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General discussion

[HELP!] Downgrading Windows from Vista to XP

Aug 6, 2007 8:21PM PDT

Hello everyone,

I have ordered a Dell XPS M1330 laptop with Windows Vista Home Premium as the operating system.

I am a student and will be predominantly using the notebook for campus related activities. My university does not fully support Windows Vista, so I will have to downgrade my operating system to Windows XP Professional with SP2.

A genuine, academically licensed version of Windows XP Professional will be provided by the university. However, with all the news I'm hearing about Windows Vista, I want to know about the potential problems that I will be faced with in doing the same (hardware/driver issues and the like...).

Is there an easy way to make the transition?

Thanks in advance for the help. If there's more information needed from me, I will be glad to provide the same.

Discussion is locked

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It's Possible.. Have You Contacted Dell?
Aug 7, 2007 3:55AM PDT

Dell has changed slightly, in that they are allowing XP to be installed on new computers.. Since this is the case, please check with them for a possible Recovery disc with an XP installation on it.. It would then include all drivers and software to factory condition.

If such a disc is not available, see if they have a list of drivers for your machine and possible instructions for downgrading.. If you'd like to read about some of the issues regarding downgrading, please read the link below. It's a long thread about HP computers but reading all the posts should give you a heads-up on the issues and success stories.:

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-12546_102-0.html?forumID=133&threadID=243153&messageID=2460401

Hope this helps.

Grif

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No, and other info...
Aug 7, 2007 4:29AM PDT

Thanks for your prompt response.

The reason I am not contacting Dell is because:

a.) I would like to retain the genuine copy of Windows Vista Home Premium for use in the future (about a year's time probably...)

b.) A genuine copy of Windows XP Professional (w/ SP2) will be provided by my university. However, they will not help me with any outstanding issues concerning Windows Vista because I have not purchased the laptop under a tender from the university

I have reached the forums at Dell on this, and have found that there are drivers available for download for my model of notebook for Windows XP. Will I still encounter any device related issues if I install all Windows XP related drivers?

If not, how should I go about removing Windows Vista Home Premium and getting it to work with Windows XP Professional? Is it just a matter of doing the following (in order):

1.) Backing up all my data
2.) Booting from the installation CD provided by my university
3.) Choosing to format the partition on which Windows Vista Home premium resides completely
4.) Completing the Windows XP Professional setup
5.) Installing all the required drivers after downloading them from the website? (I will need to keep their setups burned on a CD/DVD beforehand, right?)

Please do advise me on whether I am right in stating the above.

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And Did You Read The Posts At The Link I Provided?
Aug 7, 2007 7:14AM PDT

It answers your questions.. Although your basic procedure is correct, there are some instances where you won't be able to boot initially from the XP disc without wiping the drive first or changing the BIOS slightly. You need to be prepared for such circumstances should they arrive..

Assuming you have all the drivers, you should be fine.. Confirm that you have all the correct XP drivers by opening "Device Manager" and write down all the current Vista drivers listed.. Then compare them to the XP drivers and verify they correspond to the same hardware.. For example: If the Vista graphics driver indicates an Intel device, you don't want to install an XP graphics driver for some other type. (Yep, burning the drivers to a CD BEFORE installing the operating system is generally best.) IN regards to drivers, check to see if the Dell has a SATA drive.. You may need to brush up on the F6 method for installing SATA drivers during the XP setup.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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Thanks!
Aug 7, 2007 4:04PM PDT
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Just noticed...
Aug 7, 2007 8:31PM PDT

I ordered my notebook with the 128MB NVIDIA

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Checked The NVidia Site?
Aug 8, 2007 12:46AM PDT
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I saw that, but...
Aug 8, 2007 5:00AM PDT

My video card is the GeForce 8400M GS

The driver given in that link supports the GeForce 8400 GS (without the M).

Will this suffice? What should I do otherwise?

An option is to use modded drivers from the website www.laptopvideo2go.com...but I can't seem to find the one for my exact video card.

Many thanks for the help.

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You Can Only Try ...
Aug 8, 2007 5:16AM PDT

I'm fairly sure it's the right one though as the driver listed is for all the GeForce 8 series cards... The "M" stands for "mobile", I believe because it's installed on Laptops. The only way to know for sure would be to contact nVidia.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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Yeah...
Aug 8, 2007 5:44AM PDT

I'm pretty sure that's the closest we can get to it.

