- Feb 27, 2015
- 18
- 0
- 4,510
Background: My sister's laptop is a Dell Inspiron 14R (N4010). Her hard drive crashed, so I ordered and installed a Samsung 850 EVO SSD. I just finished installing Windows 7, which I haven't yet activated or updated because the laptop won't connect to the Internet, by Wi-Fi or Ethernet. I assume this means I need to install some drivers. This is where I'm stuck.
Problem: I'm racking my brain trying to decide on the installation order of the applications, drivers, firmware, etc., from Dell's website. See these two links for comparison:
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/inspiron-14r/drivers
http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/SLN148687
My list of grievances:
1. The first link (sorting by "installation order") would have me begin with installing applications, moving on to drivers, then on to firmware, and finishing with BIOS. It stresses that if "drivers are installed out of order, they may fail on installation and/or your device might not work correctly." Yet all 26 proper drivers are lumped together in no particular order.
2. The second link gives a specific order, but it's seems to be at odds with the instructions at the downloads page (the first link). For example, the first link says to begin with installing applications, but at the second link, an application is ninth in order.
3. Furthermore, the second link mentions only one application. There are eight available for download at the first link. When should I install these other applications?
4. “PCMCIA and/or Smartcard” drivers and “Intel Matrix Storage Manager” are listed as third and fourth to install, but correct me if I'm wrong, they're not at the Dell downloads page.
5. Conversely, there are drivers available for download that aren't mentioned in the order at the second link, as far as I can tell, such as “Dell 32 Bit Diagnostics Utility.”
6. Similarly, there's a BIOS update available for download but it's not mentioned in the ordered list at the second link. Should I install, and if so, when?
As you can see, I'm thoroughly confused. Help would be greatly appreciated!
Problem: I'm racking my brain trying to decide on the installation order of the applications, drivers, firmware, etc., from Dell's website. See these two links for comparison:
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/inspiron-14r/drivers
http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/SLN148687
My list of grievances:
1. The first link (sorting by "installation order") would have me begin with installing applications, moving on to drivers, then on to firmware, and finishing with BIOS. It stresses that if "drivers are installed out of order, they may fail on installation and/or your device might not work correctly." Yet all 26 proper drivers are lumped together in no particular order.
2. The second link gives a specific order, but it's seems to be at odds with the instructions at the downloads page (the first link). For example, the first link says to begin with installing applications, but at the second link, an application is ninth in order.
3. Furthermore, the second link mentions only one application. There are eight available for download at the first link. When should I install these other applications?
4. “PCMCIA and/or Smartcard” drivers and “Intel Matrix Storage Manager” are listed as third and fourth to install, but correct me if I'm wrong, they're not at the Dell downloads page.
5. Conversely, there are drivers available for download that aren't mentioned in the order at the second link, as far as I can tell, such as “Dell 32 Bit Diagnostics Utility.”
6. Similarly, there's a BIOS update available for download but it's not mentioned in the ordered list at the second link. Should I install, and if so, when?
As you can see, I'm thoroughly confused. Help would be greatly appreciated!
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram