I’ve been looking forward to installing Windows 7. My experience with Vista Ultimate on my Dell M1710 laptop (T7400 processor, 4Gig RAM) has been average at best if I’m honest, with sluggish performance being my biggest disappointment. Yes I know you can “disable this and uninstall that”, but that is not the point. Out of the box, a clean Vista installation should perform well and in my opinion it was only just acceptable.
I therefore welcomed Windows 7 RTM with open arms. I went for the 32bit Windows 7 Ultimate (x86) and having Vista Ultimate (x86) installed already meant I could do an in-place upgrade (Whoa there Clarkey! everyone shouts. A clean install is surely best. Yes you are right and normally I would whole heartily agree but my life is pretty busy right now and the thought of digging out all my old software install disks, rightly or wrongly so, was enough for me to give an in-place install a try, on a laptop that was pretty clean anyway). If you are upgrading from XP then you cannot do an in-place upgrade although you can use Windows Easy Transfer to migrate some of your settings (see Scott Hanselman’s XP to WIndows 7 post). You also cannot in-place upgrade Vista 32bit to Windows 7 64bit (and vice versa).
Before I started
Below was my starting point (System window) which shows a pretty typical Vista M1710 set up.:
I backed up my laptop (data only) to an external drive and unplugged it to play safe.
I ran the Windows 7 setup.exe and got this screen:
I’d already researched whether my laptop “could cope” so I clicked “Install now” and got the message "Setup is starting..."
I then selected "Go on line to get the latest updates".
I accepted terms and conditions. For reasons I mentioned earlier, I then selected "Upgrade" to do an in-place upgrade:
Then got told that certain apps might not work:
I cancelled the install and uninstalled all of the listed apps including itunes (not really used much on this laptop anyway). Did the obligatory reboot. Then ran setup.exe again... "setup is starting..." and had several déjà vu moments (same steps as above). This time, once past the compatibility checks I selected "go online to get latest updates" as recommended.
Next was a familiar upgrading windows screen:
This step took 2hrs 15mins (including several auto reboots) and some 540513 files were “transferred”. Umm… a fair few then.
You will then be prompted for the product key. I selected “Use recommended settings” for automatic updates.
Set region and time zones.
Skipped join WiFi network at this point.
Selected Home Network (ie for my local LAN).
Finally, I got the logon screen with my family usernames nicely appearing on the desktop. Logged on with my account and hey presto, it seemed to have worked! Why do I sound surprised… not a single service error…
Although the GeForce Go 7950 GTX graphics card seemed to be performing fine I upgraded the NVIDIA control panel version to 2.2.275 and driver to 179.48 via the NVIDIA download site anyway, just to make sure.
To prove I’m not making all this up, here’s that System window again (I had also clicked the Rate this computer button as this point to get a Windows Experience Index):
That’s it for now. It’s early days but based on the short usage last night, it all appears fine and the machine is much much snappier (a relief). I’ve not done anything to really test it yet though… I’ve got cameras to connect, video editing to try etc at some point.
Any issues, I’ll add a comment here.
Dave
32 comments:
Hey Dave,
Thank you for evaluating Windows 7 and it's great to hear that you are enjoying your experience thus far! If you are planning on purchasing Windows 7 when it is released it may be helpful to know you don't have to wait until October to reserve your copy of Win 7! You can pre-order your copy of Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Professional today. For more information, see the Windows 7 Pre-Order offer page here: http://tinyurl.com/nldc8p
Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team
Hi Dave,
I too have an XPS M1710 and performed an upgrade from Vista 32 (business) to Windows 7 32 (Enterprise). I have only found one flaw so far and was wondering if you were having a similar problem. The Function-F2 combination used to shut off both Wireless and Bluetooth. Now it only turns off the Wireless. I can't find any way to turn it off at all. I even disabled it in Device Manager and the Bluetooth light is still on. Are you seeing this as well?
