Vista to XP downgrade: SATA question

[vid83]

My desktop ships with Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit. I am going to downgrade to Windows XP Home SP2 32-bit using a retail CD.

Many people have issues with XP not installing because the computer cannot detect a hard drive because there is no SATA driver for XP.

I was reading and also told by HP that I can do the following:
1.) Go to BIOS
2.) Switch from SATA to IDE
3.) Install XP
4.) Go to BIOS
5.) Swithc from IDE to SATA

Is this right?

Also, is the SATA driver built into the chipset driver?

[Supreme2k]

That's weird. I've never heard of XP not recognizing SATA. Maybe you should give it a try first.

Sometimes the drivers for the chipset come bundled. It would help to know the chipset/motherboard, though.

[vid83]

Until today I've only seen up to this step:

1.) Go to BIOS
2.) Switch from SATA to IDE
3.) Install XP

But today I saw where you can switch back to SATA after installing XP.

[vid83]

It would help to know the chipset/motherboard, though.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01324212&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&produ...911798&lang=en

Motherboard manufacturer's name: Asus IPIBL-LB
HP/Compaq name: Benicia-GL8E
CPU: Socket: 775
Chipset: Intel G33

[JohnnyMalaria]

Many people have issues with XP not installing because the computer cannot detect a hard drive because there is no SATA driver for XP.

This seems to be most prevalent with laptops rather than desktops. During the first phase of installation, XP looks for a hard drive. If it is a SATA one and there are no drivers on the XP installation disk, it asks for a driver. Without a floppy, USB drive etc, you're stuffed. You have to slipstream the driver into the installation package (assuming you are lucky enough to find the SATA driver in the first place). It's a road to hell and back. But in the desktop world it should be less of an issue because there are more ways to try to get around it.

Even though HP provide a way forward, I would try installing XP along Vista just in case it all goes horribly wrong. i.e., if the XP installation only gets so far, you can go back to the existing Vista installation. If XP installs properly then you can always start from scratch with the knowledge that it will install.

[Number Six]

My laptop has a SATA drive in it - when i upgraded it to a larger one, I had to go into BIOS and set the drive to COMPATIBILITY MODE to install XP. After installing XP, I was able to set it back to normal.

[vid83]

Also, why slipstream the SATA driver if you can switch back to SATA in BIOS after XP is installed?

Also, I am getting the SP2 version on XP, so will the SATA driver be on the SP2 disk?

[JohnnyMalaria]

I had no choice but to slipstream the driver - the laptop's BIOS had no option to switch to a compatibility mode. But it didn't help. Sadly, neither the laptop's vendor (Dell) nor the drive manufacturer had drivers available specifically for that laptop - I could only find SATA drivers for the mobo's chipset. This was with XP SP2 which only has drivers for hardware available a few years ago.

Bottom line - it's not a dead cert to successfully downgrade. Lots of homework is called for and I tried to install XP along side Vista as a safeguard (my wife would have been rather peeved if I had wiped the system - the restore disks supplied by Dell were in another part of the country...) If your BIOS has the option, you have more of a chance to succeed.

[makntraks]

See if you have a BIOS setting for SATA Operation - When running Vista the operation should be set for AHCI whereas XP uses ATA....

Since this is a Dell thats how we normally set them up when people have install issues, etc

makntraks

[JohnnyMalaria]

It's all a bit moot now. In the end we finally got XP install disks from Dell (after much persuasion).

[Soopafresh]

I installed XP SP2 slipstreamed on CD onto my SATA connected drives of my system. Worked fine for me.

[vid83]

When I receive my desktop, is it possible to remove the hard drive that has Vista on it from HP and place a new OEM hard drive in its place and insert the XP CD?
This way I don't have to create a recovery CD for Vista. Then when I am ready for Vista, I can just take the XP drive out and put the Vista drive back in its place?

[Soopafresh]

Yeah, that should work fine as well

[vid83]

Yeah, that should work fine as well

Thanks.
I may decide to just stick with Vista. I was doing some calculations. If I stick with Vista, I'd have to spend $250 to $300 more

With XP, I would need to buy:
Windows XP Home retail CD: $173
HDD to replace the HDD I put into the PC: $90

With Vista, I'd have to buy:
Premiere Pro CS4 (or CS3): $350 (non-commerical or academic version or on eBay)
Photoshop Elements 7: $80
voice recorder for my college lecture (I'm a student): $150

Do you think CS3, Elements 7, would be compatible when Windows 7 is released?

[Soopafresh]

Do you think CS3, Elements 7, would be compatible when Windows 7 is released?

If it isn't immediately compatible, it will be within a month of the official Windows 7 release. If it runs on Vista, 90% chance it will already be compatible.

[Jeremiah58]

My desktop ships with Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit. I am going to downgrade to Windows XP Home SP2 32-bit using a retail CD.

There is other way in which you can use both: Vista and XP, even Windows7 for compatibility testing, if you wish.
You can leave your pre-installed Vista Home Premium as is. Download and install Virtual PC 2007 SP1 here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx

Virtual PC 2007 SP1 is free, easy to use and compatible with Vista.
It will allow you to create a virtual PC to install and run XP (or any other Windows OS), side by side with Vista.
Time to learn how to use Virtual PC is 1 hour. The installation of XP as a guest OS on Vista host OS, is fast and trouble free. You would not have to change anything (BIOS, SATA-IDE, drivers...).

