my laptop was stolen weeks later returned by police but no hard drive

dell XPS M1710 with MS windows XP media center edition 2005 with missing HD (120Gb SATA) so i replaced it with a new one 500Gb SATA Toshiba HD. I was using the Dell official web site trying to get answers about compatibility and reinstalling the OS as Dell informed me that I could only install the previous OS that was MS windows XP media center edition (which were not part of the original package )if you need to reinstall XP windows it was added to the HD so you didn't need installation disks. Bad idea Dell ....HD failure happens all to often . And now Microsoft dose not support XP anymore ,the questions about could I install windows 7 on my XPS new hard drive were answered with you must first install windows XP media center edition and all proper drivers as the XPS M1710 can only run on that OS !!!! plus only USA and Canada can be sent the XP disks outside of there Dell was not interested and are no longer supporting the XPS M1710 ....Blah Blah. SO why was I told all this BS ?Has anyone had similar situation to me? Anyway just to clarify ,I can install windows 7 on a Dell XPS M1710 ? I have the windows OEM system builders pack ... Win Home Prem 7 SP1 64.bit 3pk DSP 3 OEI DVD that as been installed on other computers in this house , would that be a problem ? Last question is on the outside of the packaging it reads ..... that the software license is for a desktop OS or application software ,it also must be preinstalled on the hard drive of the full assembled computer system using the OEM preinstallation kit(OPK) this does not apply to server software ..... DO I ignore all the OEM and OPK installation crap ???? I have 2 DVDs only difference I can see on the pack is... 3pk DSP 3 OEI DVD the other reads ... 3pk DSP 3 OEI 611 DVD .... 611 been the only difference , is that significant ? As some computer guy installed windows 7 for my flatmates . I am sorry if this is the wrong place for this thread to be posted .

I cannot see why you cannot install win 7 the only way to find out is to try ?

you can find most of the drivers by searching with the hardware id .

to be honest you don't need the dell disks you could clean install xp with an oem copy and just use your product key and get the drivers from the dell website.

wub901 said:

I cannot see why you cannot install win 7 the only way to find out is to try ?

you can find most of the drivers by searching with the hardware id .

to be honest you don't need the dell disks you could clean install xp with an oem copy and just use your product key and get the drivers from the dell website.

thanks wub901 your right only way to find out is to try.

Indianatone said:

There are drivers for Vista 32 and 64 bit on the Dell Support Site. Most likely the drivers for that laptop are on the Windows 7 DVD so go ahead and install 7. Use Vista drivers in compatibility mode if you get stuck with something that does not work.

thanks ,I will try to install windows 7 and Vista drivers seem to work pretty well from what I have heard from this site. As well as the video tutorials and info that sevenforums has it spurs me on to go for it .(very impressed at the detailed and professional tutorials offered mixed in with helpful threads )