Inspiron 1720 - Questions about Upgrading to Windows 7

Greetings all.

I am sure some of these issues have been raised before, but I was hoping to get some help in bulk form.

I am upgrading my Dell Inspiron 1720 from Windows Vista Home Premium (32) to Windows 7 Professional (32), and I'm told I should be absolutely thrilled for a litany of reasons, but mostly because I am getting it at a Student rate. I am, however, somewhat concerned about compatibility issues and the potential loss of functions that I routinely use with this particular laptop. I am aware that I will need a clean install, which doesn't bother me in the least, but I was wondering if I will be able to regain the full functionality of this computer.

1. Is there, for sure, a way to get QuickSet to work on Windows 7 for my computer? I know that it isn't officially compatible, but I've been told I might be able to get it to work. Which version should I look to download after my upgrade?
2. Is the track-pad and its scrolling feature going to be usable?
3. Will I still be able to use the media control keys/buttons?
4. Will I have to take any action for the built-in WiFi card to work properly?

I appreciate any and all help and/or answers you might be able to give me. I'm not exactly a tech guru and I haven't been able to find concrete answers via other sites, so you can imagine my angst.

 

1) Yes you just need to download the Windows 7 version of Quickset. Just google it.

2) It should, but worst case scenario you will need to download the Synaptics driver from Dell's website. The 1720 shouldn't have Windows 7 drivers but Vista 32 bit drivers should be fine as the driver model for Vista and Windows 7 is near identical.

3) Yes the media keys for my Vostro 1500 worked just fine when I upgraded to Windows 7 (basically the business model of the Inspiron 1520, small brother of the 1720).

4) No you just need the drivers which Windows 7 should automatically pick up. You either have an Intel WLAN card for which you can go to Intel's website and download the latest one or a Dell WLAN card which is Realtek/Broadcom rebranded and just download the drivers off Dell's support site. Again you can use Vista drivers for Windows 7.

 

Okay, so I updated and everything seemingly went fine. I have, however, run into a couple of hiccups that I was wondering if anyone could help me with...

1. The DVD Drive that came with the computer will read, but it will not burn. I never could use anything but Roxio to burn discs, and that was, of course, lost in the clean install. I have obtained (by what route I will not explain) Nero 10, but attempts to use it have turn out to be fruitless. Discs come out absolutely blank. I've done some digging and apparently this has been an issue with the TSST corp DVD+/-RW TS-L632D ATA Device drive, but I wasn't able to find any solutions for it. A search for drivers on Dell's website also proved fruitless. Any suggestions?

2. I never installed the Bios update (A0 to A09) and I did not have any trouble installing Windows 7 without it as many said I would. If everything is running smoothly now, should I install that update?

Thanks for all the help so far. Everything you suggested worked like a charm.

 

1) If you go to support.dell.com and you punch in your service tag, you can try updating the firmware on your optical drive. Also try reseatting the optical drive, should only be 1 screw. Sometimes the optical drive gets loose, happened to my Vostro 1500 all the time. Worst case scenario, it is genuinely defective, you have to buy a new one. It is a PATA optical drive.

2) Honestly you should only update the BIOS if you are experiencing issues, doing a major upgrade (CPU, GPU, etc). If you are OOW (out of warranty) and you brick your motherboard by a bad BIOS flash, you likely will need a new motherboard. Dell's BIOS flash like other manufacturers is an executable you run and you have to reboot your laptop to do so.

 

Is any hardware manipulation necessary? I wouldn't think it would be since everything worked fine as far as burning before the upgrade.

The firmware I found on Dell's Support Site was for a 632H, but that is not at all compatible with the burner in my computer. Any suggestions?