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From: Nick on 28 Jul 2010 20:27

On Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:53:18 -0400, in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell, Christopher
Muto <muto(a)worldnet.att.net> wrote:

>the caveats of windows 7 64 are most commonly lack of compatibility with
>older printers (must check the availability of drivers for your
>make/model printer or simply resign to buying a new one)
<snip>

One thing for the original poster: if the driver for your printer isn't
included in your Win7 installation, you may be able to find one by letting
Windows go online to get a more complete listing of printer drivers: that's
what I had to do.

This was a couple of months ago and I don't remember the precise
step-by-step, but it was something like this:

When I tried to install my (very old) printer on Win7, Windows didn't
auto-detect it. So then I tried to option to manually pick the printer from
a list of printers in order to install the driver, but mine wasn't on the
list.

There was an option in there to download a complete up-to-date list of
printers from Windows Update, so I used that. Took a few minutes to
download the entire list, but once I did I scrolled through it and found my
exact make and model of printer in the updated list.

Once I installed the driver from the updated list, the printer worked fine.

--
Nick <mailto:tanstaafl(a)pobox.com>

Nick's First Law of Computer Virus Complaints:

Just because your computer is acting strangely or one of your programs
doesn't work right, this does NOT mean that your computer has a virus.
From: ahall on 28 Jul 2010 20:44
Christopher Muto <muto(a)worldnet.att.net> writes:

> ahall(a)no-spam-panix.com wrote:
> > I am thinking of getting a Dell Latitude 6510 for my
> > son's college computer.
> > Would there be any serious downside to buying a student
> > version of Win 7 64 bit?
> > Are drives a problem with the 64 bit OSs? Would I be able
> > to get the needed post install drivers from Dell? Would it
> > be a problem for printer drivers for a simple all-in-one
> > printer?
> > I have never installed an OS from scratch. Any questions
> > I should be asking?
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
>
> it is probably a good idea to contact your sons college and talk to
> the college store or computer center. they often have package deals
> that are very complete machines with full warranties for students.
> most colleges align themselves with a particular vendor or two which
> often means they have an on site tech with replacements parts at the
> ready which greatly reduces down time.

I have done that, they have no special deals, and do not favor macs
or PCs. I did get a deal through one of the other kid's college.

> the caveats of windows 7 64 are most commonly lack of compatibility
> with older printers (must check the availability of drivers for your
> make/model printer or simply resign to buying a new one) and with
> certain vpn software products (vpn is used to connect remote computers
> to other networks, ie office working connecting to office) but you
> probably don't have to worry about that.
>
> not sure why you are asking about the operating system and installing
> it... dell doesn't sell any latitudes without operating systems.

I can only find media in the case of buying Win 7 32bit with a XP
downgrade option. I believe that means the computer ships with XP
installed, and one does an install if one wants Win 7.

As I would prefer 64 bit for Peter, I had thought of getting a student
discount upgrade version of Win 7 64 bit, but I am told that you cannot
upgrade to a 64 bit OS from a 32 bit OS (contractually).

So I checked out pricing for retail Win 7, and it is about 150, but they
noted that the disc comes with both 32 and 64 bit version of Win 7. So
I wondered if the Dell media also comes in both flavors, then when I installed
Win 7 I could select 64 bit (but that seems a bit too good to be true).

> but you should go for the academic pricing on office...
> http://www.microsoft.com/student/office/en-us/

Yes, that is where I will get him office.

> here's a good deal on the e6510
> http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=blcyy3y&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04

Thanks, I will check it out.

Thanks again for your (and that of others) time,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)
From: ahall on 28 Jul 2010 20:49
dg1261 <dgREMOVE-THIS1261(a)cs.com> writes:

> <ahall(a)no-spam-panix.com> wrote in news:kpg62zzl35c.fsf(a)panix1.panix.com:
>
> >> 2- As I said, the student version is an upgrade, and 32-bit Windows
> >> can't be upgraded to 64-bit Windows.
> >
> > Ahh, I did not know that. Deal killer.
> >
>
>
> However, you can accomplish what you want by clean-installing Win7 from the
> upgrade media. See
> http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp .
>
> Back in December the student versions of Win7 were $29, so I was upgrading
> a whole bunch of XP and Vista computers for students using Thurrott's
> method.


I must be missing something. How do these methods allow upgrading a 32 bit OS
to a 64 bit OS?

Thanks,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)
From: ahall on 28 Jul 2010 20:56
Christopher Muto <muto(a)worldnet.att.net> writes:

> ahall(a)no-spam-panix.com wrote:
> > I am thinking of getting a Dell Latitude 6510 for my
> > son's college computer.
> > Would there be any serious downside to buying a student
> > version of Win 7 64 bit?
> > Are drives a problem with the 64 bit OSs? Would I be able
> > to get the needed post install drivers from Dell? Would it
> > be a problem for printer drivers for a simple all-in-one
> > printer?
> > I have never installed an OS from scratch. Any questions
> > I should be asking?
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
>
> it is probably a good idea to contact your sons college and talk to
> the college store or computer center. they often have package deals
> that are very complete machines with full warranties for students.
> most colleges align themselves with a particular vendor or two which
> often means they have an on site tech with replacements parts at the
> ready which greatly reduces down time.
>
> the caveats of windows 7 64 are most commonly lack of compatibility
> with older printers (must check the availability of drivers for your
> make/model printer or simply resign to buying a new one) and with
> certain vpn software products (vpn is used to connect remote computers
> to other networks, ie office working connecting to office) but you
> probably don't have to worry about that.
>
> not sure why you are asking about the operating system and installing
> it... dell doesn't sell any latitudes without operating systems.
>
> but you should go for the academic pricing on office...
> http://www.microsoft.com/student/office/en-us/
>
> here's a good deal on the e6510
> http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=blcyy3y&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04


That path does not give the FHD screen option.

Dell has gotten pretty frustrating, the same base system can have a lot
of options, but only some of which are available from different starting
points. The i7 processors are available with other starting points too,
and not on the above one. I do not know why they do not have one starting
point will all options available (they do let one know when one is choosing
incompatible options, so that should not be the problem).

Thanks yet again,


--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell...)
From: Daddy on 28 Jul 2010 21:53
On 7/28/2010 6:01 PM, dg1261 wrote:
> <ahall(a)no-spam-panix.com> wrote in news:kpg62zzl35c.fsf(a)panix1.panix.com:
>
>>> 2- As I said, the student version is an upgrade, and 32-bit Windows
>>> can't be upgraded to 64-bit Windows.
>>
>> Ahh, I did not know that. Deal killer.
>>
>
>
> However, you can accomplish what you want by clean-installing Win7 from the
> upgrade media. See
> http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp .
>
> Back in December the student versions of Win7 were $29, so I was upgrading
> a whole bunch of XP and Vista computers for students using Thurrott's
> method.
>
>

Don't misrepresent. Starting with Windows 7, you can no longer install
an upgrade version of Windows on a blank hard disc.

Used to be, you could install an upgrade version of Windows on a blank
hard disc, and during the install Setup would ask you to insert a disc
for a qualifying earlier version of Windows. No more.

Now, you have to have a qualifying earlier version of Windows installed
on the hard disc. When Setup sees a qualifying earlier version of
Windows on the disc, it will allow you to erase the disc and install
your upgrade version on the now-blank disc.

And it's not the 'Thurrott method' -- that's how Microsoft designed it.

--
Daddy
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