Retail win 7 on laptop

[jfreibott]

I am getting a Dell XPS 16 with win 7 home premium, and I am also getting the 3 pack win 7 ultimate through work, and would like to have that on the laptop. Can you perform a clean install of retail version windows on a laptop? Does win 7 have laptop drivers, or would it work well enough to get online and download drivers (if you can even download laptop drivers online???)? I say clean install, instead of an upgrade, because I don't really care to have all that extra stuff on there that seems to come preinstalled on laptops.
Thanks,

 

[frozenlead]

I don't know why you wouldn't think notebook drivers are available online - they've been that way for almost forever.

Your notebook is already coming with Windows 7. You'll have drivers for it. IMO, you're wasting an install of it, ultimate is pretty much nothing over home premium, but if it's what you want, that's fine I guess.

 

[jfreibott]

I know it's a waste. But, I have 2 desktops and the laptop, with a 3 license win 7 ultimate. Why not? Just wondered if it were possible. Never had a laptop before, so wasn't sure about the drivers. I've always heard that Dell was very propriatary. Didn't know if they had some version of windows that their hardware would only work on.

 

[frozenlead]

It will work just fine, I just think that upgrading to ultimate is a waste of time. It doesn't have to be done, and really won't improve anything - why bother?

But if it's what you want to do, go ahead.

 

[End of Line]

Ive been running both RC1 and RTM versions of Win7 for a few months - its a helluva lot better OS that Vista. As far as drivers, Ive always had mine at the ready during install, but Win7 found everything it needed to get online wirelessly immediately. Id still recommend using the third party graphics/mobo drivers at least.
I completely agree with you on formatting/installing your notebook. Youll most likely notice a significant performance increase once you un-Dell it. Every one of my new systems immediately gets wiped first thing ootb. And if youre really worried about wasting an install license, you should be able to use the OEM product key on your notebook with the Ultimate install disk and just do a fresh install of Home Premium - Ive had some success that way with Vista. (The disk contains the entirety of the OS software and the key basically 'unlocks' the version youre licensed to have).

 

[jfreibott]

un-dell, I like that. Thanks, End of Line. Like I said, I never had a laptop before, but I hate all the bloatware I've seen on other people's laptops. Good to know that there won't be a problem formatting and starting with a fresh install, even if I do leave it Home Premium!