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

PA Bear [MS MVP]

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

Daave

"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?

Liza

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

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

Daave

"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/archi.../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/windo...-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.

Doum

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
>
> 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