HOW TO: Clean Windows 7 Install (Driver Install Order) Guide for Alienware Systems

Yes, nothing will happen if you delete them.
Perflogs is a system created folder, with a Admin folder inside but with no files.

 

Hmm, doesn't really matter, my third attempt at a clean install now and I've had issues every single time, whether Explorer crashes or the system freezes periodically... One more try and I guess it's back to the factory image, which has been stable since I received the laptop.

 

^^ On which one?

Careful with the Command Center! Never install a older version then the one you previously had!

 

Not sure, it happens randomly all the time. Basically, I go through the Windows 7 installation (choosing NOT to install Windows Updates) and proceed to install the drivers in the order specified in this thread. First time I had a system freeze right after I installed the USB 3.0 controller, so I started again. The second time it froze right after the media card drivers installed. The last time it happened after the very last Windows Update finished, just as I was about to install the Command Center... oh yes, I do the updates first since they instal .NET Framework 4.0 which CC needs apparently...

Any ideas?

 

So It's on your M17x R3.
Did you reboot the system after each driver install completes?

 

Sorry, thought you meant on which driver did the system crash... I rebooted every time there was a prompt to do so. I read somewhere that there were issues with the Media Card driver, but that doesn't explain the other crashes. I'll do another clean install and see what happens.

 

4th time's the charm! So far so good, now I have to figure out whether to use Windows Backup or buy Acronis

 

Hi Guyz!
I'm facing the problem any help really appreciated...
I have created the Recovery media on USB drive...
Now when i try to load factory recovery (complete delete partition and only C: remain) on my new SATA3 240GB Corsair Force 3 SSD it keeps remaining at 100% on Formatting and does not go to step two reinstalling the... it works on SATA II drives but not on SATA III drive... Any help really appreciated...

Regards!

 

Heyas, im thinking of doing a fresh win7 home premium install. I have available an install of win7 home premium which is what im currently running and can i use the win7 key thats on here now for the reinstall?

 

Yes but your machine also should have a COA.

 

If your laptop came with the win7 home, the key is on the under side of your laptop. You can use that to reinstall win7 home on your laptop.

 

He is right!

COA: http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/antipiracy/pages/COA_hologram.aspx

 

Admittedly, the COA key works just fine.

However, it would be better if you use the Alienware Windows 7 SP1 DVD, bundled with your laptop purchase. This DVD has a embeded legitimate OEM key, so you do not need to insert key during Windows installation. Plus, Windows is automatically activated, without you putting in any effort.

If you choose to use the COA key, after Windows installation, you have to use either telephone or internet activation to activate Windows. It is a rather redundant step for you to make, especially if you are using an OEM laptop, which is an Alienware laptop. Hope this is helpful.

 

FYI,

The M14x driver download link doesn't work.

 

I'm hoping someone can help me out here as I've tried Googling my problem but can't find any solution to it.. I obtained my laptop last last night and when I got it, there was a small nvidia icon on the right side of the taskbar that would allow me to switch between discrete and integrated graphics modes. It was there until yesterday when I installed nod32, ccleaner, chrome and a couple of small apps. The icon has gone now and I can't figure out how to get it back or how to switch between them any more.

The F7 + FN function key also doesn't seem to do anything anymore (whereas before switching graphics modes would make the screen 'flash' once while it adjusted).

In the meanwhile, going by my device manager, it only has the Intel hd graphics listed. The other one is a standard vga graphics adapter which has a yellow exclamation point on it(my discrete graphics card is NVIDIA_GEFORCE-GTX-460M and it doesnt appear there). Im assuming I'm stuck in integrated mode. This doesn't change if I restart, and dont have a graphics option in the BIOS setup(ao8). Tried reinstalling nvidia 460M driver, it only says 'installation cannot continue. This graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware.' I still remember I can access nvidia control panel before..

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get my graphics functionality back? Already tried formatting and installing a fresh windows 7 but still the same. No discrete graphics card detected on the device manager.

