Uploaded May 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Upgrading this Vista-era Dell Precision M6400 to Windows 10 was no easy task. Despite the transition from Windows 7 being relatively simple, the issue of drivers and getting them to install and coexist happily in Windows 10 proved to be quite an adventure, and not one I hope to repeat anytime soon. Both the Bluetooth and Touchpad put up the biggest fight, but that's not to say everything was a cakewalk.
I had initially planned to install Windows 7 on this machine and call it a day, but after learning of Google Chrome's support for the aforementioned ceasing to exist in January of 2023, I figured now was as good a time as any to make the jump to Windows 10, as a number of programs have already begun to phase out support for older version of Windows, 7 included.
Thankfully, after much trial and tribulation, everything is up and running on my new-to-me Precision M6400 and my experience so far has been pretty positive. Sure there's been some low-level nuisance value stuff to contend with, like Windows always picking the worst time to notify me of a pending update restart, or not asking (by default) whether I'm sure I want to delete a file--little stuff like that.
All things considered, I'm pretty content with how things turned out, and you'll be kept toasty warm during the winter months thanks to its blast furnace-like heat output which has lead to it overheating and subsequently locking up. I'm sure a laptop cooling pad could certainly help the situation greatly, but for now, propping the computer up on a slanted angle seems to have greatly reduced the frequency with which these overheating events occur.
Upgrading this Vista-era Dell Precision M6400 to Windows 10 was no easy task. Despite the transition from Windows 7 being relatively simple, the issue of drivers and getting them to install and coexist happily in Windows 10 proved to be quite an adventure, and not one I hope to repeat anytime soon. Both the Bluetooth and Touchpad put up the biggest fight, but that's not to say everything was a cakewalk.
I had initially planned to install Windows 7 on this machine and call it a day, but after learning of Google Chrome's support for the aforementioned ceasing to exist in January of 2023, I figured now was as good a time as any to make the jump to Windows 10, as a number of programs have already begun to phase out support for older version of Windows, 7 included.
Thankfully, after much trial and tribulation, everything is up and running on my new-to-me Precision M6400 and my experience so far has been pretty positive. Sure there's been some low-level nuisance value stuff to contend with, like Windows always picking the worst time to notify me of a pending update restart, or not asking (by default) whether I'm sure I want to delete a file--little stuff like that.
All things considered, I'm pretty content with how things turned out, and you'll be kept toasty warm during the winter months thanks to its blast furnace-like heat output which has lead to it overheating and subsequently locking up. I'm sure a laptop cooling pad could certainly help the situation greatly, but for now, propping the computer up on a slanted angle seems to have greatly reduced the frequency with which these overheating events occur.
