Hardware Drivers
Looking for the best way to update drivers.
Say I have a new Dell computer, I wipe the drive and reinstall Win 7 on it. I then go looking for the hardware drivers which are missing in device manager.
Usually I've go to the dell support page, type in the service tag and try and figure out which drivers I actually need from their exhaustive list. Sometime not always clear what it is I'm looking for ....
Is there an easier way to do this ? No disk supplied with the new system to use. :(
Thanks ...
Joel
Say I have a new Dell computer, I wipe the drive and reinstall Win 7 on it. I then go looking for the hardware drivers which are missing in device manager.
Usually I've go to the dell support page, type in the service tag and try and figure out which drivers I actually need from their exhaustive list. Sometime not always clear what it is I'm looking for ....
Is there an easier way to do this ? No disk supplied with the new system to use. :(
Thanks ...
Joel
Dave Baldwin
If you have a 'new' computer with Windows 8 on it, you should first make sure the Windows 7 drivers are available from Dell. There is no guarantee that they are.
ASKER
@ Dave,
The new computers are licensed for Win 8 but have been downgraded to Win 7 ... I'm looking for Win 7 drivers at this time ....
Thanks ..
The new computers are licensed for Win 8 but have been downgraded to Win 7 ... I'm looking for Win 7 drivers at this time ....
Thanks ..
Also, having done what you are doing (from Vista to Windows 7) on a Lenovo ThinkPad with no recovery DVD available, I can assure you that the exhaustive way (look at all possible drivers) is the best way and may be the only way.
You need to hope that current BIOS supports Windows 7. It probably should. Then you need the Chipset driver (for sure), Video, Audio, Networks (wired, wireless), Mouse if laptop, and so on.
I am using Windows 8.1 Pro Update 1 64-bit. With the most modest amount of work, it looks and feels just like Windows 7 only it performs better. You may wish to reconsider moving backwards.
You can still by Lenovo computer preloaded with Windows 7 and that is another avenue. These Lenovo Windows 7 computers come with a Windows 8 upgrade option for later.
So if you need Windows 7, buy a Windows 7 computer. If you buy a Windows 8 computer, consider staying with Windows 8 and making it work for yourself.
You need to hope that current BIOS supports Windows 7. It probably should. Then you need the Chipset driver (for sure), Video, Audio, Networks (wired, wireless), Mouse if laptop, and so on.
I am using Windows 8.1 Pro Update 1 64-bit. With the most modest amount of work, it looks and feels just like Windows 7 only it performs better. You may wish to reconsider moving backwards.
You can still by Lenovo computer preloaded with Windows 7 and that is another avenue. These Lenovo Windows 7 computers come with a Windows 8 upgrade option for later.
So if you need Windows 7, buy a Windows 7 computer. If you buy a Windows 8 computer, consider staying with Windows 8 and making it work for yourself.
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ASKER
@ John,
We are deploying 40 or these in our organization and our vendor software isn't ready for win 8 at this time .... I've purchased these directly from Dell with Win 8 downgraded to Win 7 so I know the hardware and software will run as it should until I'm ready to upgrade to Win 8.
Because the Dell comes with a lot of bloatware I usually reimage it with a plain copy of the operating system I'm going to use .......
Thanks ....
Joel
We are deploying 40 or these in our organization and our vendor software isn't ready for win 8 at this time .... I've purchased these directly from Dell with Win 8 downgraded to Win 7 so I know the hardware and software will run as it should until I'm ready to upgrade to Win 8.
Because the Dell comes with a lot of bloatware I usually reimage it with a plain copy of the operating system I'm going to use .......
Thanks ....
Joel
ASKER
@ Scott,
I'll give that a try, thanks for sharing .........
Joel
I'll give that a try, thanks for sharing .........
Joel
"Bloatware" applications are generally not BIOS, Chipset and Drivers.
So if the machines are identical, remove whatever Dell applications you do not want and then set up the machines and make an image for later. Use Ghost or Acronis. It sounds like you have the drivers because they came on the machine. Imaging protects this and your setup for a later installation if you need it.
So if the machines are identical, remove whatever Dell applications you do not want and then set up the machines and make an image for later. Use Ghost or Acronis. It sounds like you have the drivers because they came on the machine. Imaging protects this and your setup for a later installation if you need it.
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I recently upgraded a Dell XP machine to Windows 7.
First thing to do was the Microsoft compatibility test. It passed.
Second thing to do was look for drivers at Dell.
I would not suggest using the Service Tag because I think it's tied to the OS as well as the hardware. But maybe that could be helpful if it's more oriented to the hardware.
Anyway, I went on the Dell site for the model of the computer and looked at drivers.
There were NO Windows 7 drivers at all. But, there were Vista drivers. So I tried them and they worked! So, one could try this and not be thwarted by not having drivers clearly identified for Windows 7. Maybe I was just lucky and maybe it works more often than not. Who knows without trying?
First thing to do was the Microsoft compatibility test. It passed.
Second thing to do was look for drivers at Dell.
I would not suggest using the Service Tag because I think it's tied to the OS as well as the hardware. But maybe that could be helpful if it's more oriented to the hardware.
Anyway, I went on the Dell site for the model of the computer and looked at drivers.
There were NO Windows 7 drivers at all. But, there were Vista drivers. So I tried them and they worked! So, one could try this and not be thwarted by not having drivers clearly identified for Windows 7. Maybe I was just lucky and maybe it works more often than not. Who knows without trying?
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If you've purchased 40 of the identical model Dell - I'd suggest setting up one machine completely - installing Windows 7 WITHOUT entering the OS key, then installing any/all Dell drivers you need, and then removing any/all "bloatware" - all which has already been addressed above. I would al so run Windows Update repeatedly until all updates are current.
BEFORE entering the key or activating the system, I would then image the system using Backup and Restore included in Windows 7. You can then use this image, along with a Windows 7 Recovery Disk, to setup every system exactly the same. After setting up each system using this image, you can then activate each system by putting in the key specific to each machine.
I used this approach when I needed to upgrade 10 identical systems, and it saved me hours upon hours of repetitive tasks.
BEFORE entering the key or activating the system, I would then image the system using Backup and Restore included in Windows 7. You can then use this image, along with a Windows 7 Recovery Disk, to setup every system exactly the same. After setting up each system using this image, you can then activate each system by putting in the key specific to each machine.
I used this approach when I needed to upgrade 10 identical systems, and it saved me hours upon hours of repetitive tasks.
Don't use a physical machine to create your master image use a virtual machine, Other hints are you can get the dell driver packs and ONLY install those drivers. Dell has them for the windows pe as well. Using Microsoft Deployment tools in the installation winpe area do NOT use Plug and Pray just use the drivers you have downloaded for that particular machine type. Also install all the printer drivers that the user may encounter in the office this way a standard user can install them on demand
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Glad I could help