Think Again if You Plan to Remove Vista and Install XP on a Laptop
- Comments: 137
- Written on: April 3rd, 2007
Syndicate This The above picture is of Johnny Cash in his “One Piece at a time” Cadillac that was featured in his hit 1976 song. It is funny how a 1976 song that is silly at best could come to personify installing Windows XP on a notebook that came with Vista preinstalled.
I am sending major kudos to our Senior Repair Technician, Blaze Johnson for sorting out one of the biggest hardware driver headaches we have seen since Windows 95. If you are planning on buying a new notebook computer with Vista preinstalled and hope to install Windows XP yourself instead, you have some surprises in store for you.
In this particular case we had purchased a brand new Gateway notebook computer that had Windows Vista preinstalled on it (as almost all notebooks now do). Our client needed to have Windows XP Professional on the notebook, as their IT department was not supporting Vista yet (as most will not at this time).
Blaze opened up the new laptop and wiped the hard drive in what would normally be a quick and easy XP Professional install. Then the driver fun began.
The notebook was equipped with a SATA (Serial ATA) hard drive for faster data throughput. SATA hard drives require a SATA software driver for Windows to recognise them during the installation process. Blaze went to Gateway’s website and was surprised to find no Windows XP drivers AT ALL were available for the unit. Not a single one.
So now we had a problem. Without a Windows XP SATA driver, the notebook would not install Windows XP. Next we checked the Intel website to see if they had a driver for Windows XP (after all, it was their SATA chipset). Again, Blaze hit a brick wall. No XP drivers were available, but every Vista driver known to man was ready for download. Blaze called me and explained the situation and together we set out on a driver hunt unlike anything we have had to do in years.
With “One Piece at a Time” rolling through my head, I started searching for a SATA driver. I started by double checking Blaze’s work, and as usual it was thorough. There were no drivers available for this chipset in the usual places. Next, I found an IBM notebook that used the same chipset, but came with Windows XP preinstalled. I located that IBM driver and sent it to Blaze, and by golly it worked!
Now we could at least install Windows XP on the hard drive. Unlike most installations of XP where the drivers are simply found by the operating system, not a single device on the laptop functioned after the installation was complete. We were going to have to use the same patchwork search to find the software needed for each separate system in the notebook.
Next we needed video and audio drivers, which were easy enough to come by from the NVIDIA website. We had to visit the HP.com to find modem and bluetooth drivers.
Next we headed for the Dell website where we were lucky enough to find a driver for the unit’s wireless chipset.
So now our client has a Gateway Notebook running an IBM SATA driver, HP communication drivers, and a program that says the notebook has a Dell wireless network card in it, when in fact it does not. The bottom line is that it WORKS and it was done in time for our client to make her trip to Washington D.C. with Windows XP. This kind of thing is enough to make a geek drink. Thanks to all of the hardware vendors out there who decided XP was dead just because Vista is here.
- If you liked this post, subscribe to my feed!
- Comments: 137
*Sigh* Makes me nostalgic and looking back at the good old days of my Commodore gone Escom, gone Eagle, gone Mikronik gone Gateway gone Tao… AMIGA computer.
A tip on the hat from someone who has to install VMWare-W98 for some customers who run a must-have legacy application.
Wow! Great job Schrock Innovations. I don’t think Best Buy could have done what you did for your customer.
*wince* Ouch. Very very ouch.
It looks like if I ever get that tablet notebook I’ve been wanting, I may need to go linux in order to avoid Vista.
Blaze is the best. He has helped me out of a lot of jams over the past few years
I am just glad I am not the only one who remembers that old dong!
Why do manufacturers have to make it so hard on consumers sometimes? I mean, if the windows XP drivers existed, why not post them and make them easy to find. Makles no sense to me.
Am I detecting a negative Vista vibe? I thought you loved M$
Vista seems designed incompatible with all existing software and hardware!
Is there a way to create a dual-boot partition and then install XP, 98, 2000 etc? My (MS) Vista handbook says dual-boot is an option on upgrade. NB Partition Magic not yet updated by Symantec. Partition Manager doesn’t mention dual-boot.
