Vista Downgrade to XP

NickCat11

NickCat11

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OK here we go:

I have a HP Pavilion Laptop with the following specs:

1. Vista Home Premium (32bit)
2. 4 gigs of RAM
3. Intel Duo Processor
4. 160gb Hard Drive (SATA)
5. Integrated Video

The customer wants to downgrade to XP. They bought a brand new OEM Version of XP Pro with SP3. When I try to boot from the CD the "press any button to continue" screen appears so I hit a button and then there is just a blank black screen. Nothing appears at all.

What I have tried:

1. Hitting F6 thinking maybe it's a sata driver issue. No luck with that, screen stays blank.

2. Took my Dell hard drive (SATA) out that already has XP on it and replaced that into the HP machine, booted with the CD and still no luck (blank screen)

3. Tried booting with a Dell Branded XP Pro CD. The setup process actually began (loading setup files) and blue screened with a stop error of 0x000007b before it finalized.

So what do you think? I was thinking about formatting the Vista hard drive and then trying the Dell branded cd again.

I did Google the issue but didn't really have any luck. One solution required a Windows 98 cd which I don't have.
 
Just for kicks, I formatted one of my Dell SATA hard drives and put that into the hp machine. The new OEM XP cd still loaded with a blank screen and the Dell branded OEM still blue screened at the end of the setup (loading files).
 
There is the possibility that you have a bad disc or cd rom. Two things to try: In bios, set your controller mode to 'IDE' or 'compatible' (different bios use different terminology). Plug in an IDE cd drive to see if the disc will boot from that.

The BSOD is because the Dell disc probably doesn't have the drivers for your controller, and it doesn't give you the option to F6.
 
CD Drive is definitely good as well is the cd. I forgot to mention I tested the cd on another computer. I was going to change the BIOS settings such as disabling AHCI but they aren't there. Not many options in there. I am not sure what else to try.

I was leaning towards setting up a virtual machine on there with XP. I am not to savvy with this yet but what do you guys think of this as a solution? Thanks.
 
NickCat11 said:
CD Drive is definitely good as well is the cd. I forgot to mention I tested the cd on another computer. I was going to change the BIOS settings such as disabling AHCI but they aren't there. Not many options in there. I am not sure what else to try.

I was leaning towards setting up a virtual machine on there with XP. I am not to savvy with this yet but what do you guys think of this as a solution? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Start here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324103

Sounds like you dont have the correct sata drivers and XP pro can't handle it.

Also what angry_geek said about IDE or compatible might help. Sometime the bios will have the sata set to RAID or something that will cause problems on an older O/S on initial install.
 
There was nothing in the BIOS in regards to sata settings and so forth. As far as the sata drivers, that was my first instinct but the setup screen never loads so I don't have a chance to select f6. Maybe I'll try nlite and slipstream the drivers into a new Winxp cd. I think that's my last viable option at this point. If that doesn't work then maybe I'll go virtual.
 
The hard disk is SATA, what about the CD/DVD-ROM ?

Have you tried slipstreaming the SATA drivers onto the XP CD using nLite?
 
I am slipstreaming with nlite as we speak. Like I mentioned in my last post, that's really my last option I feel other than going virtual. I'll keep you updated.
 
OK, I am in business. Here is what happened just in case you guys come across this. I slipstreamed the sata drivers in and loaded the new cd. Same thing like I mentioned earlier, it booted to a blank screen. So I posted my results on TN then went upstairs to put the baby down. I come back down and the setup screen is loaded waiting for the next step! I just googled my findings and saw that they said with this model laptop there is a 3-4 minute delayed blank screen while files load due to the graphics card. So that's it. XP is installing as we speak. Thanks for all your help!
 
My first view of this thread, glad you fixed it.

Yes sometimes you have to wait an inordinate amount of time for processes to work through.
This is why I don't like fixing domestic equipment on site.

Safe mode can take longer to boot than normal mode, particularly if the pc has problems. I have seen it take 1/2 an hour to an hour quite a few times.
 
@Nickcat11 - Glad it turned out for you ... good going!

To anyone else reading this thread (especially our *ahem* "less experienced" readers): If you have a laptop or PC that came with Vista preinstalled and that model never was offered with the XP "downgrade" option, be very cautious before you go out and buy an XP SP3 OEM CD as there may not be XP Drivers for that particular model and you'll be in for a lot of headaches and head-banging. Word to the wise.
 
Doctor Micro said:
If you have a laptop or PC that came with Vista preinstalled and that model never was offered with the XP "downgrade" option, be very cautious before you go out and buy an XP SP3 OEM CD as there may not be XP Drivers for that particular model and you'll be in for a lot of headaches and head-banging. Word to the wise.
Click to expand...

I've done probably around a dozen downgrades so far without any problem. The hardest part is getting the drivers once Windows is installed. Sites like DriverAgent simplify the process a bit. Not sure about anyone else but this incident was a new one for me. Never did I have to wait 3-4 minutes for the XP setup to appear. The laptop in question is an HP G60-230us just in case you guys come across this.

@Doctor Micro- Do you know any specific brands or model numbers that aren't capable of being downgraded? I'd like to know if you do so I can avoid the headache if possible. Thanks!
 
Last edited:
NickCat11 said:
@Doctor Micro- Do you know any specific brands or model numbers that aren't capable of being downgraded? I'd like to know if you do so I can avoid the headache if possible. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes, just ran across one: A Dell Studio XPS. A local colleague had a similar problem with one of the more recent HP's but I don't know what the model was. He eventually got it (sort of), but it took him many, many hours of searching the web for individual component drivers. He swears if he ever tries that again, just shoot him. LOL.

When I get one, or someone calls me about downgrading, I get the make and model and check the manufacturer's support site to see if XP drivers are available. If not, I inform the customer that Vista is their only option. Bear in mind that these are average Joe Sixpack users, so running XP in a virtual machine or converting them over to some Linux distro is waaaayyy beyond their competency level.

I always ask them whey they want to downgrade to XP. The answers I get are "I just like XP... that's what I'm used to", "My [printer/scanner/webcam] doesn't work with Vista, but it used to work fine with XP", or "I just hate Vista; it's slow and so, different, you know?"

I guess the bottom line is that with XP's eventual sundown date, Vista soon to be supplanted by Windows 7, more and more hardware manufacturers are choosing not to write XP/W2K API drivers for their newest products.
 
windows installation media is not expensive. try getting one and check again... Isolation technique always helps. :)
 
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