Just upgraded my Inspiron 1520 from Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit to Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, downloaded the iso file from Microsoft Store and was told to perform a custom clean installation. Having backed up my Documents and Pictures on another hard drive, I've deleted the windows.old folder which contained all the old vista programs.
I've installed the recommended Windows Update for 7. Still notice a couple drives missing for hardware components, so I installed the GeForce 8600m GT drive from Nvidia's website. Seems like Dell's site has outdated drives, and the only way I'm going to be able to get the proper drives is downloadingdirectly from the manufacturer websites.
I've also noticed my wireless connection kept dropping when I installed 2 optional updates 1) Broadcom - Bus Controllers and Ports - Dell Wireless 355 Module with Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR Technology 2) Broadcom driver update for Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card. I did a system restore to before these two installations. Wonder if I should download from the manufacturer's site or I might try installing it at a later time and see what happens.
I called Dell to ask about the hardware components and the manufacturing company. Do I need to install a driver for any of the hardware after doing a clean Windows 7 Professional installation? Processor-Intel T5250 Core Merom; CD/DVD Sony 24X CGSY; Broadcom DW 1390 Wireless Mini-Card; Dell Wireless Bluetooth 355; Mic Liteon Mobile 2008.
Also, trying to find an updated driver for Memory Card Reader, Windows 7 directs me to the Dell website to install a Vista drive. I think thee Memory Card Reader for my Inspiron 1520 is a Ricoh R5C 833 or 847 chipset R188776. I think Windows Update might have installed 1) Ricoh Company driver update for Ricoh xD-Picture Card Controller 2) Ricoh Company driver update for Ricoh MMC Host Controller. Do I need to install any hardware drives for RAM, the LED screen, Touchpad, Hard Drive, Fans or is it already included with the Windows 7 clean installation? Is DirectX already included in the Windows 7 install?
Another option would be to install the drives from my Dell CD, but it's all the drives for Vista. Is that a good idea or should I download the updated drives individually from the manufacturer websites? Any other suggestions even to questions I haven't asked concerning an upgrade to Windows 7 would be welcome.