OR
Could I upgrade to Vista Home Premium to Business or Ultimate the run the free Emulator and load XP etc into that? Will it be reasonably quick? Will it be truly compatible?
Any one tried these?
ZDNet has an excellent white paper on installing Vista in an XP dual boot environment.
There are so many things to consider, I don’t think I could do a question like that justice on the blog. I can tell you that is is certainly possible to dual boot, and many people are doing it.
The emulator option is also workable. One of our developers is running Vista in a Linux shell right now and it works perfectly.
You won’t believe my story. In july 2005 I’ve bought a Fujitsu Laptop, indeed a very good machine. Unfortunately, the screen went dead in last February. I went to the shop, to repair it under the warranty. Nine weeks later, they’ve misplaced my PC. They just couldn’t find it anywhere. So they gave me another one, of my choice, another Fujitsu, an upgrade of my old one, with Windows XP. When I got home, the screen was hazzardous, and it didn’t work right. So I went to exange for a new one. There was no more of that model, and with the characteristics that i need, the only had with vista installed. And there begun my toment. I cannot install no software, like Adobe CS2 with I use to work and bought 5 months ago, my scanner (7months old), my printer (also 7 months), my camera (1,5 years), nothing… even the iPod. I’ve tried to install XP and nothing worked, and now I’m stuck with a 1500 Dollars Laptop that I cannot use…
Hi guys, man I’ve ran into the exact same problem as you. Can someone help me? Please. I have a gateway MT3705 notebook that I just removed Vista but needs to find the correct chipset and where to download so I can get the SATA drive to work correctly to install XP Pro. If I can do that I will definitely take image right away. Please help, thank you all in advance for anything.
Mike
@Raven - That is a terrible story! I have to say that everyone I have personally known who has owned a Fujitsu notebook has had trouble with the screen.
@Mike - I have an email in with Schrock Innovations’ Senior Technician. If he still has the SATA and other drivers handy, I will have him zip them for you and I will post a download link here.
I just was forced to purchase a new computer PC due to a power surge wiping out my old one. This is for a small business. I have had nothing but trouble trying to get my other equipment to work with VISTA. I was thinking of getting windows XP and installing it into this computer, but now I’m not sure that is such a great idea. Is the same problems going to happen with a PC as it did for the laptop? I don’t hook up that computer to the internet at all because it is only used for our business. I did have to buy the new Quickbooks 2007 to use with it. I have thrown good money after bad with this mess and have been almost 3 weeks without the use of a computer. Any suggestions.
I had a funny feeling that Vista was trouble. I’ve been looking for a new notebook with XP - hard to find, but I found one! I’m extraordinarily happy!
It’s the same with Sony, don’t bother =/
I was very interested to read everyones comments on this site but yet at the same time shocked and discouraged with the trouble caused by vista. I have and still am experiencing non stop problems with my new laptop. I feel deflated now as i had high hopes of removing it and doing an XP install which now seems much more troublesome and complicated than i ever imagined. Can anyone advise me where to go from here??
I get the feeling the manufacturers have done a deal with the devil, a.k.a. Microsoft, which is so eager to have Vista implemented they are forcing PC manufacturers to pull their XP drivers. For HP, I discovered, you can get the XP drivers if you use their live chat. Ask the tech to send you the links; they appear to have prepared documents. I urge people to do this, and to complain vociferously about the situation. From Toshiba I got no cooperation at all; luckily I checked before I bought, and I told the tech on the phone that I would not buy a Toshiba laptop at all because of this. I will continue to tell manufacturers this, that their products are out of my consideration at my company if it comes with Vista and there are no XP drivers made easily available.
We run SAP Business One here…it won’t work yet on Vista.
(I love it that I am constantly vindicated in my decision to use a Macintosh at home.)
The main article is good, except for one thing. Telling us that HP, Nvidia, and Dell have the drivers is no help unless you give a link to the page where the files are, and the file name needed. hp.com, nvidia.com and dell.com are no help at all.
Why not post the files somewhere in one place, and tell us where to find them.
Thanks,
Ed
We did it! We got vista off my new copmpaq c500
Everytime I tried to install xp it said it couldn’t find the harddrive.
The whole problem with deleting it came down to the SATA file system.
