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

Yes on the DPTF driver. If you actually have the Liteon SSD that the firmware update applies to, then you probably should. SSD firmware updates are typically important. If your SSD is not the model the firmware update is intended for, that would not be applicable.

 

1. Is there a particular order that i should follow in installing alienware command center, alienrespawn, and alienautopsy?

2. Is it advisable to flash bios before doing a clean install?

3. How do i change the set up of my hard drives from 750gb hdd + 256gb ssd caching to 256 gb ssd (boot drive) 750gb hdd (storage drive)? If i delete the drives prior to windows installation wil i lose the respawn factory image?

4. Can i use alienrespawn usb (instead of doing clean install windows 7) after changing the set-up of my hard drives?

Thanks in advance.

 

See answers above. For more in-depth help with a clean install, see the opening post of this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...es-sata-iii-ssd-upgrade-raid0-discussion.html and be sure to leave the BIOS set to RAID (not AHCI) even if you are not using a RAID arrangement. Also install Intel Rapid Storage Technology even if you are not using a RAID setup. AHCI has limitations. RAID is an advanced protocol that includes everything you would have using AHCI and provides flexibility for future drive configuration changes that do not exist with AHCI. There is no advantage to setting the BIOS to AHCI instead of RAID.

 

should I be worried about this small volume? IRST shows the 2hdd's in raid 0 as single volume and accelerated. The msata is in array 1 with 64GB in volume 2 and 11GB in volume 1.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

No, that seems normal. Everything should be fine, brother cedargreen. If you have an 80GB mSATA SSD, it should have about 11GB or so of extra space since 64GB is the largest possible cache size. If you haven't already, you can format and assign a drive letter to that 11GB of space if you want to. Might be useful for storing drivers or something like that. Or, you could also use it for your Windows pagefile.

 

Thanks for reviewing this Brother Fox. Been reading about your reviews on the memory.. Very nice work!

 

I forgot to say "thank you" Brother cedargreen.

 

I need a little bit of guidance here.

I am on my second install of windows on my SSD here. The first install had major issues with Intel drivers and Catalyst, so I said screw it and wiped the SSD clean and installed windows for the second time. This time though, I pulled the chip set INF files, RST and USB 3.0 drivers from Intel instead of the Dell ones. That is not necessarily my problem. (I also had my mouse plugged in, but I doubt that would cause the problem) The problem is once I had all the device driver installed, device manager keeps flashing like it keeps detecting a hardware change, and my disk drive keeps making the power on sound, every minute or so.

I don't know what to do. I don't know which driver it is out of the twelve or so. Should I start from scratch, or should I try going back through re-installing them or something?

Thanks.

 

Off topic but what do I need to turn off to not to see this screen when my computer is booting up?

I'd actually wanna know why all of a sudden I'm seeing this after I installed windows 7 from the recovery dvd's the other day.

 

Hello,

I have the Alienware 18 laptop, 2013/2014 model.
I made a clean installation of Windows 7 and I don't have the Webcam driver. Now i tried visiting "https://smartsource.dell.com" as suggested here but i have problems logging in.

Could someone give me a direct link to the webcam software please?

 

There is no webcam driver. The Microsoft default driver will already work so you do not have to download additional drivers for it. You may have software on the resource disk, although it is not required for the webcam to function.

 

What webcam driver? where did you ever see one? there is no webcam driver. if any at all, it's just some webcam utility from Dell but is not a driver and will not affect the functionality of your webcam

 

Guys why would you spend your time reiterating what i've already read from the original post?
Of course i know that there is no webcam driver and that the webcam uses the microsoft driver - it is mentioned in the original post.
Of course i know that whatever software there was is just a utility to trigger the camera/mic

But my question was (and still is): "Could someone give me a direct link to the webcam software please?"
The software, utility as it might be... I want it.
Also, the webcam's microphone isn't appearing on "Recording" tab of "Sound"... how come? do i need to do something extra or will the webcam's software register it for me (when i find a download link to get it)?

 

Hi,

I did a fresh install of the windows 7. I am following the instruction on this thread. However, I am not sure which chipset to install. Intel Management Engine Interface, v.7.0.4.1197 , A01 V or Intel HM67 Cougar Point chipset, v.9.2.0.1019, A00?

I have M14x R1, swapped the optical hard drive for SSD. Thanks

 

By far the most important one is the HM67 Chipset driver - make sure you have that one installed. As for IMEI driver, you can install it also without issue.

 

Thanks for the great information in this thread, it's helped a ton in my clean install. I have the 2014 Alienware 17 with the 880m and installed a Samsung 840 pro 256 GB SSD. My system came with a 1TB HDD and an 80GB mSATA hybrid drive. I hope its okay if I ask a couple questions.

1. I installed the drivers from the Dell site in the order listed in this post and everything seemed to go great. However, when I did the 166 important and 6 optional Windows updates I got to stage 3 of 3 at 32% and got a BSOD. It restarted and then everything went through fine the next time. Should I be worried or was this just from an overload of updates? I haven't seen the BSOD again, though it was just a little while ago, and I have ran a few more updates since.

