Blue screen of death trying to install win xp

Hi guys,

I have wiped my hard drive and want to install windows xp sp3. I burned this dvd from an image and I'm getting some type of stop error with a blue screen of death. This happens on the Sony Z and also on other laptops that I have tried.

Is this a dvd media problem? I have tried many brands of media. Or is it a dvd burner problem?

Any tips?

Basically, I can't downgrade from vista to xp. I am using an xp sp3 cd. Is there some type of security or something or a special downgrade disc that I need?

 

Most Vista systems are difficult (some impossible) to downgrade to XP. For those systems that have been able to take the install, it's required a different BIOS and specific drivers. In some cases drivers can't be found because they don't exist. All PC vendors have specific warnings about attempting to downgrade Vista systems to XP because of the difficulties involved.

Your best option, depending on your system, is to hit the Forums on the support site relative to your system. I guarantee others have attempted it, and there's usually a lot more info on those sites. For example, the HP forums have a lot of info on attempted downgrades, along with a lot of tears.

Other than that, your option is to reinstall Vista, but unless you've got Home Premium, Biz or Ultimate with SP1, it's not worth it. Vista is a great OS if you have adequate processing capability and enough RAM, which is the problem most people who initially tried to upgrade from XP had.

Since you don't list your specific system here, it's impossible to give you specific advice or links to go to, but you should be able to nail down the support community for your system on the vendor site. XP downgrade problem posts are all over the HP Forums.

 

When exactly does it happen?

 

If your Z came with Vista Business you have the right to an XP downgrade disc I belive, which you can order.

In this case you would have to contact Sony, whether they can supply the XP downgrade disc.

 

Thanks guys! Actually, it was the dreaded SATA drivers that I needed to load during windows setup that caused the problem.

Once I found the problem, there are many threads about this.

 

Excellent! :smile: