[SOLVED] Dell E1505

So I want to Install win 7 pro 32bit on my Dell E1505. My ? is do I need to have the battery in it to install? My current battery is pretty much crap and it no longer even detects so I don't know how much charge there is on it, but I usually always have it stationary and plugged in so I don't care to buy a new battery unless I'm forced to.

No, the battery doesn't have to be installed. I've been in the same situation, and installed many OS's with a dead battery in it. No problem.

Also, did you completely wipe the drive or did you just upgrade over the XP installation. What shoud I do to prep it? I've never wiped a laptop before. Is there any proprietary Dell software I will have to reinstall? Or do I just need to install the necessary drivers?

1. You will have to do a clean install (or custom install as Windows 7 calls it). It is not possible to upgrade install from XP.

2. Set your DVD drive as the First Boot Drive or Device in the laptop's BIOS. Put in the install DVD and reboot. You'll see a prompt to "Press any key to boot from CD/DVD drive". Do that within 5 seconds or you'll have to start over and reboot.

3. Once the install begins you'll get to a screen showing the hard drive and any partitions on it. Go ahead and delete all the partitions using the "Advanced" option in the window field below. Then create a new partition(s).

The partition for the OS install should be about 48-64 GB in size, then the remainder of the hard drive a separate partition for miscellaneous files and such. Then proceed installing the Windows 7 OS to the first partition you created.

4. You really don't need any DELL drivers or software, unless you want them. Just be sure to install the latest drivers for the main chipset, graphics media accelerator, sound, wireless networking, etc.

Get the drivers from the chipset makers websites, usually more up-to-date and compatible with Windows 7.

Well, so far so good. It runs really well. I was a little concerned, but it's running well. No issues so far.

Good to hear it went well for ya! Now that wasn't so bad now was it?

co

Yeah I wasn't sure if Dell had any hardware that would cause driver issues. I was able to install all the drivers and my apps/software that I like and it's running. The only thing I couldn't run was Sim City 4. After a Google search apparently it's not compatible. Oh well. I noticed it boots much faster than when I had Win XP Pro on here. It shuts down faster too. I'd been running Win 7 Pro on my desktop for a few weeks now so I thought I get it installed on my laptop too. I'm definitely glad I did.

Same here, on my Dell laptop, Windows 7 fires up twice as fast as XP Pro does. And some says that 7 causes battery life problems. Bull! My battery life (with a full charge) is about 20 to 25 minutes longer than with XP. BTW, metalmania31, on eBay, oftentimes you can get batteries for Dell laptops for around $40 or so. Sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more. There are plenty of battery resellers there.

Metalmania - If you are located near a BatteriesPlus store, you could check them out too for laptop batteries. Their batteries are usually top quality and you have them close if you need service.

I have had several friends and client get replacement batteries there for everything from cell phones to laptops; the quality and longevity were better than the OEM batteries.

Check 'em out on the web. www.batteriesplus.com

Yeah, those OEM batteries never last as long as good aftermarket ones do, and many aftermarket batteries can save you huge. Not just laptop ones, but cell & home phone ones, too. On my ancient Motorola cell phone, I found a thicker, "extra life" battery with the cover from Radio Shack three years ago, for only $35. I can still talk for three hours on a full charge. Those "OEM" batteries are often way overpriced, regardless of the item it's being replaced on.