vista to xp anything wrong?

[tm26]

hello everyone

i am thinking to install windows xp pro edition on my laptop (vaio VGN-NR11M/s) and get rid of vista at all.

Am i going to have any problems with my laptop after that? I have also downloaded the drivers and utilities files to install after the new operational system.

I am wondering if all my hardware and utilities will be working right after and if there is any package with the drivers and utilities released supporting the xp version.

thank you very much

theo

[Blencogo]

Hi Theo,

As the NR-Series of Vaios is designed for Vista, it is not possible to get everything working with XP installed.

The NR_Series is fairly basic so many features can be made to work with XP but the following will not work: -

Short-cut Key (S1),
AV Mode button,
Screen Brightness Adjustment (Fn+F6).

Make sure you create Recovery Discs - if you need to claim under the Sony Warranty, you will have to reinstall Vista.

Think carefully about this downgrade - the performance issues in Vista are far less than when it was first introduced and we are all going to have to get used to it sometime.

[tm26]

Blencogo, thanks for the quick response mate.

it looks i still cannot cope with vista man! i do not have any great improvements (since october i ve bought it) and i really miss the old days with XP a lot. Your post makes me to re-consider (temporarely i think, until the next crush or a 5-min loading when 2 or more windows are opened ) . however, i burned two recovery disks today but still i do not know if i wanna do it or not. A major issue is the back up (boring and risky).

If everything works alright and only these features (shortkeys and screen resolutuions keys) you mentioned won't work at all i think i am up to do this...

cheers

[Blencogo]

Good Luck!

Let us know how you get on.

[tm26]

well i tried to install xp last night

no muh luck unfortunately. the set up is starting windows and after some loading of initial files i am asked to press enter and continue. When i do this i receive next a blue screen like the previous saying: set up did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer. The set up quits there

Any ideas???

[Blencogo]

Hi tm26,

Unfortunately, you have a SATA Hard Drive and XP does not support SATA drives as it does not have the drivers.

Try Google for "Installing XP on SATA Drives".

You need to load the SATA drivers - you can do this in two ways: -

1. Use a USB Floppy Disc Drive LIKE THIS ONE

When you get to the "Welcome to Setup" screen in the XP install, press F6 to load the SATA driver from the Floppy Disc.

2. Use a free utility like nLite to make a Slipstreamed install disc with all drivers included.

http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html

[tm26]

Blencogo,

sorry if i am annoying mate, since I do not know if i understand completely what i need to do. Shall i take a memory stick and unzip the drivers pack from vaio webpage in it, then insert it in the usb and proceed with the xp installation?

cheers,

theo

[RobinHalifax]

Hi

My Vaio seems to load XP fine (well, apart for the sound card thing - comments on a prev posting), having said that, my Vaio has and IDE Hard drive.

[Blencogo]

Hi Theo,

Unfortunately you can't use any USB device with XP - except a 1.44MB Floppy Disc Drive if using method 1.

If you use the nLite method (method 2), you need to make a bootable CD which will include the Sony Drivers and the SATA drivers. You will need to follow the nLite Guide: -

http://www.nliteos.com/guide/

It's not straightforward I'm afraid.