Studio 15 & Vista x64 install?

Anyone sucessfully reinstalled Vista x64 on their Studio? I've been trying to reinstall, but keep getting a error during install that it doesn't have a CD/DVD driver installed. I've tried installing the the SATA ACHI controller drivers at install, but it's not taking it. I really can't tell exactly which driver it is looing for...

 

Reinstall? Did you already have Vista x64 on your Studio?

I successfully installed Vista x64 Ultimate on my Studio 15 when I got it during the week. I did initially had some issues with the CD/DVD drive (Sony NEC Optiarc drive) and it not being recognized by Vista x64. To solve the problem, I grabbed all the Vista x64 driver updates off of Dell's support website and stuck them on a USB drive and installed on the Studio. The Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7640s CD/DVD drive does not require a driver as it is an ATAPI device. See this link for more info ( http://us.sonynec-optiarc.eu/en/sup...y-drivers-to-download#H5fDkh3d1g42c6GYmeQSYA).
However, I think the Intel chipset driver updates for x64 helped solve the problem of Vista x64 recognizing the device correctly because I didnt have a problem recognizing the drive after installing those updates.

The only problem I have had since then is that the media control on the keyboard for ejecting the disc doesnt seem to play nice (it ejects the disc but Windows seems to think the disc is still inside, which causes Windows Explorer to lock up), but using the context menu/windows top level menu option in Explorer to eject the disc works fine and you don't run into this problem. Hopefully a firmware update from Sony NEC will sort this issue out (none on their website yet).

Other than that, Vista x64 works great!

Hope this helps,
Mike

 

I want to install the ultimate Version of Vista. I now have the Home edition pre-installed by Dell. When I want to install the Ultimate version I get the same message as Maquis did. That I don't have my DVD driver installed. I tried the sollution Mikedirl suggested (drives vista X64), but that didn't work. I also can' t find any DVD drives on the internet. I have a dell studio 15 with a DVDplayer from TSST Corp TS-T633A.

Maquis, are you allready succesfull with the install ? Do you have a sollution yet.

 

See if you get the same error if you switch from AHCI to ATA mode in the BIOS.

Don't finish the install though it you want AHCI beacue thething is you CANNOT change it back to AHCI once you do this. Regardless of what MS says. It will blue screen loop even with their reg hack.

I am going to reinstall it with AHCI on and give it the drivers tonight when it asks at the start and let you know..

 

Ok Thanks.. I hope that will work. Because I really don't understand the error.

 

Weird, I am not encountering any of the issues described. The first day I had my Studio 15, I downloaded all the x64 drivers from dell to the recovery partition, then I deleted the preloaded C partition, installed Vista SP1 x64 on half of it and Server 2008 x64 on the other half. Worked fine with the default MSAHCI driver but I installed the Intel Matrix thing anyway.

It works great, the only glitch I've seen so far is you have to enable the Wireless service which Server 2008 turns off by default before the wireless driver will work. Enable the virtualization item in BIOS and you it runs Hyper-V just like a real server. Wish it could hold more than 4GB memory though.

 

PepperdotNet

Did you use the Vista x64 drivers in Server 2008? That is most likely the OS I'll experiment with this weekend.

 

atbnet,

Yes, I used all the same Vista x64 drivers for both Vista x64 and for Server 2008 x64, since it's the exact same codebase in both OS's.

A correction to my earlier statement. I am occasionally seeing the lockup when using the DVD eject button.

 

Yeah I went ahead and installed it this weekend and those drivers worked great. I really don't use the optical drive often, but I'll remember that if I run into any problems.

 

I am having this same problem.

I had Premium 64 pre-isntalled, I wanted to upgrade to ultimate 64. I have the Windows DVD, loaded it up, and went to upgrade. DVD registered fine, went through the install, and goes to boot up... and I was in the Endless Bluescreen that is talked about when the DVD drive is set in ATA not AHCP.

So I have to recover the System using the Dell DVD, but the DVD I have is a 32 Bit install. So I install the 32 Bit Windows Premium, it recovers the System.

So now im running a 32 Bit Premium version of Vista.

I go to upgrade to Vista Ultimate 64, and low and behold, the Boot CD doesn't recognize the DVD drive. It WILL recognize it if I have the DVD drive set to ATA, but not AHCP.

I have gotten the latest drivers from the Dell Support Site for Vista 64, I have installed the AHCP Driver listed there, and still nothing.

Which Drivers Package did you all download and Which individual Driver (File name please), did you use to actually get the DVD to register?

Thanks in advance, I am going on a week without being able to Uprade and Really use the laptop due to this thing never registering the DVD drive on the reboot-reinstall...

 

I've got a Dell Studio 17 that I have installed Vista x64 w/SP1 on. I didn't notice that my DVD drive was not working until today, and was ready to start getting really upset over it. But then I started doing some looking around and finally remembered I had the same problem on one of my desktop machines a while back.

Look for a file named PxHlpa64.sys on your system that has a non working DVD drive. I bet it's missing. Find the file on a working system and copy it out to your network or USB drive from the working system, and then into your c:\Windows\system32\drivers folder on the broken system... reboot. Your drive should be there.

Mine worked like a charm. I had copied that file out to my network last year and had forgotten what it was for and was about to delete it. Thank goodness I didn't!

Good luck!

 

@PsycoGeek It would be great if you upload that file for us..
Thanx!

 

No problem...

 

Thanx.. It would certainly help...

 

If there would be enough storage room here I could also post an ISO of the official Dell Vista x64 Home Premium w/SP1 install DVD. I was in a chat about a week ago with them and asked for one since I have a legal copy of Vista x64 Home Premium that I was trying to install (but was getting a blue screen after the initial reboot after installing it), and they sent me one for free. You would have to have a legal product key to install with, though. Yes, they actually sent it to me for free... I was surprised myself.

My blue screen problem was solved by one of two things... 1. I used vLite to include every x64 driver Dell had posted on their website that my system needed; 2. There was a hidden 147mb partition that Vista could not see, which I removed with Gparted.

 

Has anyone gotten this CD/DVD error on a 32-bit reinstall? I'm getting one, and nothing seems to work.

 

I just recieved my refurbished Studio 15. I was looking into the system properties and it said it was a 32-bit. I thought they were all 64-bit? What are the differences? I'm not a big power user, but I'd like to upgrade my RAM from 3GB to 4GB(more if possible). Also, what can the 64-bit do that the 32-bit can't??