How to install XP to a brand new Vista-riddled Dell?

March 24, 2008 9:09 AM

How to install XP to a brand new Vista-riddled Dell?

Hey all!

I just brought home a new, Vista-riddled Dell inspiron, and I HATE VISTA. I have an old XP Pro CD, and I'd like to install the old operating system, but Vista won't let me do it (did I mention that I hated Vista? Yup.)

So... How do I do it? I saw some old posts on this, but I am a complete non-techie, so would someone spell it out for me in 1st grade English? Seriously, I am a complete moron when it comes to rooting around in a computer. And... I'd be indebted to you forever.

-Julia

posted by jdruk to computers & internet (16 answers total)

You need to put in the disk and reboot it. Hit whichever key your boot up tells you to enter the BIOS . Change your boot order so that your CD drive boots first. (This will help with both of those.)

Then reboot.

The XP installer will come up- even though it says you don't HAVE to nuke the drive from orbit, I've had to do this twice in the last year, on two different Dell Inspirons. The install never takes correctly if you don't format the hard drive.
posted by headspace at 9:19 AM on March 24, 2008

Yes, make sure you delete Vista in the XP setup.

I would also follow this guide. For step 6 of the Clean Installation section, make sure you format to NTFS (quick is fine and much faster)- this will remove Vista.
posted by jmd82 at 9:35 AM on March 24, 2008

Ack! I still don't get what I have to do. (I did say I was a moron in this department)

Also, interesting issue: would un-installing Vista void my warranty? Anyone have experience with this?
posted by jdruk at 9:38 AM on March 24, 2008

You do have the specific Win XP drivers for your system's video, sound sound, Ethernet, etc., right?
posted by mojohand at 9:38 AM on March 24, 2008

jdruk: what you need to do is the following...

1) Back up any data you want from your current machine in the Vista state (installing XP will erase your hard drive completely)
2) Go to the Dell Support site, they have XP drives for most of their current product line. You will need this to ensure all hardware components work when on Windows XP.
3) Restart your computer with the XP Professional disc in the drive
4) Once you see the Dell logo at startup, you'll see something like "Press any key to boot from CD"...
4a) If you don't, you might need to change your boot order like headspace said, but you usually don't have to.
5) Follow the installation guide, when it asks you where to install it, delete any existing 'partitions' and create a new one with all the disk space.
6) Finish the install, ensure you have a valid product key that went with your XP disc.

As for if it voids you warranty, I doubt it. They probably won't give you tech support, but for the hardware, I don't believe this would affect it.
posted by cgomez at 9:50 AM on March 24, 2008

What version of XP is on your disk? If it's not SP2 you may want to create a new install disc by downloading the SP2 patch and slip streaming it onto a new disc with your XP install files. The procedure is outlined here and isn't as complicated as it sounds. The reason you'd want to do this is to avoid the lengthy update to SP2.

Also be prepared to install virus software as soon as the the XP install is done.

Any specific drivers you have can be downloaded directly from Dell after the install is complete. Have your service tag ready.

I detest Vista as well and will give up XP when they uninstall it from my cold dead hard drive.
posted by wfrgms at 9:51 AM on March 24, 2008

Go to the Dell Support site, they have XP drives for most of their current product line. You will need this to ensure all hardware components work when on Windows XP.

This is unnecessary step. XP will run fine on your system - good enough to get you online so you can download drivers after the fact.

Once you have installed XP, startup your browser*, go to Dell's site, type in your service tag, select XP as your OS and then download any drivers listed. There probably won't be much you'll need - maybe an updated display and sound driver.

* Bonus points if you install Firefox first, then uninstall IE.
posted by wfrgms at 9:54 AM on March 24, 2008

wfrgms:

I have had multiple Dells where out the box XP SP2 installs do NOT have network drivers. Definitely do it beforehand (don't bother with other drivers), so you don't have to find another computer to download onto a flash drive.
posted by mphuie at 10:00 AM on March 24, 2008

but I am a complete non-techie

I wouldnt recommend it then. Get a techie friend to do it or pay a professional. If youre asking this question then you dont know how to find drivers for the product for xp (if they even exist), troubleshoot boot-up issues, etc.

good enough to get you online so you can download drivers after the fact.

