Upgrade Routes


  1. Posts : 6
    Vista Premium SP1 64Bit
       #1

    Upgrade Routes


    Hi everyone!

    Just a little one really... I've got a 3 month old from DELL, the 'FREE' upgrade is on the way, but I have a copy of W7 from MSDNAA, but when I installed it there was almost zero support for my drivers... DELL has promised a resource CD that will contain the necessary drivers, but I'm pretty sure that my after market adapter (NETGEAR WNDA3100) will not be supported.. which leaves me up the creek if a) I dont have any drivers shipped, b) they are out of date...

    So... I'm thinking partition my HDD and do a clean install in the new partition to test.

    but then, should I reformat the whole HDD and perform a clean install, or just upgrade on the original partition?
    or... can I just transfer from the old to the new and remove the Vista partition and expand the Win7 one?
    Is this ok? I know everyone says its always better to do a clean install, but it seems easier to just upgrade... and i've just finished installing my favourite apps etc...


    Any thoughts??


    Sorry for the ramblings! First post!!!


    Thanks in advance!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 5,807
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64 - Mac OS X 10.6.4 x64
       #2

    richhemmings said:
    Hi everyone!

    Just a little one really... I've got a 3 month old from DELL, the 'FREE' upgrade is on the way, but I have a copy of W7 from MSDNAA, but when I installed it there was almost zero support for my drivers... DELL has promised a resource CD that will contain the necessary drivers, but I'm pretty sure that my after market adapter (NETGEAR WNDA3100) will not be supported.. which leaves me up the creek if a) I dont have any drivers shipped, b) they are out of date...

    So... I'm thinking partition my HDD and do a clean install in the new partition to test.

    but then, should I reformat the whole HDD and perform a clean install, or just upgrade on the original partition?
    or... can I just transfer from the old to the new and remove the Vista partition and expand the Win7 one?
    Is this ok? I know everyone says its always better to do a clean install, but it seems easier to just upgrade... and i've just finished installing my favourite apps etc...


    Any thoughts??


    Sorry for the ramblings! First post!!!


    Thanks in advance!
    What model is the Dell?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 30
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
       #3

    Hi there, I'd recommend you to do a clean install. You can find drivers from support.dell.com and from intel.com
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 6
    Vista Premium SP1 64Bit
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Studio 540MT
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 17,796
    Windows 10, Home Clean Install
       #5

    richhemmings said:
    Hi everyone!

    Is this ok? I know everyone says its always better to do a clean install, but it seems easier to just upgrade... and i've just finished installing my favourite apps etc...


    Any thoughts??


    Sorry for the ramblings! First post!!!


    Thanks in advance!
    As you use your operating system, small problems arise; corruption, etc. If you upgrade you keep these problems. Second, you said that you have a lot of appls. Do you really think the people at MS, configured for every possible upgrade scenrio?
    I did a clean install. My advice to you, bite the bullet take the time to do it right. When you have everything installed, are activated, and happy. Make a system image. Any future problems just reinstall the image, make any changes that you did since the image was taken ( keep notes of changes) and you will be very happy with your surfing and other activities.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 30
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
       #6

    Here are the drivers : Drivers & Downloads
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 5,807
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64 - Mac OS X 10.6.4 x64
       #7

    Avast said:
    Here are the drivers : Drivers & Downloads
    That was exactly the meaning for my first post...

    Thanks for the quicker followup
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 6
    Vista Premium SP1 64Bit
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Thanks all... Me thinks I'll install to a new partition to start with, just to make sure my w/less will work... then at least I have online support if I need for any other apps/drivers.

    Does anyone have any suggestions as to the default disk partition 'RECOVERY' on OTS boxes?
    Bin this when I upgrade?
    It's only 14Gb / 1Tb and I don't think it has any bearing on the other partition until you go to restore to how it came out of the factory.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 6
    Vista Premium SP1 64Bit
    Thread Starter
       #9

    All,
    is it possible / a good idea to install Win7 on a new partition.. copy all files from the old, then delete the old partition, extending the new to cover al lthe disk?
    is this as clean as a 100% disk wipe? the new partition was cleanly formatted prior to installing W7.

    Rich
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 17,796
    Windows 10, Home Clean Install
       #10

    I Have never done that, but it will be clean. All that remains is that you must enjoy.
      My Computer


 

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