I made a post on the NVIDIA forums and saw one or two others, and they pointed me to the site I mentioned earlier...www.laptopvideo2go.com

However, I am uncomfortable with the navigation of the site, being new to all this rigging stuff.

Is it possible that there is something on there, or will this suffice? Do you think that M really makes a difference from your experience (i.e. are the drivers different for laptops in cases?)

Thanks again for your valuable insights.

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I Find No Drivers That Will Only Work With the 'M' Group
Aug 8, 2007 7:18AM PDT

Unless I'm missing something, the drivers work for the "8" series as a whole.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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Thanks again...
Aug 8, 2007 8:12AM PDT

I got in touch with the folks at the site, and they seem to have this covered.

You've been of a great support all along...kudos to you!

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NVIDIA 8400M GS DRIVERS FOR XP
Aug 13, 2007 12:25AM PDT

Go to the Dell drivers download page and look up the Vostro 1500 drivers. You should find the graphics driver for the 8400M GS there; should work with any other model with that graphics card. The NVIDIA website drivers do not work as they are 8400 GS (non laptop version)- The laptop version is created/modified by the manufacturer. You should also be able to find other drivers, e.g. bluetooth, on this page as well.

I was looking for drivers for my Vostro 1700 and finally stumbled on this info in another blog. Hope this helps.

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Thanks a lot...
Aug 13, 2007 1:18AM PDT

I have stumbled upon 1-2 alternatives myself, but something closer to Dell should be a better bet. I will look it up. Thanks.

Now if only someone can help me understand whether or not I need to backup my recovery and MediaDirect partitions if I choose to install XP over the existing Vista partition, and if so, how I should do it.

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Does anyone have a download link for the audio driivers
Aug 9, 2007 2:47AM PDT

Audio driver support for WinXP Pro w/ SP2 is not available on the Dell site. Tried to install the Sigmatel STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio driver for WinXP - installed OK, but one component doesn't seem to work - Device Manager still shows "Audio Device on High Definition Audio Bus". Trying to update via WindowsUpdate also does not help. Any one have any ideas on this?

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Hmmm...
Aug 9, 2007 7:24AM PDT

now that you've mentioned it, I didn't get to download audio drivers from the Dell support site for my model of laptop as well (The XPS M1330).

Let's wait for help on this one...

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The Audio BUS Device Driver Needs To Be Installed First...
Aug 9, 2007 9:01AM PDT

if there is one...They're separate drivers, at least they are on the HP comps. Install the Audio BUS Device FIRST, then install the Sigmatel HD Audio driver if you can find it and IF the Sigmatel is the correct driver for your machine.. It appears like the Thunderhead1's XPS uses a Creative driver.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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Would it be possible...
Aug 9, 2007 9:10AM PDT

for you to provide a link for the relevant drivers which have to be downloaded? As far as I know, I didn't get any Audio BUS device driver while downloading stuff from the Dell Support page.

As for Sigmatel, there appears to be no driver from them which can run on the XPS M1330 as well as support Windows XP. If you can find something which can be used, that'd be terrific...otherwise, I guess it is a dead end.

My laptop will come with integrated sound which will be Sigmatel driven...*sigh* I overlooked that line in the order quotation. I actually wanted the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy. My bad.

Thanks for your support.

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My Searches Come Up Short ...So...
Aug 9, 2007 9:26AM PDT

Dell tech support still may be your best resource... The M1330 is so new, there's not much on their websites. I find no XP audio or video drivers listed for your model. (The VISTA drivers DO show other drivers and they DON'T include Sigmatel.. You may need to check the audio and video drivers that the Vista OS uses when you get the machine. After that, visit the audio/video card manufacturer's site and download their drivers.. They frequently have something newer than Dell does..

This is the only download set I can find for the XPS M1330:
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&ServiceTag=&SystemID=XPS_M1330&os=WW1&osl=EN

Hope this helps.

Grif

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Thanks Grif...
Aug 9, 2007 9:38AM PDT

I already have downloaded everything on that page.

If you choose Windows Vista 32-bit on that page, you'll get to see 32 items, including an Audio section. But all that won't work on XP, so what use is it if I see the drivers which are being used on Vista?

Also, this is a post I found on the Dell forums (the language is a bit off, but you can get what he's trying to convey...)

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=xps_port_audio&thread.id=990

I hope this helps you help me *sigh*

One other question:

shaneddouze said that he tried to install the Sigmatel STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio driver for WinXP, and everything was OK except for "Audio Device on High Definition Audio Bus".

Is it safe to download that from http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ob-45958-1&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3224055&os=228&lang=en
and try to rectify the error if I encounter it?

