Questions about Reformatting

1. Should I reformat when my new SXPS arrives?

2. Should I reformat AGAIN when I get my free Win7 upgrade in October? (And is this possible using the upgrade DVD?)

3. IF I reformat, will all of the drivers I need be on a CD dell sends with my comp, or will I need to track down the downloads for the most recent drivers for each component of my laptop?

 

1) If your factory install is stable, it's really up to you. Some people are perfectly content using the factory image with a bit of tweaking, but others prefer to use their own installation. I'd say you should always do a clean install, but it isn't entirely necessary...

2) I'd say for sure here. I'd really trust upgrade installations, though going from Vista to 7 probably isn't that bad.

3) Yes. You may need to download 7 drivers, but all Vista drivers should work on 7 by default.

 

Sorry, your wording confused me -- you do or don't trust upgrade installations?

 

I believe he meant "don't".

 

Oops, yeah, that's a typo. I meant to say "don't".

 

Every 6 months-1 year, IMHO.

If it's possible with your upgrade DVD, then yes.

The drivers will be on the CD, but I would check the Dell Drivers/Downloads page first to see if there are any newer drivers for your hardware.

 

Thanks. So my next question then, is does anyone know whether the Win7 upgrade DVDs enable you to do a clean-install?

 

It seems so, yes. If you go to win7.dell.com and click on "Windows 7 Eligibility" at the bottom, it says:

Even though it only specifies this for XP upgrades, I'd imagine everyone gets the same disc so it'd be possible for Vista also.

 

Nobody can give you a definitive answer to that yet. The tech journalists have been asking the same question because that info is lacking from all the info Microsoft has released so far.

With XP and earlier, you could satisfy the upgrade version's compliance check by simply inserting the older Windows' CD to prove you had one. With Vista there was a little trick where you could "double-install"--use the upgrade DVD to install but not activate, then use the upgrade CD again, which would see the first install as satisfying the compliance check. Everyone is assuming one of these methods is going to work with Win7, but until somebody actually gets hold of a RTM version nobody can be absolutely certain.

Your new SXPS should come with a Vista DVD, so even if MS fixes the double-install bug, I think it's a safe bet you'll be able to clean-install with the Win7 DVD and just show it your Vista DVD for the compliance check. We don't know for sure yet, but I think that if MS was planning to change that they would have leaked a warning to the trade journalists months ago to ameliorate impending PR problems.