We pressed F10 on startup to get into bios
Then under the system config tab, turned off SATA Native support.
Saved changes and xp install fired right up!
We deleted all partitions and continued install.
windows xp is running fast! Now we need to find a disk for the motherboard. I’ll let ya know how that goes but I feel great having that piece of crap vista off of there. It’s not fare that we pay for a computer and are forced to test this crappy software and are given no option to say no. Every computer in the stores is running vista. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just upgraded from XP to Vista…I have to admit I was very nervous about it…in then end….I LOVE IT!
People….give it a try….I think you’ll agree!
Vista has been nothing but a nightmare to me. Worse, it is not compatible with the internet services in my apartment! All I want to do is curl up in bed and do a little surfing, but I have to either jump on my desktop (which runs XP Pro, thank goodness) or get on dialup. I bought a Gateway MX8711 two months ago and I STILL can’t get Vista off this computer, not even if try to use a USB drive!
Congrats, Bill Gates - you’re about to make the good folks at Apple very, very rich!
I have a question as I am trying to do the exact same thing on the same laptop (small world) from Gateway.
My problem is it does not have a floppy drive so when I try to use the F6 command to install a SATA driver it tells me it could not find a floppy drive and to go jump in a lake! Did yours have a floppy drive or is there another way around this? Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. The laptop is for kids with learning disabilities and the software we use to help them will not run in Vista so we are between a rock and a hard place
Do you try with a USB flash memory?
You will need to get a USB floppy drive to install the SATA drivers. It will function just like a regular floppy. Also, the SATA drivers can be downloaded at: http://www.schrockinnovations.com/GatewaySATA.zip
A USB drive will not work.
It has to be a standard floppy, LS120, what ever.
A USB floppy drive WILL work. Make sure ‘legacy usb device’ is enabled in the bios setup. Also set the boot order for hard drive last (actually just before network adapter). I loaded the SATA drivers from USB floppy drive fine.
Thanks for pitching in on the discussion everyone. I talked to my senior technician and he did not save the rest of the drivers unfortunately.
However, the method he used to locate the drivers was to go to the Gateway website and find out what chipset was used for each device. Then he Googled the chipset with the term “XP driver” download.
Good luck, and if you find one, please post a link here so others can benefit!
I have a Gateway MX8711 notepbook which comes with windows vista. I have
successfully installed windows XP on it with you help (using the following
link).
(http://www.schrockinnovations.com/GatewaySATA.zip)
Really appreciated your help.
Now I can’t find drivers for Eternet / Video / Sound / VGA / Netwrok
controller.
Can you please let me know if you have the XP drivers for the above
I just purchased a Toshiba satellite laptop with vista premium. I”m not finding much premium about it. I would like to switch back to xp but I run a small business and can’t be without the laptop for weeks on end. Does someone have the fix for this one so I can get my life back? Thanks!
If you’re looking to purchase a new PC with windows XP, Dell is still building new machines with it installed. You may have to pay a little more than if you had a Vista machine built but it’s totally worth it! One of the PCs at work that should have been replaced last year finally died. We went to Best Buy and bought an HP with Vista (because they don’t have any XP machines anywhere in the store, including hiding in the back storage) and Vista would not play nicely with a single one of the programs we needed to use! Or our printer or scanner for that matter (which are both under a year old). We returned the Vista machine and now are waiting for the Dell to arrive.
I’m so glad I bought my laptop right before the big Vista push! I have no plans to upgrade to Vista any time soon. Thank goodness for Dell!
@Alyson, it won’t tak weeks, i went back to vista on a toshiba satellite without the need of sata drivers, be sure to make a backup before reformatting the hard drive.
OK i’m working on a MX8734 gateway using the drivers i can get XP to start loading then im hit with
Insert The Disk Labeled
Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver
Into drive A
press ENTER when ready
Ive found the driver package but it’s 18 mb wont fit a 1.44 floppy and cant open the package to extract the driver on my AMD computer without fear of screwing up the only working pc in my house
Any suggestions?
have a Gateway MX8711 notepbook which comes with windows vista. I have
successfully installed windows XP on it with you help (using the following
link).
(http://www.schrockinnovations.com/GatewaySATA.zip)
Really appreciated your help.
