Want to downgrade my inspiron 1525 to XP pro

[Guest Liza]

Hello,

 

I'm new to this community... I'm not even sure if this is the right

place to post this. Anyway, I want to downgrade my Inspiron 1525 Vista

Home Basic to XP Pro. I have the XP CD with product key, and I've

downloaded all the drivers off the Dell website. But I'm a bit

confused on what to do after downloading all the drivers. I've also

read in a few forums that I would need to change the SATA ACHI to ATA,

is that correct? Is it possible to downgrade? I've only had this

computer for two months, and some of my Job's applications/software

don't work with vista... so I need XP. I've called Dell support and

they didn't want to help me. I also understand that my warranty will

be voided... but I don't care. Can anyone help?

 

Thanks,

Liza

 

 

--

Liza

[Guest PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Re: Want to downgrade my inspiron 1525 to XP pro

 

Consult Dell Support before doing anything!

 

Liza wrote:

> Hello,

>

> I'm new to this community... I'm not even sure if this is the right

> place to post this. Anyway, I want to downgrade my Inspiron 1525 Vista

> Home Basic to XP Pro. I have the XP CD with product key, and I've

> downloaded all the drivers off the Dell website. But I'm a bit

> confused on what to do after downloading all the drivers. I've also

> read in a few forums that I would need to change the SATA ACHI to ATA,

> is that correct? Is it possible to downgrade? I've only had this

> computer for two months, and some of my Job's applications/software

> don't work with vista... so I need XP. I've called Dell support and

> they didn't want to help me. I also understand that my warranty will

> be voided... but I don't care. Can anyone help?

>

> Thanks,

> Liza

[Guest Daave]

Re: Want to downgrade my inspiron 1525 to XP pro

 

"Liza" <splitsville@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:Liza.3d2ou9@no-mx.tabletquestions.com...

>

> Hello,

>

> I'm new to this community... I'm not even sure if this is the right

> place to post this. Anyway, I want to downgrade my Inspiron 1525

> Vista

> Home Basic to XP Pro. I have the XP CD with product key, and I've

> downloaded all the drivers off the Dell website. But I'm a bit

> confused on what to do after downloading all the drivers. I've also

> read in a few forums that I would need to change the SATA ACHI to ATA,

> is that correct? Is it possible to downgrade? I've only had this

> computer for two months, and some of my Job's applications/software

> don't work with vista... so I need XP. I've called Dell support and

> they didn't want to help me. I also understand that my warranty will

> be voided... but I don't care. Can anyone help?

 

An in-place downgrade is impossible, unfortunately. You will have to

perform a clean install. It's good you have all the necessary drivers.

 

Where did you obtain this XP CD? What kind is it? Retail? Branded OEM?

Generic OEM? Full? Upgrade?

[Guest Liza]

Re: Want to downgrade my inspiron 1525 to XP pro

 

 

Yeah, I've read that I would have to do a clean install and I'm willing

to do that since I don't have much on the system that I want to save.

I have a copy that I obtained at the university I attended bookstore.

It came with a product key and everything. I've used it to install on

my own old personal computers. Clean install is usually how I install

it, but I'm confused with this new laptop that has vista... it seems

you have to do more steps than when installing on an older OS/System

 

I can boot from it and I'm mainly confused about the bios ATA and ACHI.

Should I configure it to ATA before I install or install first then

install the drivers?

 

Liza:confused:

 

Daave;1086875 Wrote:

> "Liza" <splitsville******.com> wrote in message

> news:Liza.3d2ou9@no-mx.tabletquestions.com...

> >

> > Hello,

> >

> > I'm new to this community... I'm not even sure if this is the right

> > place to post this. Anyway, I want to downgrade my Inspiron 1525

> > Vista

> > Home Basic to XP Pro. I have the XP CD with product key, and I've

> > downloaded all the drivers off the Dell website. But I'm a bit

> > confused on what to do after downloading all the drivers. I've also

> > read in a few forums that I would need to change the SATA ACHI to

> ATA,

> > is that correct? Is it possible to downgrade? I've only had this

> > computer for two months, and some of my Job's applications/software

> > don't work with vista... so I need XP. I've called Dell support and

> > they didn't want to help me. I also understand that my warranty will

> > be voided... but I don't care. Can anyone help?

>

> An in-place downgrade is impossible, unfortunately. You will have to

> perform a clean install. It's good you have all the necessary drivers.

>

> Where did you obtain this XP CD? What kind is it? Retail? Branded OEM?

> Generic OEM? Full? Upgrade?

 

 

--

Liza

[Guest Daave]

Re: Want to downgrade my inspiron 1525 to XP pro

 

"Liza" <splitsville@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:Liza.3d30ez@no-mx.tabletquestions.com...

> Daave;1086875 Wrote:

>> "Liza" <splitsville******.com> wrote in message

>> news:Liza.3d2ou9@no-mx.tabletquestions.com...

