Upgrading??

Magenta

Hi all,
I have a Dell Inspiron Laptop running Windows Vista.
I was wondering if it was possible to upgrade it to Windows 7 or similar?
Thanks all. :-)

esuhl

More than likely. Check the Dell website to see if Windows 7 drivers are available. If so, it should be fairly straightforward. It's probably worth downloading all the drivers before you install Windows 7.

NiftyDigits

What is it's Service Tag or Express Code? It's written on the underside.

Chrishazle

My wife's laptop is a Dell Inspiron 1702, had Vista on it when purchased, now has Windows 7. I did a clean install (reformat C, install Win7, install the rest of her required software) without problem.

Magenta

NiftyDigits wrote: »

What is it's Service Tag or Express Code? It's written on the underside.

Hi Nifty, the service tag is: G9XNS3J
The express code is: 354 -292-497-91

All help appreciated.
Thanks :-)

NiftyDigits

Magenta wrote: »

Hi Nifty, the service tag is: G9XNS3J
The express code is: 354 -292-497-91

All help appreciated.
Thanks :-)

Back up all of your important data, as you will be running a clean install of the operating system, so all will be wiped.

Update your BIOS by clicking here and saving it to your desktop. To run it, right click on the downloaded file and choose 'Run As Administrator'. Follow the prompts.

Warning: Do not turn off your computer or disconnect from your power source while updating the BIOS/Firmware or you may harm your computer. During the update, your computer will restart and you will briefly see a black screen.

At this point you will need to decide if you want 32 bit or 64 bit. It appears that you have 2GB of RAM installed. I recommend that you move up to 4GB of RAM and install the 64 bit version of the OS.

4GB Kit (2GBx2) DDR2-800 SODIMM £17.50

Now you are ready to install the operating system. That will be for the next set of instructions.

I_have_spoken

Obvious question is why. With an upgrade to RAM, Vista with all service packs installed isn't too bad, even though it was given a bad press at launch.

GunJack

I_have_spoken wrote: »

Obvious question is why. With an upgrade to RAM, Vista with all service packs installed isn't too bad, even though it was given a bad press at launch.

because it's still sh01te compared to 7, no matter how similar they look visually

Chrishazle

I'd think twice about 64 bit. I've upgraded the RAM in my wife's laptop to 4Gb - it's fun accessing the 2 places where the rAM is installed, but I found a Youtube video "how to" which really helped. 32 bit means all your peripherals still work - I have 64 bit W7 on my desktop and had some fun with drivers initially, and have a Toshiba 1Tb USB hard drive (bought last August!) that works on the laptop but not on my desktop!

Other than that, the advice from NiftyDigits is good - especially "back up everything before you start" - to DVD or external HDD.

What I also did to wife's laptop was to install a second HDD - her Inspiron actually has 2 HDD bays when you pull the cover! That way I have the C primary drive purely for programs, and the secondary D drive is where all her documents, photos etc are stored.

NiftyDigits

Chrishazle wrote: »

I'd think twice about 64 bit. I've upgraded the RAM in my wife's laptop to 4Gb - it's fun accessing the 2 places where the rAM is installed, but I found a Youtube video "how to" which really helped. 32 bit means all your peripherals still work - I have 64 bit W7 on my desktop and had some fun with drivers initially, and have a Toshiba 1Tb USB hard drive (bought last August!) that works on the laptop but not on my desktop!

Other than that, the advice from NiftyDigits is good - especially "back up everything before you start" - to DVD or external HDD.

What I also did to wife's laptop was to install a second HDD - her Inspiron actually has 2 HDD bays when you pull the cover! That way I have the C primary drive purely for programs, and the secondary D drive is where all her documents, photos etc are stored.

I don't know of any peripherals than won't work with 64 bit. Perhaps you can produce the brand and model number, so i can look into it.
As to the RAM upgrade, her machine is much easier to upgrade than yours. If it takes her more than five minutes, it means that she likely fell asleep on the job.
I would definitely recommend the upgrade.

Video guide

My wife's laptop is a Dell Inspiron [STRIKE]1702[/STRIKE] 1720

Fixed it for you.

ThemeOne

I_have_spoken wrote: »

Obvious question is why. With an upgrade to RAM, Vista with all service packs installed isn't too bad, even though it was given a bad press at launch.

Main reason would be Vista now has only around a year of support left, and in the Microsoft world once you're out of support you're running a vulnerable system.

There will also start to be software which won't run its latest version on Vista - from memory, I think Adobe Reader already falls into this category.

For what it's worth, I agree that, in the end, Vista wasn't so bad, but there's no point hanging on to it now.