Convert Vista to XP

[Serious_Steve]

I would like to know if there is anyway to do away with Vista and add XP on the HP Pavilion M7790Y computer. I have several applications that will not work with Vista. Also, where can I find the XP drivers for this model? Any help will be great appreciated. Thank you!

[CherylG]

Almost any machine can be downgraded to XP by simply booting with a cd,  delete hdd partitions,and let XP create a new one to install too. You do have a couple of challenges.

1.Machine ships with RAID enabled in BIOS.You can change setting from 'AHCI/RAID' to 'IDE' or preferably 'BOTH' if available.Otherwise you will have to get the SATA/RAID controller from Intel to provide during install_either using a floppy or slipstreaming the driver with Nlite.

2.You have some basic hardware with Intel P965 Chipset (available from Intel site) and Realtek onboard audio(available from Real site)..but this is a CTO model that could have the addon Sounblaster sound card.The machine also has either ATI or Nvidia graphics card as the two options.Also two TV-Tuner cards options were offered and a Wireless card option.No way for any of us to know your hardware configuration to find XP drivers.

3.I know I said a couple,but I just thought about the option of addon TV-Tuner.It would really work best with XP Media Center Edition.Not to say others haven't gotten it to work with XP Home or Pro.

[Serious_Steve]

Do you know how I can change the Raid settings to the BOTH because there are 2 hds and they are sata.

[CherylG]

Your BIOS setup will have IDE and/or Both as a selection.It doesn't matter the number of hdds,the setting will affect both.This setting allows the hdds to run in IDE mode since XP doesn't natively support SATA.

[Bone]

Hi Steve,

Yes, you can change to XP but HP does not recommend it nor do they support it. You can find info on "How To" & a video on "How To" on the HP Support Site http://h10061.www1.hp.com. Or just go to their Support site, type in your product & in the question, type in "Can I change Vista to XP?" & it will take you to the above site. Good Luck!

[Bill_Hicks]

Here is a link to the how-to video:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00579175&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_US...

[kschrumpf]

I had the same dilema. I just made my pc dual boot xp or vista. I use XP when I need it and Vista on all else. just poped in the xp cd paid 45.00 for pro version after Microsoft stopped supporting it and followed the instructions for dual boot options.

I only have one regret, each system takes up space and I remote save all of my data on a removable terabit drive.