>> >

>> > Hello,

>> >

>> > I'm new to this community... I'm not even sure if this is the right

>> > place to post this. Anyway, I want to downgrade my Inspiron 1525

>> > Vista

>> > Home Basic to XP Pro. I have the XP CD with product key, and I've

>> > downloaded all the drivers off the Dell website. But I'm a bit

>> > confused on what to do after downloading all the drivers. I've

>> > also

>> > read in a few forums that I would need to change the SATA ACHI to

>> ATA,

>> > is that correct? Is it possible to downgrade? I've only had this

>> > computer for two months, and some of my Job's applications/software

>> > don't work with vista... so I need XP. I've called Dell support

>> > and

>> > they didn't want to help me. I also understand that my warranty

>> > will

>> > be voided... but I don't care. Can anyone help?

>>

>> An in-place downgrade is impossible, unfortunately. You will have to

>> perform a clean install. It's good you have all the necessary

>> drivers.

>>

>> Where did you obtain this XP CD? What kind is it? Retail? Branded

>> OEM?

>> Generic OEM? Full? Upgrade?

> Yeah, I've read that I would have to do a clean install and I'm

> willing

> to do that since I don't have much on the system that I want to save.

> I have a copy that I obtained at the university I attended bookstore.

> It came with a product key and everything. I've used it to install on

> my own old personal computers. Clean install is usually how I install

> it, but I'm confused with this new laptop that has vista... it seems

> you have to do more steps than when installing on an older OS/System

>

> I can boot from it and I'm mainly confused about the bios ATA and

> ACHI.

> Should I configure it to ATA before I install or install first then

> install the drivers?

 

You didn't answer my question! Assuming your XP CD is a Full, Retail CD

and you have the key, you are good to go.

 

If your Dell doesn't have a floppy drive, then you won't be able to

install the third-party drivers for your hard drive in the beginning of

the install. You could go into the BIOS before hand (I believe by

pressing F2 right after you turn on the PC) and make the following

change:

 

1. Go into BIOS by holding down F2 immediately after turning the power

on.

 

2. Scroll down to Onboard Devices, expand it, select SATA Drive

 

3. Change the SATA setting from what it is (AHCI to ATA), exit to BIOS

main menu

 

4. Go to Boot Order and make sure CD-ROM is specified as a boot device

 

5. Esc, save BIOS settings.

 

(That was from

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/01/03/40345.aspx )

 

Or, although it will be more work, the better route is just to make your

own new-and-improved XP install disk, integrating the necessary SATA

drive drivers. Instructions:

 

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/resolving-setup-did-not-find-any-hard-disk-drives-during-windows-xp-installation/

 

And now that Service Pack 3 is out, you should be able to integrate that

as well. And should you ever need to perform a repair install, you'll be

in good shape.

 

Clean Install guide:

 

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

 

Good luck.

[Guest Doum]

Re: Want to downgrade my inspiron 1525 to XP pro

 

Liza <splitsville@gmail.com> écrivait news:Liza.3d30ez@no-

mx.tabletquestions.com:

>

> Yeah, I've read that I would have to do a clean install and I'm willing

> to do that since I don't have much on the system that I want to save.

> I have a copy that I obtained at the university I attended bookstore.

> It came with a product key and everything. I've used it to install on

> my own old personal computers. Clean install is usually how I install

> it, but I'm confused with this new laptop that has vista... it seems

> you have to do more steps than when installing on an older OS/System

>

> I can boot from it and I'm mainly confused about the bios ATA and ACHI.

> Should I configure it to ATA before I install or install first then

> install the drivers?

>

> Liza:confused:

>

> Daave;1086875 Wrote:

>> "Liza" <splitsville******.com> wrote in message

>> news:Liza.3d2ou9@no-mx.tabletquestions.com...

>> >

>> > Hello,

>> >

>> > I'm new to this community... I'm not even sure if this is the right

>> > place to post this. Anyway, I want to downgrade my Inspiron 1525

>> > Vista

>> > Home Basic to XP Pro. I have the XP CD with product key, and I've

>> > downloaded all the drivers off the Dell website. But I'm a bit

>> > confused on what to do after downloading all the drivers. I've also

>> > read in a few forums that I would need to change the SATA ACHI to

>> ATA,

>> > is that correct? Is it possible to downgrade? I've only had this

>> > computer for two months, and some of my Job's applications/software

>> > don't work with vista... so I need XP. I've called Dell support and

>> > they didn't want to help me. I also understand that my warranty

will

>> > be voided... but I don't care. Can anyone help?

>>

>> An in-place downgrade is impossible, unfortunately. You will have to

>> perform a clean install. It's good you have all the necessary drivers.

>>

>> Where did you obtain this XP CD? What kind is it? Retail? Branded OEM?

>> Generic OEM? Full? Upgrade?

>

>

 

One thing you should do is if you don't have "Factory Restore" CDs or

DVDs for your Vista installation, you should create them, you might want

to use Vista in the future or if you sell the computer and want to keep

your XP licence. There must be a utility on your system to do just that.

 

Doum