Upgrading home computers to Windows 7...Driver questions

What would be the best way to find out if there are supported drivers for all the components in Windows 7 for my sisters Gateway 7330gz laptop? I found this link but it only lists the XP drivers. I asked gateway support and they were pretty much useless, so whats the best way of figuring it out? Just going in to device manager and doing lots of googling for each component?

Also, for another laptop in my house, if it runs Windows Vista, does that automatically mean that there is driver support for Windows 7, as they both have the same driver foundation?

Thanks.

 

There is nothing useless about Gateway Support or any other notebook manufacturers when come to W7 drivers.

Microsoft expects device manufacturers to submit drivers to be part of the OS.

Most of the time, after W7 installation, you just need to get on the net for updates, and W7 will likely pull down almost all of your comp device drivers.

For Vista machine, you should be able to use Vista drivers for W7.

cheers ...

 

Maybe not, but they never got around to answering my question

First they asked for the S/N number of the laptop, but then they said it was not registered in their database. So i confirmed the S/N number, they still could not find it. They then asked me to fax them the receipt of the store i bought it from, and when i told them i did not have it they refused to help me, despite the fact that i already sent them the S/N number twice. You could say it was my fault for not having the receipt, but it was still pretty uncool of them for not answering a simple question without it, and for somehow not being able to find the laptop in their database.

Oh well, thanks for the rest of your reply though. I just tried the beta of the Windows 7 upgrade adviser on my desktop, that should make the upgrade process pretty easy.

 

Keep in mind that the Win7 leaked RC builds time bomb on or about 31 March 2010. You'll need to prepare to buy Real Licenses before then. You will also need to do full bare-metal reloads of each machine as MSFT will not support in-place 'upgrades' from the beat/RC builds to the Real Thing.

 

Oh i know, i was planning on waiting for the official release. Thanks for the reminder though.

 

I would push it up to a higher echelon. Gateway does have this nagging lousy 1st line support and sometimes 1st and 2nd level support do not know what's the other is doing.

cheers ...

 

Windows 7's Windows Update also has a stronger database of hardware drivers, so if you need a driver, and at least can get on ethernet, Windows Update has a decent chance of providing it. I'm sure by October it will be even more thorough.