 

I have the dell win 7 disk they sent and the drivers, webcam disc and other things, is that what I need to reformat from scratch? Or Clean install? I don't see a need to do this yet, but I might want to to make it run better, usually on my desk top I'd reformat once or twice a year. I make a point to have drinks away from my lappy, kiddo is clumsy, so he can't have one near my old desktop that he runs on now.