This may be untrue. Unless you specify your model number we have no idea if the XP disc even has a driver for your NIC card.

This isnt some trivial change anyone can do and expect it to work out of the box. Of course you might get lucky, but is that a chance you want to take?
posted by damn dirty ape at 10:03 AM on March 24, 2008

seconding mphule:

download at least the network driver before you install xp, because chances are xp won't install the driver.
posted by meta87 at 10:03 AM on March 24, 2008

Indeed. It's far better to be careful than to be reckless and not prepare those drivers. It would be a huge waste of time.
posted by cgomez at 10:09 AM on March 24, 2008

nth-ing the recommendation to download drivers first.

Just make sure you burn them to a CD, since XP will delete all your old files. Backup anything else you want to keep too.
posted by dosterm at 10:15 AM on March 24, 2008

Thanks for all your help - I have a much better understanding of what I have to do.

@ damn dirty ape: I am a non-techie in the sense that I don't fiddle around in BIOS or use the command prompt... but I DO know what drivers are and how to find them, thank you very much.
posted by jdruk at 10:20 AM on March 24, 2008

Damn Dirty Ape is right - if you're not a techy, don't do it. How can you hate Vista? Mess with the control panels and it will work just like XP. There might be a printer or scanner that doesn't play nice, but it's nearly the same thing after tweaking.

Even if you have an XP SP2 disc your hard drive may not be recognized if the chipset or a component of it is not recognized. That will be the case with many newer laptops. For semi-older laptops (1-2 years old), you may not be able to see the SATA controller (SP2 made this less of an issue, but it does not work 100% of the time - HP laptops have problems in particular), but the issues run deeper than just the SATA controller for new systems - things like the bridge chips can be unrecognized, which lie 'upsteam' from the controller.

If you want to test the waters, change the BIOS as people mention above, to boot to the XP CD. Start working through the install process to the point where it asks you to choose the disk you want to install on. If you can see your hard drive there, you're lucky. The install should be painless (maybe not for a non-techy). You can cancel the install as long as you haven't actually gone any further. If you don't see your drive, forget it. You'd have to make a bootable minisystem using something like WinPE or BartPE. PITA.

If you can install (determined by the above method), boot back into Vista first, go to Dell's site and download the drivers for your system's chipset or at least the network card. Burn those to CD or throw them on a flash drive. Backup your data and go for it (if you think you can handle it). Once you're back up and running, install the drivers needed to get it online and use Windows update for as many drivers as possible. If you go this route and have issues, post here.
posted by neuroking at 10:33 AM on March 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

Google your model number and add the terms xp and downgrade. You'll find some forums where people talk about doing the downgrade. If you;re lucky you'll find the whole procedure written up with links to the drivers you'll need. You really don't sound techy enough to do this if things get difficult. Try to have some help available.

I did this with my toshiba laptop recently. I had to integrate a new hard drive driver into the xp install disk to get xp installed. nlite can do this if you need it. It seems to be one of the common problems with laptop downgrades to xp. I do have to agree with you though. There's all kinds of reasons to hate vista.
posted by DarkForest at 11:19 AM on March 24, 2008

Don't nuke all partitions. At least every Dell I've had (and that's up into the dozens now) has a small DOS partition (#1) with diagnostic software. It's always nice to be geeky and throw in a Linux CD and boot to the diagnostic partition and run the Dell supported diagnostic software.

This is how you avoid support nightmares. If you can get their tools to report an error, you're set, you call them and say "your HD test fails with this error message...". If you see a small partition at the #1 spot, keep it!

I'm diehard Linux user with Dells from work and I keep that DOS partition. Also useful for flashing NVRAM and updates and various other things. You won't know how nice it is to have it until you need it. Unless your machine is totally toasted, you can always geek boot into a working system with diagnostic tools. Trust me, some day you will need it.
posted by zengargoyle at 11:49 AM on March 24, 2008