Acer Aspire 2920 + xp drivers (novice user)

Heya all, Im considering buying the Acer Aspire 2920 laptop- but want to dual boot it with xp. I realise I may have driver problems if I install xp

1) does anyone know where to get any offical/english xp drivers for the acer aspire 2920 (or even acer laptops in general)? Acer dont do xp drivers for the Acer Aspire 2920 laptop - and Ive already tried a google search (with no luck).

2) Would it be ok to use xp drivers from another acer laptop (which has xp drivers available) with the Acer Aspire 2920?

3) Would it be ok to use xp drivers even if they are in chineese or taiwan (as from doing an internet search i found xp drivers for the acer 2920 -but they are in chineese)?

4) Is it ok to use xp drivers from an another laptop (which is a different make)?

 

1) i have access to ACER drivers for XP for THAT MODEL

2) many of Acer's drivers are usable with different model #'s,, it a trial and error kinda deal... sometimes incorrect drivers can only be removed fully by reinstalling

3) chinese drivers might result in chinese text where those drivers are concerned...

4) i am currently using an ATHEROS WIFI utility monitor from a Toshiba laptop
and i am using a CTX modem driver just because it was the first thing i found that actually worked for me..



check this link out for alot of info about ACER XP installs
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=251130
the SOULPASS link is very important... pay attention to the CD and INTERNET installation method....

you will have to make a CD using this method if you want to KEEP the SATA functions of your HDD intact..

post a few more times to enable your PRIVATE MESSAGING feature
then i can send you the link to the drivers

 

Thanks for the reply I i do have a few questions based on your response:

1) What are SATA drives? Ive tried a google search but still cant understand what it is?

2) You mentioned that i should pay attention to the Internet and CD burner Method - what does this do generally mean (does it create a copy of the operating system to a disk)? And can nlite be used to create a installation disk - because i have got xp on a older machine with a system recovery but Ive found out that you cannot use a system recovery to install on other machines?

2) How do you install xp drivers? im hoping to partition vista and install xp as a dual boot. For the dual booting process i was thinking of using the following tutorial http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_stepbystep_guide.htm is this different from the Internet and CD burner Method you gave me?

 

1) SATA is a newer hard drive interface technology... SERIAL ATA

2) you must own and use a legitmate copy of XP bought for that system
attempting to circumvent copy right laws will not be discussed here.

3) i have never DUAL booted w/ vista... as soon as i got all the XP drivers i needed,, i formated the entire drive and have no use for VISTA

sorry i can't be more help
bigO

 

Ok based on your reply - why did you direct me to the SOULPASS Internet and CD burner Method (does this have something to do with installing xp drivers)?

Would I need to format the Harddrive to get xp on to a HD which originall had vista on there?

So take for example if i purchase a new laptop, partition it and install xp (without any problem) - how would I be able to install xp drivers (you mentioned something about sending a private message with the links to the drivers) - are these legitimate drivers? If so why arent they on the acer website?

 

if your system has a SATA hdd... you will have to find a method for getting the SATA hdd driver into the XP operating system... you cannot simply install XP... but i guess you'll figure that out sooner or later..

XP cannot talk to the HDD without that driver,, and this will cause XP to fail to install... reporting that it can't find the HDD..

that's why you need the info from the other site.. you can use the FLOPPY DISK method if you have access to a USB floppy drive...

but without that SATA driver XP cannot install.

bigO

 

When I installed XP I didn't install the sata driver,I do have a sata drive,and it
installed fine and shows up as an IDE drive in the bios.

 

by installing in IDE mode you are slowing the HDD transfer speeds because your data is having to be convered on the fly into IDE format...

that IDE option in the BIOS is handy for emergency situations,, but not ideal for daily use!!! IMO..


bigO

 

I just use mine for travel or surfing the net so
the transfer speed is not that important.

 

So in order to install xp onto a vista laptop - i would need to install the SATA driver XP (into windows xp)? Thing is i found the following tutorial and it does not state anything about SATA driver XP or any HD formating:

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_stepbystep_guide.htm

gramps28 - mentioned he had no problem installing xp (even though he has a SATA harddrive?

Finally what is a USB floppy drive - i thought a USB drive was simply called a USB drive and a floppy disk drive a floppy disk drive?