Hi All
I happen to have a Dell Precision M4600. I have Windows 8 now since I am a MSDN subscriber.
Note: not all Dell laptops will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 and if you are not sure contact a Dell representative (I do not work for Dell) before you attempt to go to Windows 8. Also, even though I have a solution, that fact does NOT mean that Dell is currently supporting Windows 8 for my laptop model, and I proceed at my own risk. I decided to take this risk because I believe there are good similarities between Windows 7 and Windows 8.
I had followed the download for Windows 7 x64 to get drivers which would work with Windows 8. All the drivers I downloaded (plus the BIOS update) worked fine. The Network-related drivers (including Broadcom UDM and the wireless network) did not work for me.
What did work is a solution I found on another thread. However, I decided to start a new thread so that people going to Windows 8 will go directly to a solution.
For me (the Dell Precision M4600) the solution was:
- Go to the "Drivers and Downloads" area for my computer
- Choose "All FIles for (your computer name -- mine is Dell Precision M4600)"
- Choose "Windows 7 x64" as the operating system (if your computer is older and does not have this choice, then pick the most recent Windows operating system -- or contact technical support to see if you can go to Windows 8)
- Under "Systems Management" you should see more than one file
- Choose the latest "Driver Pack", which is in CAB format (for my laptop model)
- My file was large (over 1 GB) to download, so it took time even on DSL
- I then extracted the files using the free 7-zip software
Then, I went to "Device Manager" (under "Computer", then right-click for "Properties) -- I know for sure that some devices had no driver because they had a yellow exclamation point. I chose to update the driver, then pointed to the directory where the extracted driver files were. I also chose the check box to look for subdirectories.
Going one at a time, the four disconnected devices all found a driver (those devices included all the network-related drivers). Even one new device popped up during the driver installation, so I attached that one to a driver too.
I have decided to keep this CAB file in case I need it -- though as is always true, Dell may update those files in the future, and my copy is only for a backup in case of a disaster (keep drivers that you know will work for sure if you have to replace your hard drive).
Hope this guidance helps -- again, I do not work for Dell, and if you have specific questions about another laptop, please contact Dell technical support.