 

Guys, I'm trying to clean install AW m18x.
Can someone please re-check my driver install list? They are all from dell's website. Some of the link are dead though, but i managed to get it from drivers.softpedia.com.
1. Chipset Driver:
(Chipset) Intel-Driver applies to HM67 Cougar Point chipset
2. USB 3.0 Driver:
(Input) NEC-Driver applies to USB 3.0
3. Intel RST Driver / Intel Management Engine:
(Chipset) Intel-Driver applies to Management Engine Interface
(Serial ATA) Intel-Driver applies to Intel Rapid Storage Technology
4. Freefall Sensor Driver:
(Serial ATA) ST Microelectronics-Driver applies to DE351DL Free Fall Sensor
5. Alienware On-Screen Display Driver:
(Application) Alienware-Application applies to OSD Application
6. nVidia Display Driver:
(Video) nVidia-BIOS applies to GeForce GTX 580M
(Video) nVidia-Driver applies to GeForce GTX 580M
7. LAN Driver:
No idea.
8. Wireless Network Driver:
(Network) Bigfoot Networks-Driver applies to Killerâ„¢ Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO
9. Audio Driver:
(Audio) IDT-Driver applies to 92HD73 Audio
And I will install SoundBlaster X-Fi from the disc
10. Bluetooth Driver:
(Network) Dell-Driver applies to Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module
11. Touchpad Driver:
(Input) Synaptics-Driver applies to Synaptics TouchPad
12. Media Card Reader Driver:
(Chipset) Realtek-Driver applies to RTS5209 Card Reader
14. AW Command Center:
(Application) - Alienware-Application applies to Command Center Notebook

Is it necessary to install both Intel RST and Management Engine Interface?
What about (BIOS) Alienware-BIOS applies to M18x BIOS, (Communications) SiBEAM Driver applies to Wireless Display, (Network) Atheros-Driver applies to AR8151 - AW, (Network) Intel-Driver applies to Intel(R) WiFi Link 6300 or 6200 [which one should I install], (Serial ATA) Seagate-Firmware applies to ST95005620AS (500G, 2.5", 9.5mm, SATA, 3Gb/s, 7200, 512n, SSH)?

Spec: Intel i7-2860QM, Killer? Wireless-N 1103 Drivers, 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, Raid 0 2x 500GB SSH, BD-ROM, GTX 580M SLi.

I'm so sorry to ask very specific and A LOT of questions . I will update my post so other confused-M18X-fellow can see this through.

 

since you nobody has mentioned it, why dont you try the alien respawn software to restore your laptop to the orignal factory setting? saves you the trouble of goin through install-> drivers-> look and feel, unless you are aware of it and still opting for a fresh reinstallation.
Dont forget to make a backup of the alienware recovery partition! good luck

 

When I do a clean install of Windows 7 should I use the drivers from Dell's website or go right to Nvidia for the latest drivers? Also when installing should I not install the 3D driver if it gives me that option? Thanks

 

Use these:
Graphics Driver - Verde 290.36 Driver - GeForce

Don't bother with anything 3D and nvidia update. It's useless.

 

You first have to install the Intel grahics right?

 

No idea, no experience with iGFX as I'm using 3D.

 

Yes, install the Intel drivers first, then the 580M drivers. The 285.79 drivers are very solid as well.

 

Okay when I bought my laptop; I could only afford the single drive setup. I now have 2 brand new WD5000BPKT fully formatted. My intent and what I have spent the last week trying to do is to either reinstall the OS (Windows 7 Home Premium) or Clone the old drive onto the new drives in a Raid 1 configuration.

"Alienware" live support and Email contact is not availible for my system, and I work during the hours that the "by phone" service is in operation.

I have Bios set up for Raid, and raid 1. I have the two drives set up in a hardware raid 1 setup (via the intel raid setup, ctrl i on my machine).

When I clone, windows blue screens as it tries to load. When I do a fresh install it fails on the last step.

I have to do Raid 1 for my work, (graphics design). I need it for data redundency so that I can continue to work IF one of the drives Fail, while I wait for a new drive to arrive.

If you need anymore information let me know.

 

After having my previous post moved to here. And reading through every page. I really hope this is the solution to the problem that has plagued me all week. Personally I think this solution needs to be mentioned in the original Post, as I'm sure others will have this problem. So others dont have to spend half hour to an hour trying to read through to page 15 for the solution.

I am basicly doing exaclty what MrEcks was doing, however I am doing raid 1 rather than raid 0. Getting the exact message he is/was getting. Again hopefully this solves my dilemma, and thank you for your answer on this issue.

 

*update*
The Intel R6 Driver was exactly what I needed.

I should also note that the Intel RST driver that is sugested on the OP in step 3 is skipped when using the R6 Driver during windows installation. If you try to install the RST Driver that is listed on the Dell Downloads page you will get a warning that the driver your trying to install is older than the one already there. This is for those of use of course that are going from a single drive, or 2 Seperate drive configuration to a Raid 0 or Raid 1 configuration.

 

Nvm, within 5 minutes of posting I found the driver.

 

Im doing a system reinstall.. and this might sound very newb.. but how do i know if Im in AHCI mode ? and is there a certain order in how install the drives ? I have a SSD and a 7200rpm 500gb.

From what i read on optimizing SSD the OS should be on the SSD and the SSD should be in AHCI mode.

 

I believe alienware's usually ship with their settings on raid so you need to switch it to AHCI in the bios (f2).

 

ssd should be in drive 0 and hdd should be in hdd1.
make sure to set AHCI in the bios before doing the clean install.

as for drivers and stuff:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...er-install-order-guide-alienware-systems.html

 

Thanks for the replies. I at last found it in bios. I was trying to enable it using REGEDIT.

Okay so I installed OS then I went to bios and changed it to AHCI. I know im supposed to do it the other way around duh! but I didnt. I did however change it b4 installing any drivers, and I noticed this round of DI I saw that I was getting the AHCI component drivers instead.. so do you think I HAVE to start over ?

 

If you can boot windows, then no, you should be fine.

 

Hey everyone. I recently switched over my RAID 1 Array to a RAID 0 array for storage space, and I can't find the 2nd volume at all. The Intel software says everything is peachy and I have 1.4TB of storage space, but all I see is the original C: drive with 699MB. Any ideas?

 

Have you looked at Disk Management? Maybe you need to extend the partition.

 

Device Manager sees it as 1.4TB as well, with 699GB of unused space.

Only sees the C: though, when I populate the list it doesn't show the second drive

Disk Management only sees one drive as well

 

For RAID 0, you'd only see one large drive.

 

/facepalm

I forgot to format the second drive -_-

Alright, now I have 2 that are each 699GB and in a RAID0 array...is that right? Or should I be seeing 1 drive with 1.4TB of space?

 

It could be either way... one huge partition or two equally sized partitions. You may need to manually assign a drive letter to the second RAID partition and format it, as you have already discovered. It should work without issue either way. I actually like having two partitions in a 50/50 split with RAID0. It helps with organization in my opinion.

 

It makes no difference whatsoever whether you choose AHCI or RAID. I have my BIOS set to RAID and I get blazing fast 6.0GB/s speed from my SSD on Port0 and a solid 3.0GB/s out of the 750GB HDD on Port1.

Having installed Windows with the BIOS set to RAID provides the added advantage of being able to add a matching SSD later on and create an SSD RAID array within Windows using Intel RST... no need to reinstall the OS to create a RAID0 array. (The same thing works with a regular HDD.) If you install Windows with the BIOS set to AHCI you'll need to do a clean OS install to switch to RAID0.

You'll also more than likely have issues using a drive image created from partitions in a different mode. AHCI and RAID0 drive images are not compatible. So, if you had drive images of a RAID0 (including AlienRespawn) it is very unlikely you'll be able to use that with the new installation. It will generally either fail with an error message or you'll get a BSOD if not an error message. I've learned the last part through trial and error, unfortunately.

 

This would be right for the M17xR3. For the M18x you would generally have better results to install discreet drivers first, then reboot into the Intel HD graphics mode and then install the Intel IGP drivers. BatBoy covers both scenarios, as well as 3D-Display systems in the opening post of this thread.

