DaDude Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 I have a Dell Inspiron 530 and it came pre-installed with Vista. I'm having compatibility issues with some of my older softwares and hardwares. I was thinking of partitioning my hard drive and installing XP on it as well. the problem is, I never did something like this before. How hard is it? Can serious problems occur? Is it recommended that I not go through with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gary7 Subscriber² Posted September 10, 2008 Subscriber² Share Posted September 10, 2008 THIS should help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capr Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 it's not that hard as long as you know what you are doing. so make sure you read that link carefully and even print it out. there shouldn't be any problems if you use common sense and follow the directions. post here if you run into any troubles and need help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zanaffer Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 There is nothing wrong with doing what you're asking, provided that 1. You have a valid license to the XP that you're about to install, and 2. Drivers exist for your model of computer. Part 2 is, of course, the tricky thing. Not all vendors make it easy to find drivers for XP for their Vista computers, even though the hardware may be perfectly compatible. Some vendors *cough*HP*cough*actually make it intentionally difficult. In your case, check Dell's site and make sure that drivers exist for your computer for XP. Burn those drivers to CD or copy them to a flash drive BEFORE starting the XP install, because the last thing that you want is a system that you can't get online to find any drivers you may have missed because you forgot to get the ethernet/modem driver beforehand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abhishek kapoor Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 ^^+1 no problem in installing XP but as zanaffer said driver could create problem for you so first make them available Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmmay Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 FYI if your laptop came with Vista Business or Vista Ultimate, you have legitimate rights to downgrade to XP without purchasing a new license. You will, however, need to find a key to install XP with then activate manually over the phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaDude Posted September 10, 2008 Author Share Posted September 10, 2008 FYI if your laptop came with Vista Business or Vista Ultimate, you have legitimate rights to downgrade to XP without purchasing a new license. You will, however, need to find a key to install XP with then activate manually over the phone. I have a desktop computer and it came pre-installed with Vista Home Premium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Veteran Posted September 11, 2008 Veteran Share Posted September 11, 2008 That really would be more of an XP support issue. Why not let us know what problems you're having and maybe some of us could help you fix it? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphamale Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 dell support website has xp drivers for your model. best to double check using your service tag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaDude Posted September 14, 2008 Author Share Posted September 14, 2008 dell support website has xp drivers for your model. best to double check using your service tag. What's the link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abhishek kapoor Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 drivers link check this is it same what you are looking for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaDude Posted September 15, 2008 Author Share Posted September 15, 2008 drivers linkcheck this is it same what you are looking for I'm confused. I looked at the link and XP is listed as one of the operating systems. So does that mean XP will work with my drivers and everything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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