Need help with windows xp drivers!

okay guys,
so let me start by saying my issue.

i am a windows xp guy. i love it, but i own an alienware m18x r1
i just finally figured out why xp wouldn't install on my alienware.
and i got it installed now. but i face a problem....
i cant find any drivers for it.

i am looking uber hard. and i decided to make this forum. my internet is being really slow atm 109 kbs, so im slowly downloading a VGA driver
hoping that it works, but heres what i have in my alienware.

2 amd 6990m's crossfire x

quad core i7 <- no problem

bigfoot wireless killer 1103

these are the only real ones i need,
others would be a card reader. etc

ill figure out the on screen display and command center later, as long as i can game.

 

As disappointing as you may find it, there may just be no drivers available for XP. XP is over 10 years old at this point and in it's extended support period which will end sooner than later. You can look for drivers for the Atheros equivalent of the 1103, you may have better luck there. However, for the video drivers, unless drivers for older GPUs work, you're very likely SOL. I mean there is a reason why you can't find xp drivers and it is the age of the OS itself.

The best advice I could give you is something you're not going to like reading: use the Windows 7 that came with your m18x, it will make your life much easier. Anyways, you'll either be stuck with XP x64-SP2 and what I consider a decent amount of RAM, 32-bit sp3 which will give you much less usable RAM or 32-bit sp3 with some hack and that is something I have never been fond of.

 

For the Bigfoot, it looks like you are probably out of luck. A Bigfoot said that they haven't tested it with XP, and someone else reported no luck with it. You may have to swap out wireless cards to get it working with XP. I use an Intel 5300 AGN; similar Intel ones of that era likely will also work with XP.

The ATIs in Crossfire could also pose problematic. I don't see XP drivers for recent mobile ATI cards on AMD's website. You could try the desktop ATI Radeon HD 6000 series drivers, which are available for XP from the search page. They might be worse for battery life, but at least with nVIDIA, you can use desktop drivers on notebooks. Whether it will work with Crossfire on your laptop is anyone's guess, but it's worth a shot. You could also look for drivers from Omega Drivers.

I am assuming that you are using XP 64-bit? As tijo mentioned, you'll have quite little RAM otherwise. I'm curious how much is actually useable with two 6990s in Crossfire if you're using XP 32-bit (or anything 32-bit, for that matter).

But these days, it's best to do your homework first and then buy if you want to use XP. I didn't have much trouble getting XP to work on my desktop from late 2011, including fancy new features such as USB 3.0, but I checked for drivers before buying. My guess is it wouldn't be too difficult to get a ThinkPad working with XP, since there are surely businesses doing just that, but otherwise, it's really best to check first. Crossfire, SLI, and switchable graphics only make it less likely to succeed. You're actually doing fairly well to have it up and running, but the last few steps might not be easy.

Either way, please post back with your results. Better for the next person to know whether it works (and where to get the necessary drivers), or whether it doesn't, than to be left starting at Google results that don't tell them one way or another if it works.

 

As much as we all love XP, its time to move on to Win7 as tijo suggested. XP has it uses, but it's just not supported any more with most new hardware. I experienced the same problems as I was building my home theater PC (attempted shelling XP) a few months ago, but the drivers were made only for win7.