Help with downgrading from Vista to Xp

Hey people,

I received my Acer 5584WXMi with Windows Vista as the default OS. But like many others i find it useless at the moment. It takes up alot of processor speed and theres nothing much to gain from using it.

I then tried to install windows Xp over it last night. I downloaded the necessary drivers from the acer website for all the components. Problem is, the hardwares were all not digitally signed. because of that, i was unable to install the drivers as they could not recognize the related hardware.

After that, i tried using the Recovery discs to reinstall windows Vista. But after completing the recovery, the laptop could not startup properly. When i booted the laptop up, after showing the ACER screen, there would be a black screen that was not responding. I need help with either one of these areas. Thanks so much for your kind attention.

Regards,
Dennis


P.S.

Aspire 5584WXMi

Intel® Centrino® Duo mobile technology
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T5600
(1.83GHz, 667MHz FSB, 2MB L2 cache),
supporting Intel® Extended Memory 64 Technology (Intel® EM64T)
Intel® 945PM Express chipset
nVidia® GeForce® GO 7300 up to 256MB TurboCache™ (dedicated 128MB VRAM)
1GB DDR II RAM

OS : Windows Vista

 

Did you change the partitions on your hdd?
I understood you restore your notebook using the cds, but maybe there is also a hidden restore partition with windows Vista image. Don't you noticed it?
Concerning Win xp you don't need to have digitally signed (WHQL) drivers to install them.
What the system told you when it refused to install them?

 

I bought a 9300 on Friday, within 20 minutes of starting it, I started the downgrade process.

Even with 2gb Ram, it was absolutely useless with Vista, now running XP Pro SP2 with no problems whatsoever, also deleted the two partions on the HDD and formated it as one 160gb HDD.

My previous one was a ACER 9100, the 9300 is a massive upgrade in many ways, as the new 9300 will not not fit in my case as its too big.

Otherwise, I'm very happy with it

 

hello vlad, i managed to get around the installing of drivers problem. now all my drivers are installed except the orbicam. there is also a problem with the battery that when i plug the AC in, the bottom right does not show any charging sign whatsoever. also, when i tried recovering to windows vista, it showed a black screen after the ACER screen where you could press f2 to enter the BIOS page. i need help with this part =). thanks alot

 

hi, may i know how you downgraded it completely and installed all the drivers as it was in vista? i need help particularly for the Orbicam and the battery. the orbicam is not identified in the device manager. although there is a "USB Device" found in the "Other Devices" branch. the battery seems to require a certain software to be able to show the charging %. if i manage to install the orbicam successfully and the battery software, then i have a perfect laptop running =). vista stinks

 

hello!
I need to understand a little better your situation.
Now you have a win xp working and bootable partition. What happened to your prior vista partition? Did you install xp over it? And the recovered system from cd where was installed?
Using Norton Partition magic under xp how many partitions do you see? Is there a recovery one or was it whiped out?
I assume that if you successfully restored win vista and it only doesn't boot up you need to insert another time the dvd and try not the istallation option but the restore. It shall find the system and correct the bootloader.
If it isn't so let me know and try to give me as much information as possible about what you did and what you have now.
Vlad

 

I used the drivers from the Acer website. They have a full set of drivers for xp and vista drivers in a seperate folder. Just dont bother with the vista drivers.

http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/notebook/as_9300.html

or use the following link and select the XP Drivers

http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/fo...m/us&siteid=7293&areaid=7&formid=3394#results



Use the ftp option and download the lot in one.

Orbicam was a pain, but mine is working. I used the 'logitech' driver and then installed the logitech software direct from 'logitech'.

Driver is in the acer link above, the software is on the following link. The orbicam now works as a webcam in live messenger and Yahoo IM

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/downloads/software/US/EN,crid=1794,contentid=12354,osid=1.

Its been running with XP pro for five days now with absolutely no problem

 

My vista partition simply does not exist anymore. I deleted it using the XP Pro setup

I have one partition on the HDD, 149gb in size.

There's no need for a seperate boot partition for vista, the laptop will never ever have vista on it unless there is a massive improvement from Microsoft. I see vista as a massive step back. I've even thrown the Vista CD upgrade that came with it in the bin.

 

Absolutely agree. I have Vista Ultimate on my second partition - got it from work as part of the MSDN network. I never use it. I find it slow, different for no reason (eg no improvements but have to re-learn everything). Graphics are nice but by no means make up for the shortcomings.