SOLVED Dell E1505

[metalmania31]

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.

 

[catilley1092]

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.

 

[metalmania31]

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?

 

[Nibiru2012]

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.

 

[metalmania31]

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

 

[Nibiru2012]

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

 

[metalmania31]

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

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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.

 

[catilley1092]

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.

 

[Nibiru2012]

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

 

[catilley1092]

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.

 

[metalmania31]

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

Cool, I'll definitely check it out.

 

[metalmania31]

I just added Readyboost to the laptop. Wow, I didn't really think it would make much difference, but just about everything loads even faster. I tried it on my desktop too, but it got corrupted and I had to take it off. Plus my desktop has more ram than my laptop so it didn't seem that much faster on my desktop. But my laptop was much more noticeable, since it has 2G less ram.
While I was playing with that I decided to put them in a workgroup too. That was interesting. I see they have new thing in Win 7 called homegroup. I didn't see a huge need to have that with the "workgroup" setup. Seems kinda redundant. I noticed my laptop now boots up way faster than my desktop, but part of that has to do with my dual boot, even then my laptop smokes my desktops boot time. That's kinda surprising, since my desktops specs are higher.

 

[Nibiru2012]

Home Group is part of the networking setup in Windows 7, whether or nor you're on a home network or a public network such as a library, office, cafe, etc.

 

[maldi]

e1505 and dead battery install and win 7

I have an e1505 with a dead battery and have had some problems when reformating. also, xp sp3 wont install successfully, gets stuck towards end. Any advice? Do i need to just suck it up and get a battery?

 

[Nibiru2012]

If you want to install right away, take out the battery and just use it powered from the AC adapter. The old (dead) battery is sucking power off and that's what's causing the issues.

I have done several new installs on laptops with no battery in them. As a matter of fact they install quite well with no issues.

Then just go to wherever your local battery supplier is in your town or thru an internet purchase. BatteriesPlus have good pricing, believe it or not so do some sellers on eBay.