Now I can’t find drivers for Eternet / Video / Sound / VGA / Netwrok
controller.
Can you please let me know if you have the XP drivers for the above
Please help me! I’m in Russia and so hard find sound driver for Gateway MX8711 in WinXP
Please give link or send on my mail.
Next we needed video and audio drivers, which were easy enough to come by from the NVIDIA website.
Where? I don’t know where?
MX8711 with Vista, we are also loading XP back on it. The SATA drivers helped, however we are having the same problem as Wiztoo…
Once we pick a driver for the controller it continues and then gives….
Insert The Disk Labeled
Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver
Into drive A
press ENTER when ready
I can’t figure out which driver it is asking for…. if you have the driver…..
then go to start — Run — file.exe /a (the /a is the switch that is suppose to put it in a file in C:\ProgramFiles\Intel
If you have the driver, I’ll break it apart and give you the files… Jason
C:\iata62_enu.exe /a /pC:\whateverfolderyouwant
you have to have the /a /pC:\
in oder to get the driver out of the setup.exe file
JASON
All of the drivers for the GATEWAY MX8711 are out there. I have just compleated an xp install on this very machine. Anyone having problems getting drivers can find them at intel.com 945GM mobile chipset and at gateway .com the xp drivers are found under machine # MX8710 including sound ethernet and bluetooth. I hope this helps somebody
for all you people having problems loading drivers for sata machines . go out and download nlite and slip the sata driver into the XP .iso then install xp from that disk and windows will find the driver without having to use a floppy
Hello. My name is Svat - I’m from Russia)))
I want ask you about
“Think Again if You Plan to Remove Vista and Install XP on a Laptop”
I don’t understand where find sound driver for WinXP (Gateway MX8711)…((
Please- may be you give link?
Thank you.
Respect
What kind of asshole brags about finding all the drivers but doesn’t tell the readers where to find them? Thanks a lot, jerkoff!
Firstly i,m not bragging secondly i told you where the drivers are LOOK . if you need me to hold your hand and find them thats ok christie, just ask
Svat you should find most of the drivers you need here including soundcard and volume
http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?param=mx8710&st=kwk
After thought. Svat to get my sound working after installing the drivers i had to update all of the codecs.Google klite codec pack its free and install it
I have a compaq 6710b with vista, how do I uninstall it so I can put XP pro on it?
This is no big story I’ve done it so many times I’ve lost track.
The first step in this operation would be to boot up the PC and write down a profile of all the hardware first so you would have a clue of what the devices actually are? Kind of hard to find a driver for unknown device. Or PCI communication device.
Then if you can not find them at the OEM or manufacturer website I’m sure a search for the device name followed by XP driver, or try to find a machine with the device at another company site with XP and download their driver.
This is typical when installing any Windows OS (even Vista) sometimes you you have to look for drivers. Especially if you don’t have the Blessing of the manufacturer
Hi,
I just bought a Gateway MX8734 laptop. I HATE the vista. I cant use my printer , scanner, software.. It really sucks.. Gateway tells me the only way around is to buy a xp recovery disk for this computer. They have the xp drivers for this machine but will NOT sell them without Xp operating system. I already have 3 copies of xp I don’t need another. I can’t believe they won’t make the drivers available.. Has anyone with this computer have the restore disk for xp just so I can get the drivers ?? Barb
P.S. Gateway wants $200 fo a restore disk!! If anyone out there has found the xp drivers for this Gateway MX8734 I would really appreciate some help.. Barb
Barb
Well I figured it out for the compaq, it was pretty simple for the most part. First go into the BIOS and disable the SATA driver second make sure that you have a later version of WIn XP with SP2 on it. It will boot from the cd and you’ll be good to go. All the drivers are on the HP website. For the XP I just found a torrent and got it that way. Hope this helps for all you HP users.
Hi,
I just bought a Compaq V2434 AU notebook PC that came with Vista. I removed that and installed XP with SP3. Now, I am having problems with the audio. I downloaded the driver given at the HP site but its not working. Someone out there has any idea how I am supposed to resolve this??? Please….
