Updated SEVERAL driver links.

Also added a section for those who want to slipstream XP SP3 into their source media, along with addons that work with that.

Along those same lines, added the same thing with Vista SP1, how to slipstream/integrate, and what to do.

A great time saver is http://www.innovative-sol.com/drivermax/ ...

The main feature for me is...

You can export all your current drivers (or just the ones that work ok) to a folder or a compressed file. After reinstalling Windows you will have everything in one place!

It's also free....very cool and a good tool to back up all your drivers.

Great guide, will be following it tonight on my XPS 1710

Just need to decide on XP or Vista Premium. Any suggestions? Laptop will be used for gaming

I'd leave the factory(as default) bios alone on vista installation.

All you have to do is install intel driver right before the OS installation.

If you do disable the default setting, you won't be able to use small things like Intel turbo memory.

I've just followed your guide, and my computer is running so much faster now. Just one problem. I didn't slipstream SP1 because I didn't have any DVDs. I suppose you could chalk that one up to laziness. But that being said, I followed all of the other steps, just did the updates manually.

My problem is with the Sigmatel driver. I get an error on installation "device object not found". The original Dell driver is working for me right now, and I'm not having any sound issues. just wondering if anyone else had that problem with the Sigmatel driver.

BTW - I'm on an m1710. Thanks.

Just wanted to register to say thanks Fenuxx and to comment on a couple of things.

First off, the guide is very good. I have a Inspiron 1720 and Vista SP1 installation DVD and followed all of the instructions, only changed a couple of things, they were:

The only driver I had a problem with was the sound card one. I downloaded the file that Fenuxx stated, but unfortunatly when I tried to install it, it complaned that it couldnt find the device. No worries, I just downloaded the 1720 one from the dell website and it was fine.

The second item was that Fenuxx points out that ACHI should be disabled, prior to installing. I didnt want to disable ACHI as I would also have to disable flash cache module. To get around this, I used the Intel Matrix Storage Driver for the 1720 (which I downloaded from the dell website), unzipped it and installed on a usb drive. When the setup process for Vista got to the point where I was choosing which partition Vista was going, you have an option to install a driver. I just navigated to the location of the driver, installed and it was fine. Be aware - you need to leave the usb drive connected as it requires it again when the computer restarts the first time I left it in for the whole process). This worked fine, no problems - ACHI is still enabled and everything works fine.

I disabled the indexing as Fenuxx points out. The two drives were completely disabled (including all subfolders and files) but when I went in to keep the "Start Menu" indexed, there was nothing in the control panel settings to remove (not even the "Start Menu". According to the indexing options, im still indexing 142 files, so maybe the indexing is still going, but the computer is working fantastically. Does anyone know how to add a location to be indexed ??

One last thing, for anyone wondering like me, using drivers which were not specified drivers for your model installed fine, apart from the sound card as above.

Thanks again Fenuxx, fantastic guide.

Oh crap, there is an order to install the drivers?
After several tries I finally finished have all devices of my M6300 working on Vista x64.
=/

I'm totally new to this slipstream install stuff. I headed over to the vlite forums and posted a question but I haven't received a reply yet, so I thought I'd ask here since it's somewhat Dell specific. Can I use my Dell OEM Vista Home Premium disc to create a vlite ISO, or does vlite require a standalone Vista disc like you'd get if you bought it independent of a computer purchase?

Thanks in advance.

Yes, you can use your Dell disk with no problems.

íàäî ïî÷àùå çàõîäèòü íàâåðíîå