Clean XP install on a Vista notebook.. help needed

Hello all,

so here is the issue:

After much debate with myself, I made the decision to downgrade my Windows Vista Dell Vostro 1500 to Windows XP. It is my personal choice.

Here is what i have done thus far,

- I have backed up everything i care about
- I have completely wiped the hard drive (300 gigs of unallocated space)
- ....and i have attempted to install XP.

i insert my copy of Windows XP home edition, boot from the cd (of course, nothing else to boot to,) it runs initial diagnostics, but when it goes to begin installation, i get a blue screen with some sort of pci error, and i am unable to get past this issue.

heres what im working with,

- Windows XP home edition installation cd
- my Dell Vostro 1500 Drivers and Utilities CD
- Belarc advisor synopsis page
- and my Vostro 1500 owners manual

i did not expect to encounter THIS sort of error (however i expected something, as this is not a trivial task of course)

so that is that. I knew right where to go as soon as i needed help. notebookreview has helped me countless times in the past.


Thank you in advance for any advice.

Tymon Conroy

 

What home edition disc? If it isn't SP3, you might not have the SATA driver installed. If not, may you need to slipstream the Intel Matrix Storage Manager into your install disc: Drivers and Downloads - Public Sector

You can get an app to do it here: nLite - Deployment Tool for the bootable Unattended Windows installation

You should also run the diagnostics. It can be burned to a disc or put on a USB key: Drivers & Downloads - Public Sector

 

That sounds correct, considering other guides i looked over prior to beginning the procedure said to use SP3. I suppose i should have listened...

I digress, I will be sure to follow your directions. I will post this evening regarding the result.

Thank you

 

jason1214 is right. I had the same issue about 2-3 years back when I tried to install XP on a laptop with pre-installed Vista.

 

Jason,

That ended up working out perfectly. Thank you for the advice. I will give you reputation.

And tunay, thank you for assuring me of jason's method.

And once again, Thank You to forums.notebookreview.com for all of its kind, intelligent members!

- Tymon