Windows XP on Alienware M11x

Hello,

I recently installed Windows XP on my Alienware M11x laptop, but I have a problem: I cannot find any drivers.

I can't use Windows Update because I don't have an internet connection yet, and I searched Google on another PC for drivers, but couldn't find anything useful.

Does anyone know if there are Windows XP drivers for Alienware M11x?

 

is it really worth the hassle just to downgrade? why do you need xp?

 

I need XP because I use XP at school and I'm more comfortable with it, and also I have older games I can't play on Windows 7.

 

Most all new hardware released now only has drivers for Windows 7. Your probably not going to find any drivers.

 

I don't necessarily need the newest drivers. I just want some drivers that work with Windows XP.

 

wrong. i had xp on my m11x. had all the drivers i needed.

but there's a catch. you CANT run in hybrid graphics mode. xp does not support graphics switching. so you have to enable the dedicated option in the bios.
also there's a thread on this already, try using the search button. =P

 

^well good luck with that, then.

 

What drivers are you missing?

 

All of them. Sound, internet, graphics... Also can you post a link to that topic? I've used search but there's quite some topics to filter through

 

NVIDIA DRIVERS 266.58 WHQL

is the last that supports xp!

 

I'll try it out when I get home... But then I still need the rest

 

You can find an XP nVidia driver set here. It's not the latest but it'll do. Make sure you enable Discrete graphics in BIOS as Switching will not work in XP.

The ethernet adapter is an Atheros AR8132. This should work.

Sound is handled by a Realtek ALC 665 on my R2, try these.

Wireless should be a Dell 1520 card. I found the drivers on Dell's FTP.

 

i dunno if there are xp drivers for the ALC665 audio....best to check with realtek.tw

 

Anybody done, or seen any 3DMark06 scores for Windows XP compared to Windows 7 on an M11x?

The reason I ask it that I have an old Prescott 3.2Ghz system with an ATI HD 3850 AGP DirectX 10.1 GPU with dual boot Win7 and WinXP.

On Windows XP it gets a 3DMark score of ~5300.
On Windows 7 it gets a 3DMark score of ~4400.

So same hardware, different OS, but same AMD Catalyst hotfix version (11.5) albeit on a different OS and the WinXP 3DMark06 score out does the Win7 3DMark06 score by over 900 3DMarks.

Who would have thought.

 

i ran 3dm06 on my r1 when i had xp, had a really low score, something was wrong and i couldnt figure it out so i just stuck with windows 7 lol.
also i couldnt get any overclocking programs to work on it.

 

I say - take the time to "learn" windows 7 - it's a better operating system and it's not like you'll forget how to use XP at school by learning 7 at home.

 

I tried putting Xp on my asus 1201n. i got about 15% more battery life and 10-20% better FPS vs. using W7

Mind you the 1201n has a atom 330, so it would see more benifits than a C2D would but other than that i think it would be fun and useful to be able to dual boot Xp & W7.

I was considering trying to run Xp on a fast SD card but the the SD card sticking 1/2 way out of the M11x when fully inserted was a big trun off for me so i never went thru with it...

 

Doesn't xp offer the windows xp virtual machine. I have had it one all my machines.

Windows Virtual PC: Home Page

 

Installing that nVidia driver set my color depth to 4 bits (ouch) with a resolution of 800x600. It also says now I have two monitors. I can set the second one to 32 bits with a super high resolution, but I can't set that as the primary screen so doesn't help me.

Ethernet works.

Wireless driver doesn't work, says I got the wrong operating system.

Got any other options for me? Wireless is crucial for my internet, and display is kind important as well.

 

Did you select Discrete over Switchable in BIOS for the graphics?

Not sure about the wireless card then. Get back to you on that one.

 

Stupid, I forgot. After rebooting twice, the nVidia driver is working fine now.

I forgot to mention audio is working fine as well.

Now all I need is the wireless and I'm all set.

 

Nice. I might make a partition for Xp then.

Are you using 32 or 64bit?

 

I got the 32-bit version.

 

Ok cool im going to try this out too here soon.

Might get a nice bump in FPS with certain games if not all games and maybe 30min more battery life.

Ill post back with my results in a few days.

 

just to let everyone know there is problems with xp. i already tried before. overclocking programs didnt notice my video card and i always got low scores on benchmarks. no idea why.

 

Maybe the wrong video driver or decrete gfx not set up right in the Bios?

 

i had discrete running the whole time. thats how i was running on windows 7 too. i tried 2 different nvidia drivers, i dont remember which ones tho.

if you guys want, i could test it again just to be sure it was a user error (me being a dumb sh#$) i would run xp as my default OS if it ran like it was supposed to on my m11x

 

7 is not a bad system , but I really like XP no matter how old is it - I do not care . I only care what XP can do for me , and I'm sure I can get a few extra fps on XP - and that is what counts .
Waiting for your experience and scores and just starting to preparing my cd with xp .