 

First off is there and easy way to update all my drivers instead of going to dell's website and checking each driver? Secondly, I keep my computer extremely clean using multiple programs (CCleaner, Revo Uninstaller, Remove Empty Directories, Glary Utilities), but I am just curious if I can take some of these older versions of Java off and I must have like 6 or 7 of these Microsoft Visual C++ packages as well as a bunch of Intel programs...can I do anything with these? Finally, how often should I do a clean install of Windows 7 on my computer?

 

You should always check Dell's site first. There is no reliable way to have an app checking each driver and reporting if there is an update. Sure, there are apps out there which will do this but you always have that thought if the driver being reported is actually the most stable. On that note, keep in mind - the most recent driver may not always be the most stable driver. If your system is running fine, then leave it alone.

**Dell has an option to use RSS Feed Updates for their driver page. See this link for the M14x Feed-
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/RSS/Subscription?productCode=alienware-m14x


On the subject of Java, C++ updates, .Net updates, DX updates, etc., - again, leave it alone. There is no reason to mess with this and in most cases (at least IMO), trying to remove older packages may do more harm than good. In some cases, a game may require an older package. HDD's are quite large these days - this shouldn't be an issue.

Only do a clean install if you are having issues which cannot be repaired. Sure, you can clean install every xx months but why bother if everything is running smooth?

Hope this helps to reassure you a bit.

 

I decided to do a fresh install of windows, nothing on both harddrives because I wanted to set up RAID 0 and have both harddrives combined so I can only have 1 HDD with 1.4TB. I set up a Volume with 1.3TB in the BIOS (CTRL+I) and I put my Dell Windows 7 installation disc in and attempt to install windows. It goes through half-way the installation process, then it ends with a "Windows cannot be installed on this hardware" type of error. Can anyone help me out here?

 

Based on what you are describing, it sounds like you will need to download the Intel RST F6 drivers and select them from a USB thumb drive during the Windows setup process when you are presented the option of adding additional drivers.

Intel® Rapid Storage Technology F6 Driver Diskettes

 

Thank you for this! I don't have any other laptop besides my Mac, so I guess I have to get a USB, download it on this mac, and just format my USB and throw in the files in that zip on there correct? Then boot it from USB and hope it goes well.

 

in case you need a bootable usb flash drive, reference this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...sh-drive-flash-aw-bios-updates-under-dos.html

 

I was just in need of that BatBoy, thank you!

 

You're very welcome.

If you are installing Windows from DVD the USB thumb drive does not need to be bootable. You would only need to have the F6 drivers extracted and placed on the drive so you can browse to them when Windows gives you the opportunity to select additional drivers near the beginning of the setup process.

If you are installing Windows from bootable USB drive (much faster in my experience) you can put the F6 drivers on the USB drive along with the Windows installation files.

 

I extracted the Intel files, put it straight on my USB and while I was installing Windows via DVD, it did not read the USB. I tried to make the USB bootable, and that didn't even make a difference either.

Ok, so I made the USB bootable by using a program, I have Windows 7 Ultimate on there, but I'm still confused to how to put the Intel RST on there like a nub :\

 

So I clean installed my alienware m17x r3 and I am having trouble reconnecting to the internet. I don't know at what step you should be able to reconnect to wireless but I got past installing the wireless drivers and I still have no connection. Unfortunately I bought my alienware from bestbuy because it was cheaper then customizing it to that degree on dell, so getting tech support has become pretty much impossible for the immediate future. Under product features it says, "Built-in Dell Wireless 1501 networking" so I assumed I needed the driver that applied to the "Wireless WLan 1501 Half Mini Card." however I am not sure. Could someone try and figure out if this is the correct driver for my laptop? Here is the link to the product: Alienware m17x r3

If this is the right driver than when should I be getting the ability to connect to the internet? Has anyone else encountered this problem?

 

I'm having a very irritating issue I hope somone can help me with, I wiped and re installed win 7 on my m15x, and managed to get some of the drivers..but the dell support page keeps giving me "we are unable to process your request, an error occured" when I go to the drivers page for my product.

Is there any other source for these drivers? because I am fed up trying to get Dell's crummy website to work and get my drivers.