Vista back to XP - Driver Issues?

[azn2k]

Hey guys,

I got a new laptop but I don't like the feel of Windows Vista so I'll be reinstalling XP on it. Now, the laptop only comes with Vista drivers and the manufacturer website only has Vista drivers too. Will I have any driver issues when i install xp?

Will I have to go and hunt down individual drivers if I cannot find the driver for some particular part of the laptop.

Thanks

Kevin

[Diesmile]

yes, most likely u will be stuffed due to driver issues,

ie, audio, video, bluetooth, wlan, lan, modem, card reader etc etc

currently, i am fighting with my audio driver =.=

my stupid 2 hours new laptop decided not to boot with vista.

[ni9ht_5ta1k3r]

Originally Posted by azn2k

Hey guys,

I got a new laptop but I don't like the feel of Windows Vista so I'll be reinstalling XP on it. Now, the laptop only comes with Vista drivers and the manufacturer website only has Vista drivers too. Will I have any driver issues when i install xp?

Will I have to go and hunt down individual drivers if I cannot find the driver for some particular part of the laptop.

Thanks

Kevin

It depends on your notebook. Mine didn't come with xp drivers but since I found lower models with the same specs so I used those and it worked.

[TrennaHowar]

This is the first i have of ppl rolling back to XP and not being able to find drivers, that really really sux!! I have got Vista atm, and yere i think i will go back to XP as well, vista = XP with skin. Maybe look in the manual, find out exactly what chipsets for everything and see if the manufacturer of the chipsets have drivers. That or buy a mac :P sorry i couldn't resist

[ni9ht_5ta1k3r]

Originally Posted by TrennaHowar

vista = XP with skin.

That's what I've done. I've downloaded the full version of Windowblinds and selected 'Aero Style' and it make my desktop look like vista...even down to the transparent window frames.

Damn it I love it! It's vista with XP compatibility. Using Windowblinds is the safest way of changing your desktop style without screwing with system files.

[McbLt]

Originally Posted by azn2k

Hey guys,

I got a new laptop but I don't like the feel of Windows Vista so I'll be reinstalling XP on it. Now, the laptop only comes with Vista drivers and the manufacturer website only has Vista drivers too. Will I have any driver issues when i install xp?

Will I have to go and hunt down individual drivers if I cannot find the driver for some particular part of the laptop.

Thanks

Kevin

XP has a bunch of generic drivers that it can probably assign to most your hardware. I'd say it's likely that you'll have a functioning laptop, but some of the hardware might not work, or not at it's best.

Make it a weekend project. If it doesn't work, just flick it back over to Vista.

[Chewtoy]

If there's nothing on their site, email the manufacturer, give them the model and ask if they've got any XP drivers for it.

You'd be surprised what they can point you to. Expect about 24 hours for a response, but most manufacturers are willing to help, from my experience.

[ni9ht_5ta1k3r]

Originally Posted by Diesmile

yes, most likely u will be stuffed due to driver issues,

ie, audio, video, bluetooth, wlan, lan, modem, card reader etc etc

currently, i am fighting with my audio driver =.=

my stupid 2 hours new laptop decided not to boot with vista.

Video drivers: NOT SO! The problem with notebook hardware is that they're not really generic i.e. they're designed for that system even though it's a common chipset. Basically saying video cards in notebooks are not the same as video cards for standard desktops.

The only solution I can think of is to download the Omega drivers (for nvidia cards) or DNA-ATi drivers (for ATi cards) as those support notebook-based video cards.

For everything else you may need to find the manufacturer and see if they have drivers for the respective remaining hardware.

[azn2k]

Thanks for the tips.

I'm going to see if a friend with a similar spec laptop has drivers which will work with mine. Sent an email off to the BenQ support centre too. Laptop is a BenQ S31V17.

[ni9ht_5ta1k3r]

Originally Posted by azn2k

Thanks for the tips.

I'm going to see if a friend with a similar spec laptop has drivers which will work with mine. Sent an email off to the BenQ support centre too. Laptop is a BenQ S31V17.

That's what I did. Usually notebooks of the same series but different models will have similar specs. My friend's compaq presario v6109AU is pretty much the same as my v6301AU just that mine has a Turion 64 X2 and his is a single core Turion. So the drivers for his model worked for my model.

[ni9ht_5ta1k3r]

Originally Posted by azn2k

Thanks for the tips.

I'm going to see if a friend with a similar spec laptop has drivers which will work with mine. Sent an email off to the BenQ support centre too. Laptop is a BenQ S31V17.

I checked the notebooks in that series on benq's product page and part of the problem is that there isn't a notebook listed there that has XP by default.

But looking though the support pages there are two series that come before it that do use XP by default: the S31 and S31E. I'm checking to see if they have the same specs as the S31V.

[ni9ht_5ta1k3r]

OK, here's the product sheet for the S31E series.

ftp://211.78.86.210/digital%5fmedia%...31%5fv07%2epdf

And here's the specs for the current series.

http://benq.com.au/products/joybook/...specifications

After doing a quick comparison you may need to download and try the drivers from these pages:

S31
http://benq.com.au/support/downloads...nloads&dtype=D

S31E
http://benq.com.au/support/downloads...nloads&dtype=D

Try those with your XP install. To me it looks promising as the S31 looks more closer to the S31V is than the S31E, so try from the S31 and see how you go.

EDIT: I hope that helps, let us know if they work for you.

[azn2k]

Giving it a test now. I might lose some of the BenQ Software perhaps. I hope they can be obtained easily.

[azn2k]

Used most of the S31 Drivers and it worked fine.

Thanks a lot for helping.

[ni9ht_5ta1k3r]

Originally Posted by azn2k

Used most of the S31 Drivers and it worked fine.

Thanks a lot for helping.

See! No problems! You now can use XP on your notebook.