I found the SATA drivers on Gateway’s site. I’m about to try this out to get the nasty VISTA off my Gateway. Good Luck…
http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/getFile.asp?id=20974&dscr=Windows%20XP%20and%20Vista%20(32-bit%20or%2064-bit)%20SATA/Mass%20Storage%20Controller%20version:%20Intel%206.2.0.2002&uid=168673214
I too have a MX8711 that I am removing Vista and putting XP on. I have everything up and running, except the USB controller, network controller, and “Modem Device on High Definition Audio Bus” drivers. And for the life of me I can not find the dell drivers to make my wireless work, I have tried several times… PLEASE HELP!!!!
Just bought a new Acer Aspire to play games on. It has windows vista on it and it is not compatable with my most favorite game: Diablo 2 LOD. I can get it on my computer but cant play it online. I am sooooo mad! I wish I knew how to make this game and vista compatable. Anyone got any clue how to do this? Let me know please.
File names for MX8711 XP drivers. Type them into google. Two audio drivers listed. Don’t remember which one worked. USB controller should be supported by xp sp2. Everything else is here. Used nlite to inject sata drivers in xp install cd. Worked great. Thanks for the tips. Good luck to the rest of you.
Sites used: gateway, intel, hp, nvidia, broadcom. Wireless is bcm94311mcg . chipset is 945gm . Video is intel graphics media accellerator 950. Audio is sigma tel 9250.
BCM_REL_4_100_15_5_WHQL Broadcom wireless
D00664-001-001 Audio
5.10.5258_MSXP_W_IAS_AC97 FP AUDIO
D00243-001-002 TOUCHPAD
D00612-001-002 VIDEO
D20003-003-001 MEDIA CARD READER
D20035-001-001 SATA MASS STORAGE DRIVER
infinst_autol-intel943 gmlexpress_systemchipsetdriver
PRO2KXP network adapter drivers
Windows_SM56_6.12.07_DFV modem driver
Using a USB Floppy and the Gateway drivers you provided was able to finally start the install of Windows XP Pro 2002 version.
Thank you for the links Blaze!
Just finished upgrading Vista back to XP Pro in a GW MX8711.
To update Jeremys post:
The correct audio driver is
D00664-001-001 from GateWay site.
Audio proved the most challenging to get working.
The trick it seems is to get the Motorola modem driver installed before doing the audio drivers.
Vista is only good for people who surf with IE and do EM !!!
Not for anyone who has real work to do !!
What a pain for you all to go through! I’m so glad I’m running a Mac… thanks to Parallels and VM Ware, installing and uninstalling Vista and XP have been completely trouble free. Drivers schmivers!
Considering in Australia I’ve not been able to find a comparable “name-brand” PC laptop for anywhere near as cheap as I bought my Mac, and considering the trouble so many people seem to have with PCs, I wonder why more people don’t use Macs.
Now, before you all start harping on about why you choose PCs over Macs, I understand that there are legitimate reasons. But surely in a great many cases, there’s simply no justifiable reason to buy a PC over a Mac. Is there? I’m not trying to start some pointless war about it, I just don’t understand the persistence with hardware which is more expensive and yet inferior.
So many of you in this thread alone are talking about the dramas you’re having… I’ve installed Vista, uninstalled, installed XP, uninstalled, reinstalled Vista, reinstalled XP, and also installed Ubuntu, and incidentally, had them all running simultaneously (yes indeed, my little Mac certainly got a little too hot to remain on my lap), all with absolutely no hassle. I’m not trying to be a smartass, I just don’t understand the point.
I know that you can buy “comparable” laptops for much cheaper than Macs (and certainly much cheaper than Dells etc), but invariably you get what you pay for (trips to the service centre etc). Why do you put up with this?
Anyway, I certainly don’t mean to offend anyone here… it is not my purpose with this post. But I challenge the notion that you need a PC to run any current flavour of Windows at an acceptable speed (yes, yes, you gamers might have a valid point, when comparing a Mac running Windows under emulation, but when running it in Boot Camp, there’s really not a lot of noticeable difference).
Please feel free to respond to this with your thoughts… I’m truly keen to understand why you’d stick with (most specifically, name-brand) PC hardware, rather than moving to the Mac.
Cheers,
Eoghan.
