Windows 7 on Dell Studio XPS 16

Hello guys! I ordered a SXPS16 and it should be here any day. I am currently on XP and I know the system comes shipped with Vista. I don't mind Vista at all, but 7 looks amazing and I want to use that as my primary OS right away. I have the RTM and a key, so is there any special steps I take before reformatting with Win 7? Anyone else done this already and have any advice they can pass along to me? Was it smooth or a lot of problems/conflicts? Thanks for all the help, love.

 

As far as I know you should pay attention to the following:

1. If you want to use the facial recognition software (and all other stuff that is loaded in the default factory image) you can download it from smartsource.dell.com, but this does not always work (I cannot access the site because the activeX control does not work for instance)

2. You should pay attention to the ATI GPU driver version you are using. By default the 8.6 version is loaded, but the 9.7 version is available from ATI. I've been reading up on the stuff, but the experiences are mixed; one says it works fine, and the other reverts back to older versions as they appear to improve performance.

3. The Performance index scale changed from Vista to Windows 7. Max score was 5.9 in Vista, with Windows 7 it is I believe 7.9. Could be fun to see the experience index for your machine on both OS'es.

Have Fun!

 

Why not dual boot Vista and Win 7? That way you have a fall back totally functional operating system while you play with Win 7 and get all the drivers to work.

If anyone has installed Win 7 on the XPS16 x 1640 and would like to put together a comprehensive list of working drivers and locations that would be very much appreciated.

 

It's actually a very easy install. The computer is 100% usable at initial boot with only a few things like the card reader and the bluetooth, if you have it, not working at first. Most of the Vista drivers work fine with the exception of some issues with the bluetooth. It's a very easy install.

By the way, I ran exclusively with Win 7 after having it dual booted for about 2 weeks. There really was no reason to keep Vista on it once I got the Blu-Ray software to work with Win 7. Just my preference, but everything worked flawlessly.

 

Did you ever get the correct bluetooth drivers to work?

Also, if u delete Vista and go with Win 7 now, what happens when the "official" release copy arrives? Reinstall Win 7 and all your applications again? Kind of a pain.

 

Yeah. They balked once in awhile upon boot, but then they would clear themselves up. It was weird but that's one thing about Win 7, it fixes 99% of the issues that come up. It just makes sure you know what is going on and you have to click OK for it to fix the issues. Viper, I've never bought a Windows OS before, they've always come with the computer. I was fully prepared to shell out whatever I needed to for Win 7, it's that good, in my opinion of course.

Not to change the subject, but what year and model Viper do you have? I'm assuming a GTS? I rented a 2000 R/T 10 for a day in Maui and man, what a blast that was to drive. I actually hit the limiter winding out 2nd gear because the car was pulling so hard still and that was back when they "only" had 400 hp.

 

I was just wondering if it's worth installing Win 7 now, and all my applications (like Office etc) when I will be getting the free WIN 7 upgrade disk that was offered with the laptop purchase. If I have to reinstall Win 7 at that time I'll have to reinstall all the apps again I assume. I'm just deciding if it's worth the time now. I intend to dump Vista asap.

OT alert: I have two Viper GTS's. I have a '97 Blue and White and a '98 Red. They are very fun and very powerful indeed. Both have over 500 lbs of torque with some minor mods I have done and pull like freight trains. The '96 is the keeper, it is considered the most collectable because of the color. They are toys for the weekend...

 

It's up to you if you think it's worth it. Formatting and installing Win 7 doesn't take near the time that a Vista format does. It took me close to 3 hours to do all the updating, installing of drivers and all my programs. I would say Win 7 took less than half that time. Again, if I were you I'd just get the 30 gig partition for now and play around with a dual boot of Win 7. At least when you get the upgrade it won't be such a learning curve and you'll be ready to completely dump Vista as soon as you get it.

OT - Very nice. I have no car toys right now. I'm a single father of 4 and 3 year old girls so I have neither the time, nor the money. I'll get back into them eventually though.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys! If anyone else wants to input any of their experiences that would be wonderful!

 

I've got the RTM working on mine, had teh RC before that.

I have a GSkill Falcon in it and it GOES.............. ABSOLUTELY GOES.....
Installed 9.7's, Quickset, and I believe that's it... and it is just amazing.

Only thing I don't like, is on the RC, it started to lag. 30 mins into a game, it would get really choppy for like 2 seconds, sometimes go, sometimes stay and I'd have to quit.

Network streaming (even on ethernet cable) was skipping for 2/3/4 seconds every 20 seconds or so.

Annoying! No idea what it is

 

Wait, I think i have the Windows 7 RC (from the official MS website along with the key they provided, so it's valid until next year..or until I get the free upgrade from Dell). Where do you obtain the RTM and how long is that valid for? Is there a huge difference between the RC and the RTM? Thanks!

 

If you change the browser mode (press F12, change browser mode to IE7) the ActiveX component will work fine.

 

So in essence virtually all the Vista drivers work in Win 7?

 

Pretty much yeah. The ones that won't work will tell you. For the most part everything works with the standard Win 7 drivers. I never put Quickset in, because I hate the popup notification that would minimize my games, and the media keys worked perfect.

 

Whats the easiest way to have dual boot on a single hard drive? Whats software is the best and simplest to have multiple OS? Id like to have XP and Win7, both. Thanks for the advice

 

You don't need any software, it's all built into Windows. The problem is you're going to need to have the know how to format the drive completely and then partition it big enough to have space for both OS's. There is a thread somewhere on here on how to get XP to run on the 1640. From my understanding it's not simple. You'll need to be somewhat computer savvy to do this.

 

Im trying to find the thread on how to install XP on the 1640 and dont seem to find it... having XP (for work reasons) for me is a must so I hope I can get the needed information. Its usually no more than a driver/applications issue and I hope that with the 1640 its not much more than that... bummer...

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=363446

 

btw Win 7 (pro,enterprise,ultimate) has XP virtualisation mode, so maybe u don't necessarily need XP..

 

I'm counting on that for a program I have that will not run on Vista.

 

I got my Studio XPS 16 today and I installed Windows 7 RC via a bootable USB drive. The whole process was extremely easy and very QUICK! I had a fully usable laptop right off the bat, which was amazing. I just installed the ATI drivers so far and thats it! Don't want to bloat it up with all the unnecessary software and leave it as minimal as possible. Loving the OS and a superb laptop from Dell!

 

No missing drivers in device manager?

 

Doesnt seem like it. Anyone else who has installed Windows 7, install anything additional other than ATI Catalyst?

 

How did you get the Blu-Ray software working? I've got a problem where windows will read/burn fine with the Blu-Ray/DVD drive, but burning programs like BurnAware won't burn/recognize the drive.

 

Do you have the bluray burner? If so I can't help you there. I just couldn't get power DVD to work with windows 7 but was able to later on.

 

I don't have the BD Burner, just the reader drive. But it isn't recognized in most burning programs like CDBurner XP (which is compatible with W7 btw). I'm running W7 RTM x64.