Downgrading from Vista Home to XP on m15x

Hi guys,

I got an AW M15x a couple of months ago with the following configurations:

1. T9300 Dual core @2,5 GHz
2. 4GB RAM
3. Nvidia 8700GT GPU

I`m running Vista Home premium and I`m completely dissatisfied with it, I`m thinking about switching to XP (if possible). Is it adivsable to do it?

Can anyone help me with some steps (hints), I`m concerned mostly about installing the command center.

Many thanks

 

Make sure you can find all the required drivers for XP before you even think of downgrading. What problems are you experiencing with Vista??

 

If you are willing to format, please follow the following steps:
1. Download the XP Intel RAID drivers. (I have uploaded this for you on my server so you won't have to go through finding it in MyHive.)

2. Extract the files onto a floppy disk (you'll need a USB floppy drive connected into your m15x.)

3. Boot into your Windows XP Installation CD.

4. Make sure at this point that your USB floppy drive is plugged in with the floppy disk you've made in step 2 inside of it.

5. In the first stage of Setup, you will see a series of blue and gray text-based screens. In the first step, you will be asked to press [F6] if you need to install any third-party SCSI or RAID drivers. These are types of hard drive controllers. Press F6 during that time and allow it time to load onto the following screen.



6. When you get onto this screen, press " S" to " Specify Additional Devices."

7. Now it should load the drivers from your USB floppy drive. It'll bring up a list of drivers and you will be asked to pick the one that suits your needs. For this particular system, you will want to choose: " Intel(R) 82801HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller (Mobile ICH8M-E/M)"

8. The rest of the steps should be straight-forward if you've ever formatted a disk before. If not, you can always refer to this:
http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/alienware.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=537&p_created=1070322628&p_sid=LU5w***j&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MzgsMzgmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPTAmcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9mbmwmcF9zY2ZfNj0yMDUmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1yZWluc3RhbGxpbmcgWFA*&p_li=&p_topview=1

Once you've installed Windows XP onto your computer, install the drivers in their correct order. All of these drivers could be found in your MyHive or in the mini-MyHive here.

Installing the Alienware Command Center requires no extra steps in XP. Just install it the same way you would install it on Vista.

Note: Just as a reminder, Alienware can only offer support to systems that have the original operating system on it, so if you've purchased your m15x with Vista on it, you'll have to reinstall Vista if you ever need to send it back for repairs. Same goes with XP-- if you purchased your m15x with XP on it, you can't send it back with Vista on it (but why would anyone do that anyway?)

Good luck and hope that helps.

@edit on Nov 20th: Just stumbled across this thread again and noticed I messed up on the step numbering. Fixed it. =)

 

Since most of us don't have USB floppy drives, you could try putting it on a USB memory stick, which COULD work (no guarantees) OR use nlite to 'slipstream' the drivers into the install, making a custom XP install CD for the laptop.

I hope this helps.

 

usb will not work

nlite all the way w*w.nliteos.com/

 

the best way to do this with no floppy is to make a custom install of windows xp with the IATA drivers on it. you need a your xp disk and the drivers for the IATA and nlite http://www.nliteos.com/

you add the drivers through nlite burn to a disk and the windows install will detect your harddrive.

 

Thanks guys for the tips. I am not happy with Vista `cause it eats so much resources, about 1,5 GB of memory on idle, on top of that it crashes sometimes, and It treats me like I`m a noob (It`s a pain in the *** to delete a read only file for instance ). Plus I can`t find up-to-date drivers for my GPU (8700 GT), I also have overheating problems..

In other terms, I`ll download all the drivers from MyHive, I already ordered the USB floppy, hopefully I`ll crack it by the end of the week.

Somebody mentioned something about installing the drivers in the appropriate order. What would that be?

10x

 

There is definately a problem if its using 1.5GB on idle!!!

 

Already listed it up there for ya. Just scroll up a tad to my last post and you'll see a quote box with the correct driver order.

 

Many thanks Oceanus for your help

 

Another quick question. How do I install the Alien Respawn Utility. I don`t really need it right now, only in the occasion I`m gonna want to install Vista back from the backup DVD I got from AW. Can I restore the laptotp to the factory condition without the Alen Respawn Utility?

Many thanks

 

the Respawn utility is always installed on your machine, but in a separate partition. you can only access it by hitting F12 (IIRC) during the boot process when you see the alien head.