The MX8711 was a painfull exercise in brain surgery. Wish I’d read these posts first!! Took a while to figure out the need for nlite and even the getting all the drivers up was painfull, especiallly audio where xp reported that all drivers were successfully installed for audio!! If anyone needs help with this email me at expressinx@hotmail.com.
Cheers
Dave
Hey that was a great read. I was thinking about removing Vista on my new laptop for XP Pro. I’m glad I read your blog first before running into the same problems and running my head into a wall shortly there after haha. First time on the site, def won’t be my last!
gateway is full of ****! what kind of sales do they expect to make if you can’t get the desired O/S you are familiar with. my wife bought one today and we were not happy with the end result. DO NOT BUY A GATEWAY!
Great blog; . I’m almost done converting a Dell Inspiron 1420 from Vista (ugh) to XP Prof. All drivers are installed except sound. Can’t find it anywhere. Dell says its a Sigmatel 9205; found a Sigmatel V5.10.5082 XP driver but doesn’t work. Dell is still working on this for me, but I’m not very hopeful. Will probably have to restore the Vista ghost I made if I can’t get the sound going.
Wow! Dell came through with a driver for the Sigmatel 9205. They actually called the house with the info. It was file R153908.exe in Downloads section on support.dell.com and was from a Latitude D630 notebook. No more Vista headaches…
The overall solution is simple - return any laptop/pc with VIsta to the vendor, and demand either:
A - a comparable unit with XP already installed
B - a refund
As units get returned, vendors will sit up & take notice. Many countries have a 14 - 30 day “buyers remorse” legislation.
The ONLY way to kill this VISTA BS is to hit vendors in the pocketbook
We just bought a HP Laptop of course installed with vista, but bought it with the purpose of installing music recording software, and of course none of the software is compatible. we found an upgrade for cakewalk, but after spending $700 on a firebox to link all the gear to the laptop, found that the firebox isnt compatible and wont be till who knows when! so i have all this gear bought but are unable to use it, very frustrating. was just thinking bout installing xp and running simultaneously.
i dont know computers well, but anyone else solved problems with music software??
Would it just be easier to install XP instead of Vista? What is the HP model number? Maybe we can help y find the right drivers.
Cathy, go to the HP site (hp.com) and work your way to technical support, and do a live chat with a technician. Explain your predicament, tell the tech to shut up as soon as he or she starts to lecture you on why you should be using Vista, and just ask them to email you the links to all the drivers…for most computers they do have them, they’re just not posted publicly.
Is the USB floppy the only way to install SATA drivers on a Laptop (Gateway ML6226b)?????
I want to remove the Vista and put XP
Is there somebody who have done it?
thanks for your help all, i actually found out last night that Presonus will release the update for the Firebox for Vista in around 2 weeks. Here’s hoping that it will be smooth after thats installed.
will keep you posted.!
Slav,
No. You can use nlite (free download) to inject the sata drivers into your XP cd. You can integrate service pack 2 into the cd as well while you’re at it. Handy tool. Just google for NLITE. No USB floppy needed.
I was having the same problems with the USB Floppy. The NLITE suggestion worked like a charm. Thank you!
Guys,
I’ve also bought MX 6961 and I had the same problem but I figured the other way round and all my problems has solved now. it required one desktop computer with a floppy on.
Do one thing first if u have SATA based laptop…find the drivers (in my case its available on gateway) ..run the makefloppy.exe on a old computer (hard to find) with a floppy on…and then copy entire floppy contents into a folder on ur hard disk of desktop computer from where uve created a floppy.
Now go and download (nLITE) software FREEWARE to download follow the link..now install this software
http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html
now the show is gonna begin…put ur XP OS CD into a CD rom…
run nLITE ..
click next …on step 1..tell nLITe where ur i386 directory is and tell also the folder where it would create an image…now in step two ..tell if u wanna include latest service pack of XP..and in case ur XP contains service pack 1 it would automatically replace ur SP1 with SP2 files…now in step 3…tell ur SATA drivers files folder and include them all…and click on BOOTABLE ISO option….now last step…BURN THE DAMN DVD/CD
now nLITe will burn a XP with latest Service pack and SATA drivers with bootable option…
NOW FINALLY put this newly burned DVD/CD into your laptop and install XP like a PRO …
it wont ask u for SATA drivers anymore …
Hope this will help…its for any laptop with SATA option all u need to find a right SATA driver files thats it.
