Windows 7 x64 drivers for an Inspiron 1520?

I'm installing Windows Vista (64-bit edition) on my Dell Inspiron 1520.



Previously I was using the 32-bit edition, with the Vista-32 drivers from the Inspiron 1520 page on the Dell website.



As you know, Dell does not officially support 64-bit on the Inspiron 1520, although the processor is 64-bit capable. Thus, there are no Vista-64 drivers on the Inspiron 1520 page. I'm searching for appropriate drivers, but am unsure on the following issues:



1) Often a Dell Vista-64 driver exists on the Dell website, for the exact same device as mine, but for a different laptop. Especially when intended for newer laptops, these drivers often have a higher version number (and more recent release date) than the corresponding Vista-32 driver available for the old Inspiron 1520. Is it safe to install these?



2) Is it safe to install drivers directly from the device manufacturer? For example, can I download the Matrix Storage Manager or INF Chipset driver directly from Intel, or does the Dell version have customizations that are essential for my laptop?



Can anybody help me out? Any comments on the issue will be appreciated.

Reply 1 : Windows 7 x64 drivers for an Inspiron 1520?

If the drivers for another model are for the exact same device as the one in your 1520, then it should be safe to install.

Reply 2 : Windows 7 x64 drivers for an Inspiron 1520?

Any other opinions on this matter?

Reply 3 : Windows 7 x64 drivers for an Inspiron 1520?

Almost everything works out of box with Windows 7 64bit (I'm using it now).



You only need a few things: 1) Graphics Driver, 2) Ricoh R5C833 Media Card Reader Drivers, 3) Synaptics TouchPad Drivers



Graphics Drivers

If you have Intel graphics, the drivers are found here: Intel Download Center.

Product Family: Graphics

Product Line: Laptop Graphics Controllers

Product Name: Mobile Intel 965 Express Chipset Family

Operating System: Windows 7, 64-bit



If you have nVidia graphics, the drivers are found here: nVidia Drivers.

Product Type: GeForce

Product Series: GeForce 8M Series (Notebooks)

Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit



Media Card Reader

If you clean install Windows 7, you'll notice that there are some unknown devices in the Device Manager (Other Devices with a yellow question mark next to them). These are for the the Ricoh Media R5C833 card reader built into the side of the laptop. Drivers can be found straight from Dell (listed for another laptop): Dell Search for R234107 (or search dell yourself for R234107).



The file is R234107. When you run it, it will extract the driver to a directory of your choosing. You can either continue with graphical installation (I did not try this), or install the drivers manually in the device manager (this works well).



Synaptics TouchPad

You can download official Synaptics TouchPad drivers directly from the Synaptics Download Page. I had some trouble with the tap-zones in driver version 14.0.3, so if this is still the latest version posted, you might try some beta drivers from the LaptopVideo2Go forums.

Reply 4 : Windows 7 x64 drivers for an Inspiron 1520?

How about things like Quickset or am I the only person still using that :S

Reply 5 : Windows 7 x64 drivers for an Inspiron 1520?

Hi!

Thanks a lot alfredska for your help!



But like demonhotrod I would like to run quickset (I'm on 7 64 bits).

Is it possible?

Thanks!

Reply 6 : Windows 7 x64 drivers for an Inspiron 1520?

I don't know for sure about quickset, as I haven't found any interest in installing it myself. You can try the following though:



Search for R163853 on DellSupport

(or here is a direct link)



This is the closest match I could find for QuickSet for 64bit windows which is compatible with the Inspiron 1520. Please report back if you try it.

Reply 7 : Windows 7 x64 drivers for an Inspiron 1520?

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanmaysasvadkar If you are unable to find working drivers at Dell, perhaps you could provide appropriate info about your Dell computer so we could also look?

Either you haven't read beyond the first post, or you don't realize that QuickSet is software... not a driver.

Reply 8 : Windows 7 x64 drivers for an Inspiron 1520?

Quickset is garbage, I noticed that it slowed my 1520 startup time to a crawl.

Reply 9 : Windows 7 x64 drivers for an Inspiron 1520?

No I don't think QuickSet slow my computer a lot and I found it usefull



Thanks alfredska but I just found it on this blog: http://mileski.wordpress.com/2009/10...4-bit-drivers/

And it works well for me!