 

I started the process, but I have a problem:

After I formatted the C partition, just about when Windows was about to copy the files on the disk I get this message:

"Insert the disk labeled: Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver into drive A: Press ENTER when ready."

From here I can`t do anything, it`s basically dead. The floppy drive is plugged in, the drivers are on the floppy disk, but it doesn`t start. The only opton is to abort and reboot...

Needless to say I have pressed F6 at the beginning of the install and I loaded the appropriate driver

Any ideea guys?

 

Can you further explain what you mean by "it's basically dead?"

 

I meant that the only two options were to press enter to load the drivers again from the the floppy drive (which wouldn`t respond) or F3 to abort.

I finally solved it by making a customized XP cd with the SATA drivers included, It`s almost fully operational now, two things I couldn`t fix
(yet), the GPU drivers from laptopvideo2go doesn`t work (I have 8700 GT, It only accepts the driver from MyHive which is centuries old) and the volume touch zone doesn`t work. I`m still working on it.

 

You're going to have to download the modded INF file (for that driver version) along with the GPU driver you want. After you extract the GPU driver files, copy the modded INF file into the folder you extracted the drivers in and then try again.

The volume touch slider problem might be linked to the Alienware Command Center along. If you already have the sound drivers installed, try uninstalling and then reinstalling the Alienware Command Center.

 

Where can I download the modded INF file from? I need it for 179.13

Many thanks again!

 

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=20809



See if that works for you.

 

BTW you're not downgrading from Vista.... you're upgrading

 

O come on, vista is not that bad nowadays.

 

It's not bad if you have more than 2GB of RAM.

In any case, I'm looking forward to the release of Windows 7. I heard a lot of good things about it so far.

 

You'd be surprised. The performance difference is like an Audi A4 against an RS4. Huge difference. Vista aint bad, it's just a resource hog.

 

Thanks Oceanus, it`s working (`dooh )

Now it looks more like an upgrade to me as well. I`m installing COD5 tonight to put it to the test

 

Have you fixed the volume slider problem yet? Because I can help you diagnose the problem if you need help!

 

Nope, tried everything, I removed an reinstalled the sound drivers and still nothing. I am running the new command center now (it has some bugs...), should I install the old one?

 

Yes, try that.

 

I uninstalled the new command center and reinstalled the old one and now I have the following problems:

1. Volume slider still doesn`t work
2. Alienware name doesn`t light up
3. Touchpad doesn`t disable when I plug in the mouse.

Any ideeas?

 

Hmm. I suppose you can try this patch.

http://www.audicracy.com/m15x_ripley_model.exe

On the other hand, the touch pad is a known issue that hasn't been fixed with XP yet. The only way to disable it is manually through the mouse settings.

 

What????????

 

Don't take it literally unless you really love Vista.

 

LOL!!!!!!!! Me love Vista long time!

 

orly??

 

well....what i did when i installed xp on mine...is i downloaded a program called nLite.

basically...you can slipstream stuff onto your xp installation.....so all you need is an xp cd....and a cd-r....and an internet connection....

so i added the intel drivers (text only), and added all drivers...even added my cd key....and told it to prompt for repair...so i never need a usb key nor do i need a usb floppy drive....and if i need to repair it, then i can...again no drivers needed....very handy....

i can't post the link to it...because of the 15 post rule...but google it and you will find it. nliteos dot com.. heh....

it's awesome, because you can enter everything so u put in the disk, tell it how to format the drive, and it will do the rest...you could also slipstream any other drivers, and or programs you wish...you could even have all your drivers installed with it, if you so wished.... heh.

hope this information helps...cheers.

 

Something is not right. I did exactly as you mentioned, reinstalled the command center and I get this error message when I try to open the theme editor "cannot load theme. this application is not compatible with this computer". I get this message from both versions of the command center.

I am now running the last known theme (from before the format), without the command center (I uninstalled it completely).

I`m thinkiong about re-formating it or flashing the bios.

 

Doesn't hurt to try I suppose. I would try reflashing the BIOS first to see if that improves anything. At this point, it's trial and error. Definitely software related though!

 

Hello guys, me again

I tried XP on my laptop long enough, and I`m starting to experience some of the "classic" XP bugs, I`m thinking about switching back to Vista (I know, I know ...)

How should I do it, I have the original respawn disk, but how do I initiate the back-up process? Before I formated the computer (for XP), I had an option at boot-up, in order to access the respawn utility. Now it`s gone...

Can you help me with some clues? How do I restore?

Many thanks