 

Requires Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate. And it won't do Direct3D.

Good luck, but I doubt you will have much success, at least not without giving lots of concessions. With discrete GPU you will end up with maybe three hours battery life if that is important to you.

Heck I had trouble installing XP reliably on a Gateway P7811fx laptop which was released just shortly after Vista. Seven is Microsoft's new flagship product, and have actually terminated support for XP. They have extended support for businesses, but not for consumers.

 

Agreed. Obviousy Microsoft wants people to use their newest software.

However, I am personally more comfortable with XP. Not just how the OS works, but the interface as well. I hate Windows Aero so much, and Windows Classic theme in Windows 7 is just annoying.

Anyway I know I'm stubborn but that's the way it is, for now.

 

I can see why some would argue that W7 is better, but i can also see why some would enjoy Xp enough to go thru the hoops to get it working on a native W7 PC.

Xp SP3 just runs soo much more lean than W7, even on highend Systems with a SSD i can tell the difference. And when optimized its even better. yea you loose Dx11 and other native W7 stuff but if you dont use any of it i cant say its a negitive.

I use Xp on my Dj equipment and my media center. i have Vista on my main desktop and W7 on my M11x.

id use Xp64bit on all of them if i could but drivers/software make that not possible.

 

I was a big advocate for XP all the way through Vista, then I decided to try 7 and haven't looked back. As a matter of fact all my machines run 7 now. I do think XP has it's place, and is streamlined for older and weaker hardware. But Win 7 does have a lot more to offer. It is too bad Microsoft has stopped support for it though, I'd rather see a modified XP than Win 7 Starter for netbooks.

I'm not trying to convince otherwise, only sharing my experiences. Good luck, let us know how it works out!

 

And to tell you the truth this is the only reason I use 7 . I don't want to start another war on the system - as I said, I think seven is a good OS - but not necessarily for everyone.
XP would be better for me. I'm an ordinary user, most of the time I play games, surf the Web, watch videos and photos. But with win7.... all games - I play in compatibility mode for XP sp3 and DX9 ( run, for example, Two Worlds 2 in DX9 and DX10 at the same settings and you will see why ). My GSM modem ZTE does not work correctly with Windows 7 - Orange support can't help with that . I run 7 separately - to reduce the ram memory usage .
If I had the SB procesor and modern , strong GPU I think Seven would be good for me , but I don't have - and really miss XP.
And I agree that it is wrong that there is no support for this system
This is just my humble opinion

 

microsoft still supports xp, i believe for another 10 years. but its the other companies that dont support it.

 

Anyone have any luck with that wireless driver? I've been dissecting Google for a while now but haven't yet found anything. I'm also not too sure what I should look for. Would a wireless driver for another Dell laptop support my Alienware?

Anyway, it's a bit annoying having to use another PC to browse the internet...

 

search on google "dell wireless 1520 drivers xp" should fins something. i had drivers for the wifi when i had xp on mine, i dont remember where i got them before.

 

Tried USB dialup? Local Ethernet LAN and share online PCs network?

If you get Windows update up and 'running' it may pick out something for you regarding WiFi drivers and etc.

 

Yes I know. Microsoft support XP, only because they must . Computer manufacturers don't .

 

All my Xp discs dont like my M11x.

A few BoSD and the rest dont have the right storage driver and dont see my HDD...

 

Windows lifecycle fact sheet - Microsoft Windows

End of Mainstream Support: April 14, 2009

End of Extended Support: April 8, 2014

Extended support = only available for commercial customers

 

Have you tried setting disk mode to ATA?

 

Nope... didnt even think of that.

Thx ill try that out

 

How does this exactly work?

I think I already tried the 1520 driver, but I'll give it another shot.

Edit: As I thought, the 1520 driver won't work. Says my computer doesn't support it. How does this USB dial-up work?

 

If you don't have a LAN available, a dial up connection will require a USB modem, for e.g.

Amazon.com: usb modem

I had to send my mom one; I bought her a new netbook but she's out in the middle of nowhere on dialup still, sadly.

 

Hmm, I see. I suppose that might be the only option. Still, there has to be a driver somewhere that works.

I wonder, isn't it possible to connect my laptop to my router by cable and run Windows Update that way?

 

alright guys there is a whole nother thread on this subject, it has wifi drivers someone uploaded im PRETTY sure. use the search button and see what comes up.

 

Actually I'm starting to think I might go back to Win 7. Every game I try to play imediately crashes, even GTA2. It was a nice experiment and I'm glad I did it, but perhaps the M11x and Win XP just don't match.

 

Using steam?

 

thats EXACTLY what happend to me when i installed xp on m11x

 

Nah, not even. You know the ever frustrating "Send / Don't Send" crash right? That's what I get on all my games.