i have a dell XPS 17. its a great laptop serves me well. HOWEVER the HDD is failing. id like to get a SSD for it, but im not sure i can find my dell discs. since ive never replaced a hdd in a factory built machine before.........(here comes the dumb question)....
can i just buy a windows 7 disk ( unless i can find my factory discs) and install windows? or is there some weird thing that wont allow me to? i have all my drivers in a folder. id just like to get a little more life out of this laptop so im hoiping i can just get like a 250gd ssd or maybe a lil bigger, install windows and be up and running( and possibly faster)
You should be able to get everything you need from Dell's website. Just get the proper image for your OS and get the drivers from Dell. It should be easy as pie.
You should be able to get everything you need from Dell's website. Just get the proper image for your OS and get the drivers from Dell. It should be easy as pie.
You can re-install, and re-activate the same version of windows that orginally came with your laptop as much as you like (on the same laptop with different HDD's/SSD's). Under your laptop, there should be a windows serial key that's tied to your motherboard, that's the key that you can use the re-activate windows whenever you re-install it on your XPS 17.
Go to this LINK and type in that serial to download windows 7. If you don't have the sticker under your laptop anymore, then you can use Belarc's Advisor to pull your serial key from the OS (assuming the laptop still works with the failing HDD)
Your XPS should have the genuine windows tag underneath or in the battery compartment. Use that key and load the ISO on a bootable flash drive. That will be your best bet for installing windows 7... 2nd, you should upgrade to windows 10. Get a good SSD and your laptop is going to be super fast!
Which version do you have? I'd check first to see if you have a m.2 port or if your SATA port is SATA II or III. My 2010 XPS 14 only has a SATA II. It's crazy fast though, boots in a few seconds with windows 10. It's quite nice.
thanks for the help guy!! i got this laptop in march of 2011 which i believe is the L702x and i believe its only sata (according to the crucial system scan tool)........... and success!!! i have found my windows discs!!! now all i need is a SSD.
any advice on that? ill probably get another HDD for storage bay 2 but im really just interested in that SSD for now.
The others have pretty much got it but I would suggest checking the dell website for any drivers or software that would be specific to the model you have. They might not require any but it's always worth checking
Should look at Microcenter's deals right now on those. It's only $144 for the 500gb 850 Evo. $169 for the NVMe 256gb PCI-e ssd. I went back and got my $35 back from the 512gb NVMe drive going on sale for only $297 when it was $330 when I bough a week ago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Squeeker The Cat
i have a dell XPS 17. its a great laptop serves me well. HOWEVER the HDD is failing. id like to get a SSD for it, but im not sure i can find my dell discs. since ive never replaced a hdd in a factory built machine before.........(here comes the dumb question)....
can i just buy a windows 7 disk ( unless i can find my factory discs) and install windows? or is there some weird thing that wont allow me to? i have all my drivers in a folder. id just like to get a little more life out of this laptop so im hoiping i can just get like a 250gd ssd or maybe a lil bigger, install windows and be up and running( and possibly faster)
You can just make a USB installer from Microsoft's website so you can install fast and easy from USB drive, then just use your code that's on the bottom of your laptop and all is good. Don't buy anything bud.
Will you be planning on getting windows 10 on this thing? ^^ If so, just fresh install windows 10 then put your win7 key into it and it will activate ^^
Yeah, I agree. I like windows 10 a lot more than 7 for sure. If you want to go fresh install of windows 10, just google windows media creation tool, the first thing that pops up in google search should be the page that you can download the creation tool. Then that will let you make the USB installer from that very easy. Takes about 20min or so. Then installing 10 is simple.
EDIT:
Here, no need to search, here's a link to the page, just towards the bottom you see download tool. That's all you need, and a 4 or 8 gig usb drive
You have to install the EXACT same copy of windows that the code is labeled for as in Home, Pro, Ultimate. You can't have a windows 7 home code, and install 7 pro and it work. That should be the only reason why the code wouldn't work. I've done this over 100 times easy for all the laptops I've reloaded for many people. 90% of the laptops I do for people consist of pulling the stock (5400rpm most of the time) mechanical drive out and putting a 256gig - 500gig SSD in, and then installing a fresh copy of windows from Microsoft, not the bloatware infested versions that come on the laptops, and then install drivers, software, and tools needed for the laptop to work as it should. I have never ran into a problem installing a copy of windows like that.
You have to install the EXACT same copy of windows that the code is labeled for as in Home, Pro, Ultimate. You can't have a windows 7 home code, and install 7 pro and it work. That should be the only reason why the code wouldn't work. I've done this over 100 times easy for all the laptops I've reloaded for many people. 90% of the laptops I do for people consist of pulling the stock (5400rpm most of the time) mechanical drive out and putting a 256gig - 500gig SSD in, and then installing a fresh copy of windows from Microsoft, not the bloatware infested versions that come on the laptops, and then install drivers, software, and tools needed for the laptop to work as it should. I have never ran into a problem installing a copy of windows like that.
The ISO from microsoft requires your serial key to download it.
When I enter my serial key from the windows genuine sticker, the website just says error
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