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(NT) Have You Asked Dell Yet?
Aug 9, 2007 10:44AM PDT
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The problem with that is...
Aug 9, 2007 6:46PM PDT

I haven't received the laptop order. So I have no service tag. And almost any kind of tech support needs the laptop service tag.

Can any other user help out here?

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Still no Audio drivers
Aug 9, 2007 7:56PM PDT

I'd searched google for STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio Windows XP Driver - got this second in the results - it worked part of the way at least, though it's not for the same model.

I'm still facing the "Audio Device on High Definition Audio Bus" issue though. Hope to find a fix soon!

Audio: SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio, Driver, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows XP x64, Multi Language, Inspiron 1501, Latitude 131L, D620, v.5.10.0.5143, A07

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R134779&SystemID=INS_PNT_1501&servicetag=&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=8907&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=1&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=3&fileid=179434

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Yes...
Aug 9, 2007 8:03PM PDT

that is about the closest you can get. Are you able to hear any audio at all out of your speakers?

You must have a service tag, so why don't you attempt to reach Dell technical support? Please do throw in an enquiry about the M1330 laptop as well while you're at it. Thanks!

And yeah, if you find a fix, please do let me know.

Which model of laptop do you use again?

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And...
Aug 9, 2007 8:07PM PDT

did the method Grif suggested a couple of posts back work for you?

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No Dell Drivers - official Dell response
Aug 10, 2007 1:28AM PDT

Dell responded to my query for drivers -

"Thank you for choosing Dell. I would like to informed you that the system XPS 1330 is develop for Windows Vista only. At this moment we do not have the drivers for Windows XP yet. We are not sure that the US develop team will issue any drivers for WinXP."

So i guess i up the creek without a paddle, for now at least.

Sad

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That sucks...
Aug 10, 2007 2:41AM PDT

and what's worse is, there doesn't seem to be any initiative from the folks @ Dell to rectify the situation either...

It's only up to some uber geeks to come up with utilities to work around this now.

Double sigh.

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facing the same problem for Dell vostro 1400
Sep 22, 2007 7:11AM PDT

I just got a dell vostro with vista installed over it . I downgraded it to XP but found no audio drivers on net .. my laptop's sound system stops working ... can somebody suggest smthing..I already installed the sigmatel 92xx stac driver but it doesn't solves the problem....

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Thunder
Aug 20, 2007 1:10AM PDT

I got your email while I was in New York City but couldn't answer b/c I was connected by verizon and it was just to slow.

Tell me what you want to do.

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Hi...
Aug 20, 2007 1:44AM PDT

Over these past few days, I have collected quite a lot of info on the installation through various discussions on a number of communities.

I'm ready to go ahead with the installation now.

So this is what I want to do-

Install Windows XP Professional SP2 over Windows Vista Home Premium

What I am concerned about-

The Dell XPS M1330 comes pre-set with a MediaDirect and Recovery partitions, along with an OS and Data partition (that's 4 in all).

If I want to install Windows Vista at a later time, I will need these partitions to be preserved and in place.

Considering I'm going to install Windows XP on the same partition that Windows Vista is residing in currently (i.e. reformat it), will I lose the other partitions? If I will, how should I back it up/work around this? How can I restore the computer to its original (factory) partition setting again at a later time?

Thanks.

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Ok, I understand.
Aug 20, 2007 1:53AM PDT

Post me a picture of the hard drive and I'll tell you what to do.

You will need a 120 GB external hard drive to preserve the additional partitions you want to save so you can restore it to it's original condition.

It is easy to do.


Here are the steps to post a picture on the internet .Takes three minutes.
1. Post the picture on your desktop.
2. Click on print screen key. It is the key to the right of F12.
3. Click on paint. Paint is found under Start, programs, accessories, paint. Right click on it and "pin to start menu".
4. Click on edit and click on "paste".
5. Click on file and "save as" and change to JPEG format so it is in KB's and not MB's.
6. Save it to the desktop.
7. Open image shack and click on browse. http://imageshack.us/
8. Click on desktop because that is where you saved the picture.
9. Click on the picture and it loads on image shack. Click "host it'.
10. When image shack loads it is small. Click on it and make it big.
11. Right click on it and get the URL or copy the url from the address bar if it is visible. Either one will work because they are the same.
12. Save it to bookmarks and post the url in your notes for reference .

You will need Partition Magic and PowerQuest Drive Image 7.0 and an external hard drive.