I'm using it on my HP laptop which came with Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit pre-installed.
While I hate Vista, I still need it for my job, so I have to keep it, but most of the work is done within XP on the same machine (nothing related to video editing, though, because I have other PC's for that purpose).
Besides, I have installed Windows7 beta, on the same laptop, again using Virtual PC. But I will remove it because I see no improvement over Vista - it is just the same bloated and not user friendly OS. IMO.

[Dv8ted2]

I'm using it on my HP laptop which came with Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit pre-installed.
While I hate Vista, I still need it for my job, so I have to keep it, but most of the work is done within XP on the same machine (nothing related to video editing, though, because I have other PC's for that purpose).
Besides, I have installed Windows7 beta, on the same laptop, again using Virtual PC. But I will remove it because I see no improvement over Vista - it is just the same bloated and not user friendly OS. IMO.

This is an avenue he could pursue, but he would need enough RAM for the guest operating system. I disagree with you about Windows 7. They removed features in order to streamline, so it is not bloated, and it is improved over Vista. The kernel version is also different. The only drawback to running Windows 7 in a virtual PC is the performance hit and not having full access to the hardware.

[JohnnyMalaria]

I wouldn't count on anything from Adobe being compatible with the next version of Windows. I've read terrible things about the stability of CS4 on XP and Vista. I used Premiere for 12 years until I became so disgusted with it. Perhaps CS5 may work.

I would use the *beta* of Windows 7 for anything important and don't expect to just be able to upgrade it to the RTM version.

EDIT - I mean "I would not use..." - oops.

[vid83]

I don't use Premiere Pro much. Video is not my career. But if I have a video I want to create and put on YouTube, Windows Movie Maker doesn't do what I need it to do. So I use Premiere Pro because I can do almost anything on there. I don't really need Premiere Pro CS3/CS4.
So I can either stick with Vista and upgrade to CS3/CS4 and save the hassel of finding XP drivers or downgrade XP, keep Premiere Pro 1.5, and save about $300.

[qpskfec]

Another option is to find a local white box PC vendor that will build a custom system with Vista or XP at the same cost.

My local PC shop does this and pricing is competitve with major PC vendors.

[vid83]

Back to the original post, I still don't get how you can go to BIOS, switch from SATA to IDE prior to XP install, and then switch back to SATA after the XP install in finished. If there was not a SATA driver to begin with, then there would be no SATA driver after installing XP. Am I correct? So if I can switch back to SATA after the XP install, does that mean that the SATA driver is included in the Windows XP SP2 retail CD?

[Soopafresh]

I never had to do that, vid83. I just installed XP and it was done.

[Number Six]

When WindowsXP installs from the CD, it loads basic drivers to get the process started. Since there is no SATA driver in the setup routine, Windows setup will report that there is no hard drive installed. I installed the Windows 7 Beta on the original HD that came with the laptop - it's setup routine included SATA drivers, so there was no problem. Once WindowsXP is installed, it is using a totally different set of drivers for the working OS.

[Nelson37]

Just get the SATA drivers on a floppy and use the F6 installation switch.

Or, use the BIOS switch as suggested. The basic install drivers to not include everything in the system, that is why switching the BIOS back after install works.

You should also have a complete set of restore disks, or the ability to make them from the HD or at least you can order them for a minimal fee. This will allow you to recreate the software on the PC as it came out of the factory box.

I would not advise a dual-boot or a virtual-PC environment in this case.

As for "guarantees" a given piece of software will work with a given future OS, are you a professional gambler?

[JohnnyMalaria]

Just to clarify my comment about dual booting - it wasn't a recommendation to permanently have XP and Vista on the same machine. It was a safeguard against completely hosing the system if the attempt to install XP failed. This is what I did - thankfully. I reduced the Vista partition size on the laptop and created a new, empty partition. I tried to install XP to this. After about 10 hours of trying just about everything manageable, I decided to not bother. Had I tried to simply install XP over the existing Vista partition, it *could* have gone very sour. Had it worked with the dual boot test, I would have then started over and put only XP on there. In my particular case, there was no floppy drive option nor BIOS option.

[ranchhand]

Same as Soopafresh; I just built a new computer for my daughter, dual-core AMD, SATA drives. Installed XP Pro 32 slipstreamed with SP2, installed clean, no problems, recognized the SATA drives and fired up immediately.

[vid83]

So if I have SP2 retail CD, do I need to slipstream? Or is that only if you have XP with SP1 CD?

[Soopafresh]

No need to slipstream if you already have an XP SP2 Retail Installation Disk

[JohnnyMalaria]

Don't assume that. It didn't help me - neither did slipstreaming. There are a lot of reports of not being able to install XP. But you'll know pretty much when the installation process begins. Chances are it will be okay given all the previous information but you never know...

[RabidDog]

IIRC doesn't the install CD have a check hardware compatibility on there? Third or fourth option ??
SP1 included the raid and SATA drivers and SP2 was a lot of security updates and support for drives bigger than 137gb ("no-one will ever need more than 64gb" BG )
Retail SP2 CD is the most up to date you can get.. You're good to go.. Fire up that Beast and get installing