Cheers.
I too am having issues with the whole XP / Sata install. I have an external floppy with the drivers and yet XP STILL can’t find my HDD! Even after confirming it will use the new drivers!
For those of you who have a laptop using the Intel 943GML chipset and/or have exactly a Gateway ML6230 notebook, I have collected all of the necessary drivers to complete the Vista to XP transformation. It includes graphics, chipset, SATA drivers & disk manager, wireless lan, lan, and the infamous Sigmatel HD Audio/Motorola modem driver. I have uploaded the files to Rapidshare.com in RAR (29.8mb), ZIP(33mb), and self-extracting EXE(29.9mb).
http://rapidshare.com/files/61817744/Intel943GML-GW-ML6230.exe
http://rapidshare.com/files/61818727/Intel943GML-GW-ML6230.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/61819748/Intel943GML-GW-ML6230.zip
For those of you using the Gateway MX8734:
This was one of the more challenging installs I’ve ever attempted. It took me over 6 hours of research on this model, so I figured I’d help the community out with this one…
The drivers you need loaded onto the disk include:
http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/getFile.asp?id=20974&uid=174616875
and
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/confirm.aspx?httpDown=http://downloadmirror.intel.com/13806/eng/iata76_enu.exe&agr=N&ProductID=2101&DwnldId=13806&strOSs=45&OSFullName=Windows*%20XP%20Home%20Edition&lang=eng
For the second driver, extract the .exe and move it to your root C: folder, and create a new folder within the C: directory named “Driver”. Enter the following command into the prompt:
C:\iata76_enu.exe /a /pC:\driver
This will extract the driver from the .exe
Using Nlite, add the drivers from both of the aforementioned locations. You’re looking for the drivers that say “Mobile” - just add all of the AHCI drivers to your slipstream disk.
Burn that disk with your ISO burner of choice, and Install away.
Good Luck!
An additional note to my previous post:
BE SURE to remove your slipstream disk when it tells you the computer will reboot in 15 minutes. I made the mistake of leaving it in the first time, and had to start the install over again. On reboot it spits a non-readable disk error.
Once the install starts back up, it will prompt you to insert your XP CD…at that point I put in my valid retail XP CD just to be safe, but I’d imagine the slipstream disk will work as well…
Welcome to XP!
Feel free to email me with any questions, I’m happy to help.
Wow, what luck. Thank you Zeshuro, just moments ago I decided to finally throw in the towel. I have been frustrated with the numoerous aspects of Vista Home on the MX8734, I can’t get over how unbelievely slow the file explorer is for moving files and copying. I have a 10 year old Armada M700 that does many routine OS things faster than this laptop, and doesn’t ask me stupid questions constantly. I know the hardware would fly with XP relative to the old M700, but I have been intimidated by the prospect of installing XP on unsupported hardware. I finally had enough, so I googled the topic and found this post. I can’t wait to get started. I am moving soon, so I know better than to attempt this now, however, I will post back by mid November with the results.
Thanks!
No Problem Raf, happy to (attempt to) help!
I struggled with that machine for over 10 hours, and finally gave up. XP sound drivers for that machine are either non-existent, or they are in some dusty back corner of the Internet. I was able to find every driver (after alot of work!) for that machine, save for the sound….
I called my client and told him about all the mess; he replied with “Well I need sound, so go ahead and put vista back it”
10-15 hours of work because he wanted his Blackberry to sync his contacts, but apparently its not that important. I laugh when I think about the wasted hours!
>:X
Good luck everyone, but I’m out of this one hehe.
Hi,
I have the Gateway mx8734 laptop. Has anyone been able to make a xp backup disk that would make a copy for me? I have xp home and xp professional
lisences.. Thank You Barb
O-kay, today is my last day to return my gateway with vista and buy one offline with XP. These comments make it seem very difficlut to change the system myself- should I just return it?????
nevermind, they won’t let me return it now. Anyone want to baby step me through it?
I have an ML6230 gateway.
