6860FX Re-Installation with Gateway Drivers

I purchased my Gateway P-6860FX a couple of years ago now, and recently sent it in for service to Geek Squad (I had the 3 year). They found that the harddrive was corrupted, and replaced it.
I'm not really sure what to do about the reinstallation of the OS - since I upgraded the original windows vista operating system to windows 7. Can I re-install windows 7 and load the drivers from the Gateway backup CD directly, or is it a better idea to install vista, do the drivers, and upgrade to 7? Also, will Geek Squad generally do all this for me? Thanks for any comment you may have on this matter.

 

I would just do a fresh install of Win 7, get your video driver from Nvidia directly, let Win 7 install most of the rest. You will need to install the Hot Start Driver (the one that controls the lite buttons on the top) off your Gateway Driver/App disk, along with the media card reader. Later, you can download the Itel Wifi, and Rapid Storage Technology (if using a Raid Setup) Intel if you wish.

If you are using 64bit (I recomend)
Nvidia link: http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook-win7-winvista-64bit-260.99-whql-driver.html

Intel Wifi link: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=19328&ProdId=2753&lang=eng

Intel Rapid Storage Technology link: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18859&ProdId=2101&lang=eng

 

I'm tempted to do what you say.. but I have had problems installing the drivers in the past and don't want to get caught up with compatibility issues. However if win7 is as good as you say discovering the right drivers I will go ahead. Second opinion anyone?

 

Win7 will detect all your devices except for the Hot Start utillity, and media card reader (it will show up as other device). I would always use the newest Video drivers from Nvidia no matter what you decide. Version 260.99 seems not to have any issues like the last few updates did. Win7 does alot better job than Vista or XP in finding the right drivers for your devices.

 

Guess my decision was made for me, turns out I only had the win7 "upgrade" license so I had to install vista first anyways. Everything seems to be working ok with the drivers on the disk/ the video driver you suggested, thank you. My only complaint is that it seems to be running pretty slow for a fresh installation.. could this be something to do with the chipset driver or something?

 

Not sure, I know you can do a fresh install with a upgrade version of vista or Win7. I think you pick custom install.

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media

YouTube - Windows 7 Clean install with Upgrade disk