There should be no need to waste time using a floppy disc. Just run the BIOS .exe file within Windows (as an administrator). The computer will then log off Windows and update the BIOS. Many people will obtain an OEM license from the likes of Newegg: [URL] It is often cheaper and is designed for system builders having less support from Microsoft. However it is more restrictive in the fact that it can't be transferred from 1 computer to another. Regarding Windows 8 being the new Windows Vista or Windows ME, personally I dislike many of the changes in Windows 8 to Windows 7 so I recommend Windows 7. Other Dell Community Rockstars will however recommend Windows 8. However you are best to make an informed decision. See my Windows Reinstallation Guide: [URL] You can evaluate Windows 8 for 90 days using the Enterprise evaluation trial or Windows 7 for 30 days by using a Digital River .iso without a product key. Although it takes time to install them and the drivers its probably best you see how well your system runs and how well you adopt to the new User Interface before spending money on a new license. For the Windows 7 you can input a product key if you decide you want to buy it (for an OEM license you must activate via phone, for the full/upgrade license Internet Activation should work). For the Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation you must clean install again (if you want to get Windows 8). Just to note on hardware I recommend going for the 64 bit versions and this computer should be 64 bit capable. Maxing out the Memory out to 8 GB (2×2×2 GB kits) will help with its performance on the 64 bit OS: [URL] the Crucial scanner will tell you what you have at present. 4 GB or superior is best for the 64 bit OS, so if you have only 2 GB it will run much better with a 4 GB upgrade although matched modules usually work best so I recommend buying them all together. The 32 bit on the other hand can only use about 3.5 GB as a maximum. You can upgrade the RAM after installing the 64 bit OS while evaluating for instance. A 128 GB M4 or superior SSD will also boost the performance significantly if Windows is installed on the drive however you will need to clean install or clone onto the SSD. Likely you can use one of these as a boot drive and your current drive as a data drive. The owners manual will instruct you in replacing the parts: [URL] set the SSD to SATA0 and the data drive (original drive) to SATA1 if you are going to install one.
I would like to upgrade my xps 420 to win 7 using a clean install. From what I've read on this forum and other sites it should be easy enough. The windows upgrade advisor says my system is compatible. It seems like I will need to upgrade the drivers for the Sigma tel hd audio codec and the Intel network connection. Will I have to download these drivers before doing the upgrade or can I do that afterwards. Also I have the 'xcelerator' which I could never get to work. I could however connect an old vcr to the input ports and upload my old tapes to the computer and convert them to digital files. I used the Roxio software that came with the computer to do this. This software may not be compatible with win 7 and I wonder can I do this with other software or will I have to buy an upgrade for Roxio. I read on another post that the firmware should be upgraded to a07. Mine is a03. The instructions for doing this on the dell drivers support page are to copy the file to diskette and boot from the floppy drive, I assume copying to cd would work. I would appreciate any help.
Vista to Win 7 upgrade