I got the sound to work after trying for hours.
Here is how I got there:
download the files form:
1. http://rapidshare.com/files/61817744/Intel943GML-GW-ML6230.exe
2. run the sound (.exe) file in the sound folder
3. reboot when it asks
4.open up the same sound folder to the HDAQFE folder and find xpsp2 (i assume you are on service pack 2). open the embeded “us” folder
5. run the file kb888111xpsp2.
6. come out of the folders until you get to the setup file again.
7. run the setup file.
your sound should work now. If not,
look for the modem xp driver - D00510-001-003
install the modem driver and go back and run the sound executable again.
I also made sure all drivers were ok in the device manager except the sound driver before I tackled it.
I really hope this helps. If not email me at oncall1@gmail.com.
I lamost pulled my hair out before I got this far. I almost reinstalled the screwed up vista!!
.
I have tried for months to get my dad’s Gateway MX8711 to work with XP . I was sucessfull on all but the sigmatel sound driver. I have tried many but have yet to find one that works. I have tried on XP PRO and HOME. Any thoughts?
The correct audio driver is
D00664-001-001 from GateWay site.
Audio proved the most challenging to get working.
The trick it seems is to get the Motorola modem driver installed before doing the audio drivers.
This is really a nice zippy machine after upgrading back to XP from vista.
I have a Gateway M6816, and have already made a small 20 gig partition for XP. I’ve read this entire forum, and I’m just amazed at the depth. Now I just hope I cando the whole dual-boot thing using the info I’ve found here. Thanks in advance!!
And yes, I”ve already put Vista Boot Pro on the C: drive on the laptop.. Got burned by that one already on the desktop..
Fool me once, shame on you,…….
Thanks in advance for the knowledge.. hopefully it’s what I ned!!!
Chris
the solution given by fynda works fine for me. Thank you very much, finda!!
Jeremy THANK YOU u saved my life.
Whatever u said is 100% true and worked. thank you again.
Gateway MX8707j
I just wanted to let you all know how awesome this information has been for me. I have a Gateway MX8711 that I just purchased about 6 months ago. I love the computer, but noticed how slow my applications ran, including simply file copying compared to my husbands 2 year old laptop. I decided to investigate changing the OS to XP from Vista.
I read every one of these posts several times, to make sure I understood what was being done. I did check some other blogs, but this one was the most informative. I have to tell you that I was amazed how well the conversion worked.
The information I used was from Jeremy, but with a slight change. The audio drivers listed did not work for me. I found the audio driver listed below mentioned on a different blog and it worked like a charm. I also used these other drivers recommended by Jeremy:
D00737-001-001.exe (from Gateway website) for SigmaTel Audio Drivers
BCM_REL_4_100_15_5_WHQL Broadcom wireless
D00243-001-002 TOUCHPAD
D00612-001-002 VIDEO
D20003-003-001 MEDIA CARD READER
D20035-001-001 SATA MASS STORAGE DRIVER
infinst_autol-intel943 gmlexpress_systemchipsetdriver
PRO2KXP network adapter drivers
Windows_SM56_6.12.07_DFV modem driver
I used nlite and created an install fo XP and slipstreamed in the SATA drivers, the video drivers, and the wireless drivers. The remaining drivers I installed manually after installing XP. The modem was a little tricky, but it finally installed (not sure I’ll ever use it, but wanted to get this done right). Also, when I burned the CD, I added a directory with all of these drivers listed above. That way if I ever have to do this again, the CD that I burned has everything I need and I won’t have to research all this again searching for the drivers.
I cannot believe the difference in speed of my computer now. It is just amazing. I am so glad that I made the switch. I do not have any personal issues with Vista, but I feel my MX8711 laptop is a better candidate to run XP not Vista. Larger machines with more power would have no problem with Vista, but it basically bogged down my MX8711. The clear sign of this is when I run a game called World of Warcraft. When I ran this game under Vista on my MX8711, I would lag quite a bit. But now with XP, I have had no lagging issues at all. That confirmed to me that Vista is just too much of a resource hog for a smaller machine. Too bad the maufacturers don’t give us a choice, but than goodness for people like all of you who don’t give up or give in to them