Installing Windows 7 on a Dell Latitude 5000 series

Hey,
I've had this Dell Latitude for two days now and I'm hitting a wall—can't get any of the Windows drivers to actually install, specifically the WLAN and graphics stuff...
Every single driver I grabbed from the Dell site keeps throwing compatibility errors at me...
Running Windows 7 64-bit....

I managed to force the network driver through, then ran updates... the system downloaded like 500 different updates, but none of them actually picked up the missing drivers....

Part of me wonders if the issue is just the OS version I'm using? (since it's one of those sketchy versions with a cracked installer)

http://www8.dell.com/us/en/products/la...ml?oid=9753472

I won't even get started on Windows, but yeah, it’s possible. Honestly, you've probably already botched the installation by forcing those heavy drivers in, so my advice? Just wipe the drive and do a clean install of Windows. Once that's done, go straight to this site:

http://support.hp.com/hr-en/drivers

Let their own software scan everything and find what it needs. That usually works fine. Plus, they actually list warnings for certain OS versions over there.

darkowl72 said:I won't even get started on Windows, but yeah, it’s possible. Honestly, you've probably already botched the installation by forcing those heavy drivers in, so my advice? Just wipe the drive and do a clean install of Windows. Once that's done, go straight to this site:

http://support.hp.com/hr-en/drivers

Let their own software scan everything and find what it needs. That usually works fine. Plus, they actually list warnings for certain OS versions over there.

Yeah... I'm pretty sure I did...
found the specific WLAN specs, grabbed the driver directly from Intel's site, and that part's working—but I still can't get the audio dialed in...

It's pretty lame that the drivers on the Dell page for this model aren't doing the job....

Which version of Windows 7 64-bit are you using? Dell likes to play games by suggesting drivers that aren't actually their official ones. I won't get into the weeds on how they do it, but I'd say just grab a high-quality version of Windows, do a clean install, and then install everything directly from their site—just make sure they actually match the specific version of Windows you have installed. It would also be a good idea to check exactly which components are inside that specific laptop model. They use multiple different suppliers, so not every Dell Latitude has the exact same hardware. When you're hunting for drivers on their website, the easiest way is to use the serial number to find the precise model and series, then just pick your OS and grab the drivers you need.

Honestly, I’ve never run into this issue before... now the audio is driving me absolutely insane

And what’s that support guy saying about finding the right drivers?

darkowl72 said:And what’s that support guy saying about finding the right drivers?

Their software keeps flagging the Realtek Audio as a failed installation... nothing new there—same old story from before...

Device Manager is also showing a bunch of other items with missing drivers too.