Guest Liza Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 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] Posted July 24, 2008 Posted July 24, 2008 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 Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 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 Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 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 Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 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 Posted July 25, 2008 Posted July 25, 2008 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
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