Thanks,
Jay
Hi Jay
No my bluetooth light is off. My F2 key just enables/disables wifi as it always has done. Maybe someone else has had your problem?
Cheers
Dave
Does the Aero interface work? Everything I'm seeing is saying that it won't with the graphics card in the M1710.
I've answered my own question -- did a full install (not upgrade, I was using XP) to Windows 7 Home Premium. Went without a hitch. I got the system online and did a windows update, and voila -- pretty much everything was perfect except for the touchpad (I got the vista version of the drivers which worked fine). AERO interface runs beautifully.
Excellent, glad the install went well. Yep, my Aero works a treat too. Dave.
I ran R159805.exe from Dell's site which is an older fix for people who downgraded from Vista to XP and had the same problem. Seems to have worked for my Windows 7 load too.
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R159805&SystemID=XPS_M1710&servicetag=&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=12084&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=1&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=5&typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&fileid=213714
Good Luck,
Mike H
Hi, I have an m1710 and I was just considering upgrading this but the dell support site doesn't seem to have any drivers for the m1710 for windows 7. Did everything work okay when you upgraded it? Was there anything on-board that you couldn't get working?
Hi crossmr
No it all works fine. Did not have to install anything extra to get it to work. Just updated the graphics card drivers (although it worked without anyway). Dave
Thanks for the info Dave. I know this post is from pre-final release. Have you tried putting a retail copy on the m1710 or using a Dell OEM Windows 7 to install it?
HI crossmr
The copy I tried was the Win 7 Ultimate RTM so I do not see any problems with Retail copies. I've not tried a Dell OEM. Cheers Dave
if installed my Dell XPM1710 to Windows 7 32bit Ultimate and installed the latest gerfics drivers from nvidia and i got an bluescreen?
Which nvidia driver version do you have?
I installed this 179.48 driver off nvidia site
Although it is now saying 179.67 as the driver version in system. Cheers Dave
Hey Dave,
I'm a M1530 user and I have just recently upgraded my vista to the windows 7 version. Although I followed your instructions on your blog, however the problem is that I couldn't get through with the product key installation. What I did then was I just went through with the installations without the product key itself... Is this possible? I mean is there something I should do (or worry) about it?
re: not prompted for license key
Umm interesting one, I was prompted. Anyhow, go to Start -> right click Computer, then choose Properties. Then take a look at the product key shown. If it is the wrong one select change product key.
Hope this helps.
Dave
-giga
its in your bios there is a setting that says u can turn off bluetoooth or wirless or both. somehow u have changed this.
Just add my little bit - I did a clean install to windows 7 64 bit on my XPS 1710 - but cannot get my bluetooth to work at all. Device Manager shows Base System Device in other devices but no bluetooth at all. Tried downloading the Broadcom win 7 driver but fails to detect anything - really puzzled
re bluetooth not working
Have you checked the settings in your BIOS? Dave
Hey Dave,
I just upgraded my M1710 from XP to 7 actually, and I figured I'd post a couple comments for others who are leap-frogging Vista.
First, make sure you backup lots of your files and documents. I manually backed everything up but if you do use the Microsoft provided backup utility it may create a MASSIVE windows.old folder for you (it will backup your entire Document and Settings folder as well as Program Files). Be wary that you'll need a big chunk of hard drive space for this.
Second, you have to reinstall a LOT of drivers. A lot of the XP drivers get wiped out completely, unlike the Vista ones. Definitely need to go to the Nvidia website and download the driver from their site. Some of the drivers from the dell page that are intended for Vista work for 7, although I'd still recommend try going to the manufacturer's website for better, more up to date drivers (such as the Intel WiFi driver for example).
Cheers,
Drewbie
Hi Dave, any reason why you didnt go for the Win 7 64bit version? I have a M1710 with a T7200 and im wondering if I would get any benefit by installing Vista 64 as im on the 32bit now. Not even sure if I can run a 64bit OS??
I went for 32 bit because I wanted to do an in place upgrade in this case. If I was starting afresh I would go for 64bit as I have done that on another (albeit newer) dell laptop and had no problems.
Hi Dave,
I've completed a clean install of Windows 7 Professional, and everything appears to work ok, apart from XP mode, Virtual PC or VMWare. Have you tried any of these, and if so how did you get on?
TIA
Hi TIA
I have VPC and VMWare on a different machine so not tried it on my M1710. I see no reason why it should not work though. Maybe someone else has tried this? XP mode works fine. Dave
This is an incredible notebook. I didnt even know that Dell already had an XPS Gen 2 with Core Duo! What a scores for 3dmark... Running FEAR with 1600*1200 with everything highest, can you imagine that!?
Hi Dave,
I own a M1710 and have just upgraded from vista to 7, 64 bit.
I noticed in you system screen that you were able to use complete 4GB of RAM in Vista, burt only 3.25 available in 7.
How did you manage that ?
I am stuck with 3.25 usable memory, both in vista and 7. Although i thought that 64 bit systems should be able to use the complete 4 GB available, i have not managed it yet.
regards,
Mark
Hi Mark
Vista 32bit SP1 I think displays total RAM regardless of what is "really usable". A display thing.
Although x64 can address the full 4GB, the OS itself and graphics processing etc all use up RAM, which means you can use "what is left". This could be what you are seeing. Also check your BIOS is up to date (and enabled) to ensure it can address the full 4GB. Cheers Dave
Hi Dave, Firstly thanks for illustrating the successful installation of Windows 7.
I have just installed Windows 7 64bit on my XPS M1710, and the installation was very smooth and successful and completed in 20-25 minutes.
However, my XPS M1710 has a 512MB Geforce Go 7900GTX graphics card, and Windows 7 installed the Quadro NVS 510M driver. I was very puzzled and worried about this, having read that many M1710 owners graphics cards had burnt out! After doing considerable research on the net, it seems NVIDIA forgot to add the 7900GTX to their latest driver update. Proof of the Quadro driver being incorrect for this system was proven once i tried playing some games, and I experienced the graphics jumping and not peforming smoothly.
I have found a modded driver called 'Dox's' Version 195, and now the driver is showing as 'NVIDIA Geforce Go 7900GTX / Quadro NVS 510M.' I've never been one to trust these modded drivers and have always used drivers from the manufactorer's website.
My question to you Dave is, have you heard of this problem and is there a valid/verified driver for the 7900GTX for Windows 7 64bit?
I look forwards to your answer at your earliest convenience.
Regards
Seren.
System Specs;
Dell XPS M1710
Windows 7 Enterprise 64Bit
Intel Core 2 Duo T7600
2GB RAM
Geforce Go 7900 GTX Graphics
120GB 7200RPM Fujitsu Hard Drive
Purchase Date: October 2006.
HI Seren
I, like you, prefer to use trusted drivers although a gaming colleague of mine has used modded drivers before and not had any issues. My gut feel is if it is working fine, give it a go. Cheers Dave
Hey, thanks a lot. This really helped. I have a Dell Desktop Windows Vista, and I was disappointed as well with the quality of it. At one point I even went back to using xp. Windows 7 came out, and I didn't want to buy a new computer, so I just bought the upgrade. This info was really helpful. Thank you!
Hey, thanks a lot! My upgrade went smoothly. No problems at all (at least none that I've found yet, haha). Thanks
Nicely outlined tutorial, thanks a lot. 2 hours is a long time, don't you think it could have been faster on a laptop like yours (with 4GB RAM)?
Hi.
Just wondering if you could help me with this.
I downgraded my XPS M1710 to XP (from Vista) , but my wireless card no longer works. I've found out that its a 1394 wireless card, if that helps, although there are no XP drivers on the Dell site for this wireless card.
Thanks,
John
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