Reverting to Windows 7 from 8...drivers won't work?

limbiclibrarian

Honorable
Jun 8, 2012
7
0
10,510
Hey all!

I have a Dell XPS 1702x and reverted from Windows 7 to Windows 8 by installing Windows 7 over 8 via CD. I was originally going to restore from the recovery drive, but it was no longer visible. The installation of 7 worked fine, but I noticed that I couldn't get internet access.

No problem, I thought, and inserted my Dell Driver CD. However, now all the network adapters won't install or give some error message. I also can't get Windows 7 to recognize the card, and plugging in a hard connection won't work either (but it oddly still recognizes the bluetooth card?)

I noticed that there is still a recovery partition while messing around.

What's the best route of action here, given the Dell drivers will not work?
 

limbiclibrarian

Honorable
Jun 8, 2012
7
0
10,510
Thanks for the reply.

I tried using my unique service tag to get the drivers dell supposedly shipped my computer with and it didn't work, but perhaps I have to upgrade the BIOS first? (Would that have any impact?)
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
Moderator
It should have no impact, but won't hurt to be current either. If the system shipped with Win 8, getting those drivers won't necessarily help with your Win 7 install. Just select Windows 7 per the link I sent you and you'll be good to go.