2. I put the SSD in the slot two just because it seemed easier than switching the HDD and the SSD. Is it okay to have the boot drive in slot 2? Also do I need to wipe the OS from the mSATA? I'm assuming they installed the OS on the mSATA at least. If I should wipe it, is there a guide to doing that?

3. I have an optional update for Intel Graphics Adapter WDDM1.1. Is this needed or are the drivers from the Dell site good enough?

Thanks again for all the help.

 

1. I wouldn;t worry too much if it hasnt BSOD since, probably an overload of updates.

2. Should be fine whichever slot, just adjust BIOS settings to boot from SSD first.

3. I would install it, its usually a newer and fully compatible version normally from microsoft update. Should be NVIDIA optimus friendly.

 

I am sure this isnt the first particular question regarding win 7.
I got the m17x r3 (2011) and I don't know where to find my win 7. can it be downloaded from the Dell/alienware website? If so then where?
All I know is that I have the genuine key.

 

No, the Alienware branded OEM disc is not available for download. You can call them and buy a replacement for a nominal fee. Or, you can download a generic ISO and use your Product Key with it for free. USB the Windows USB/DVD tool (also available for free from Micro$haft) to create USB or DVD installation media. Or, you can use Rufus to create the USB media from ISO (also free and works perfectly).

Download Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO ( 32bit / 64bit ) from Microsoft

I suggest you download these official ISO files before they are gone forever. Store it in a same place so you don't accidentally lose it. You never know when you might need it.

 

Could you not install something like Alienware respawn and create a recovery image? It's not brilliant but at least you'll still be able to roll back to the factory image and still have a fresh install of Windows?

 

Thanks for the info.
I read that system restore is nearly as good as a reisntallation of windows except quicker. Is that true or would the Pc be better off with fresh new win7 (formating the drive completely)
Needless to say it depends on how close to the point of unboxing the PC I can get when restoring for that matter.
I can see that I can get back as far as 2013-01-30 on my restore point list (my M17xR3 was unboxed mid/late2011)

 

You can do that if you want to and still have it on the system. Other than some wallpaper (which you can save) and some branding in System properties, there is nothing special about the factory installation. But, Respawn would be quick and easy if all you are looking to do is give Windows a fresh start.

 

Ok, so i'll try to restore windows to an earlier point. But I wonder, will alienrespawn be able to restore even further back in time than windows itself?
I tried to install Alienrespawn yesterday but It would not do it as my SSD is a little short on space. For the record, Alienrespawn was never preinstalled on my PC, thus unable to confirm its ability to look further back in time..

 

If you want to buy Windows instead of using the Alienware version:

MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 PROFESSIONAL 32/64 BIT FULL VERSION SP1- DOWNLOAD - $55

MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 PROFESSIONAL SP1 64-BIT FULL VERSION - OEM DVD - $65

MICROSOFT WINDOWS 8.1 PRO FULL VERSION 64-BIT - OEM DVD - $85

 

Hmm, Mr Fox, I didnt really follow there, context?
Or perhaps you repleid someone else, in that case ok

 

Nah, that's just there for anyone that wants it.

To answer your question, the free version of Alienware Respawn will restore the installation to the state Windows was in at the exactly date and time that Respawn was first installed. It creates a new .WIM image immediately after installing it.

 

Ok so whats the best for my m17x r3? win 8,1 or shall I stick with 7?

 

If I were you, I would stick with 7 as long as possible. It is superior to Windows 8 in most ways, plus it looks much better. If you have never used Windows 8, you can always try it. Some people actually like it. I don't mind it after I am done butchering the UI to pieces with my tweaks to make it palatable, but I hate the fact that it impairs CPU performance. If not for that issue, Windows 8 would be OK.

I basically have all of the Modern UI filth disabled, Aeroglass added, etc. so it's not much different than 7 aesthetically by the time I am done tweaking, and it works fine except for the CPU performance impairment.

 

I am trying to reinstall windows 7 64bit home premium on my m17x r3.
In an attempt to reinstall it by using an USB stick ( win usb/dvd tool utilized to create bootable iso file)
but I get this "No device drivers were found. Make sure that the installation media contains the correct drivers, and then click ok"

Can any kind soul help me solve the problem?

 

Do you have any raid setup on your laptop? Usually on Raid you'll need to have the driver installed on the USB stick, let Windows find it, use it and then the install will continue.

 

Try plugging the USB stick in a USB 2.0 and not a USB 3.0 slot

 

Did a clean install on new drives and everything's good. But when I turned on Windows updates, suddenly a lot of the programs wouldn't run (e.g. Razer Synapse, Alienware Command Center, AMD Catalyst) and the fans wouldn't run. When I tried to do a system restore, I ended up BSODing every time. Finally fixed it by rolling back using a system image.

How do I update Windows without wrecking my system every time?

 

Necro-Bumb.

I follwed this guide awhile ago and it worked perfectly except the Usb 3.0 ports on the left of the M17xR3 were not recognized. Years later I bought a new External hard drive that I need to have connected pretty much 24/7. Decided tonight was the night I fixed it. 9 beers later after a ton of trial and error I got to the bottom of it.

Download USB3.0_allOS_2.1.28.1_PV.exe from http://www.driverscape.com/manufacturers/alienware/laptops-desktops/m17xr3/2779 (under USB section. version w/ Host Control). Unzip it and run the setup. Instantly recognized the hard drive w/out even having to restart the computer. Hope this saves someone some time out there.

 

Should I not install the Windows Updates that I'm currently downloading after a clean install of Windows 7? I've heard that they may cause issues but I feel like some of them may be necessary for security.

Also, I know it's mentioned that there is not a webcam driver to be installed for the older machines, but is that still true for the AW 18? I can't seem to get Skype or any other programs to detect the webcam. I've also tried to access the My Dell Downloads to check if there is any webcam software for me to download but it just gives me the message "Service Tag is not supported".

 

Your thread is a blessing! Thank you. I lost my system from a virus that killed the ability to boot. Being dumb I never took Alienware Respawn seriously so I didn't create a restore point so I just started with a fresh installation. But I really came to like the Alienware look and feel along with some of the stock apps and the correct drivers, of course. I found the drivers from Dell based on a driver search with my service tag but I wasn't sure the order of installation and it didn't have all the wallpapers and login graphic. I had no idea where to get the image nor how to install it so that it was the login screen graphic. Really, really appreciate your work on this and taking the time to write it down for all of us.

After installing the drivers in whatever order I did it in I found the Intel HD graphics driver fails to load with the error message saying my system doesn't support it. Since I haven't really gotten very far I will re-install the OS again and start fresh, this time following the order of installations.

Alienware M18X R2

 

The probable reason that your Intel graphics are not installing is that you are trying to run the installer whilst in dedicated (Nvidia) graphics mode. You need to make a switch call by pressing Fn & F5 to switch to Intel graphics. You should then find that you can install the HD driver and switch back to Nvidia with another Fn & F5 call......

Oh, and to be able to make the switch call, you will need to have the OSD driver installed before.

 

Yep precisely what the problem was. OSD chipset driver was installed first as I installed all of the chipset first anyway. Then I switched to on-board graphics mode and proceeded to install the HD driver. It succeeded. All drivers are installed and working.

However maybe you can help with one more thing. I've been searching this site but haven't found anything yet. Running Alienware Respawn installation fails at the end with some message saying it cannot find some file. It runs for a long time, appears to create the partition (19GB) and then fails at the end. Then it uninstalls it after I click the Ok button to clear the error message. I've got about 80GB of stuff including the OS installed back on the SSD hard drive which is now the primary drive. I took the opportunity to upgrade from the default 750GB HDD to this SSD 250GB. Now the 750 is the second drive.

I could just use the windows restore point along with Acronis to back up my system but would rather use Alienware Respawn (basic). Yes I know the basic version does no system back up but I was thinking of purchasing the Pro version. However I certainly will not if I can't get even the basic version to work. It might help to know that I wiped both drives (well the SSD was new anyway) before installing Win7 x64 and everything else. Therefore the original Alienware recovery partition was wiped.

BTW, I'm Steve Jones too!

 

80gb including the OS is probably too large an image for AWR to create a recovery partition. I'd just clean install with the bare minimum of programs that you will not want to have to reinstall again if using AWR to recover.....then, should you choose to do so, you could upgrade to the premium version of AWR to do frequent backups.

Nice name, by the way!

 

Hmmmph! Too much data, I was afraid that was the answer. Now I have to decide if I want to remove software, or start over or just keep going and punt on AWR. Windows restore points and Acronis for full data back ups is probably the direction I'm headed.

Thanks for the answers! I'm still excited I got the look and feel of Alienware back! I'd have never figured out the login background image thing on my own. Plus the one-stop-shop nature of the OP of this thread is just plain price-less.

Hey, I see you upgraded from 680m to 780m SLI. Not being an expert here does SLI mean two cards attached in tandem or is that just one card? Also upgrading is something I need to consider since I purchased a game that runs too slow: Far Cry 4. My system is 12GB RAM with NVidia 660M. I started looking into it here and found already that I'd need a different heat sink and different cables.

 

Yep, SLI is two graphics cards linked with a cable so that they perform as one. System ram is not really a factor for gaming - even 8gb would be fine. Some games are very poorly optimised and I think FC4 is one of them. You might have to lower some of the graphic options to get a good result. As for upgrading, it depends on what machine you have - telling us might help a bit! - but, yeah.....a GPU upgrade should be doable for you, I imagine and it really is not too complex to do so, or that expensive.