How to get XP on the M17x!

Hi guys,

here is what you guys have been asking for.. in this small guide I'm going to show you what drivers and tweaks to use to get xp working perfectly. First of all, as we've seen with all this DPC latency and stuttering stuff, not everyone has the same thing. In my case running xp for the first time made(on the M17x) listening to music very relaxing as it was pretty much perfect. Therefore please do not get mad at me if it doesn't really help your sound .

The only things you won't be able to use with xp are:

Hybrid SLI
Command Center

Everything else works perfectly (from my experience so far..)

First of all disable hybrid sli in the BIOS (Hybrid AND integrated, disable both!!)

also, it would be a LOT less work if you disable RAID and put your HDDs in ATA mode. If you rather not do that.. msg me and ill send you what you need to slipstream to get RAID working. Otherwise from my experience running the xp set up in raid mode without slipstreamed drivers results in a blue screen.

right after formating, before installing any drivers, go to device manager > human interface devices and disable hid-compliant device
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Drivers

Chipset : http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_winxp_15.46_ion.html

Graphics (i use the latest ones, if you want an older version you can contact me, also I didnt need a modded inf to install this driver but if you do, contact me aswell) : http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook_winxp_195.62_whql.html

OSD (the only one working for xp) : http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R220477&formatcnt=1&libid=0&typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&fileid=314011


Audio (once again.. the only 1 for xp): http://ftp1.us.dell.com/audio/R219000.exe

ITE drivers (install it from device manager, right click update driver... blablabla): http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5E20AAX0

Wireless drivers (install it from device manager aswell) : http://www.radarsync.com/downloaditem.aspx?locid=797053


Ricoh Card Reader : http://ftp.dell.com/chipset/R219002.exe

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I dont think im missing any drivers

There's a tweak i did though after I noticed something weird with the start menu, go to control panel, system, advanced, performance > settings, in visual effects, disable EVERYTHING except the following : smooth edges of screen fonts + use common taks in folders + use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop + use visual styles on windows and buttons.

After this windows should be good to go, in 3dmark i got a higher score on xp then windows 7.

if you have any questions.. ask in this thread, msg me or add me on msn (my msn is my username @gmail.com)

have fun guys.. I will probably keep updating this thread for a couple of days if I realise im missing a couple of things

btw disabling PowerMizer is extremely easy on this one cause theres an option in the control panel which I didnt see in 7. But then again, in my case I don't need to disable it for the reasons mentioned at the beggining.

Let's try to keep this thread alive as I get the feeling XP could actually be a "genuine" alternative to 7 even when the stuttering is fixed because some of the drivers are still updated and well, the ram usage alone is so much lower then 7. Even just in basic "window browsing" it feels snappier then vista or 7.

 

nvm 10char

 

XP isn't compatible with DX10. Could this be an issue? Can you force those games to run in DX9? I think if you use the command -dx9 in the shortcut, you may able to.

This discusses it further: Dirt 2 actually uses DX11, apparently. XP sure as hell won't play nicely with that.

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2009/12/01/directx-11-performance-first-look-dirt-2/2

 

i got all the games working now, they work perfectly,

ill report back soon and ill adjust the guide, its just a HID device in device manager that u have to disable

btw, i read there isnt much of a difference between dx10 and dx11, and dx10 is available for xp.. pm me if you want the link

 

What kind of games have you been playing on XP if you don't mind me asking? I would love to play FaryCry 2, and Counterstrike again..

Can you take a screenshot of your DPC latancy pleaseeeee??!

 

MoHAA, rFactor, CODMW2, Grid, Dirt 2.

ill give you a ss soon, just gimme a couple of minutes to finish installing everything on my laptop

 

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/6743/62540895.jpg

 

why do people still want XP................... -.-

 

you cant understand why I like xp just like i can't understand how you can prefer windows 7 or vista

i cant even stand the windows 7 skin, whenever i run it.. i run it with the classic theme lol nuff said

 

Thanks. I'll try doing this over my winter break.

 

those DPC latencies look kinda the same, but i figure XP doesn't make the sound stutter for you?

this is interesting, only just recently have ppl started to know what DPC latency was it seems to me like just anyone could be having these latencies

windows7 audio processing is definitely different

maybe the drivers are not yet there at optimal performance

since XP has been for so long u'd figure every single driver out there would work perfectly

 

i haven't noticed any stutter or pops in xp and i dont think it's the drivers, its probably the different audio processing as you say

*edit*

im on windows 7 right now, and definitly notice it, and can confirm that the sound doesnt stutter or pop in xp

 

well drivers control the hardware, if understanding how windows 7 manages audio, then a properly written drivers for devices would certainly lower interference

*edit on second thought
while drivers may help, its mainly certain hardware or way the computer is setup that causes this

 

Well i own M15x and not M17x but i used to have the same irritating stuttering and popping noise when i listened to songs with my denon headphones. But i later came to know that it was caused by the preinstalled IDT driver. Once I uninstalled it, there were no crackling or popping noise...

 

What is the ITE driver for? Also, can the OSD run on XP64 install?

Another question is about the hybrid and SLI. Can I switch to SLI to onboard video in BIOS before XP is loaded? Or am I pretty much stuck with SLI only or hybrid only until I remove one driver and install another?

 

hybrid sli doesnt work on xp, ive not actually test xp64

 

I'll bet you have no latency issues with XP.

 

That's a different but equally annoying problem. Glad to hear you solved it.

 

I tried loading XP but it would not work for reasons that escape me, said it could not load some files

 

Hello,

I have an m17x with dual ATI 4870's, and I have had 0 luck with finding the 4870m drivers via Google, any advice or links?

Thanks,

David

 

There were never xp driver for these cards. We are on our own to mod desktop drivers and hope it works. So far no one has gotten cf to work.