Hi, new lappy has Vista which is running pretty much none of my existing programs, which is a shame as Vista looks rather nice did try using the older version emulator option but it still don’t run them and I want to use my flight sim

Where is the best place to get XP for little or nothing (nothing being the preferred option there )

Also how would I go about it? Not got anything on the machine that I’m too worried about losing as I have the applications on another machine but am worried about the machine never starting up again after I’ve tried to install it. As I’ve never had to do this so help would be appreciated Would I lose things like the drivers for the screen or stuff like that?!

Don’t get too technical as I’ll get totally lost, imagine you were explaining it to a caffeine deprived chimp

Thank you


[Edited on 19/11/09 by Mr Whippy]

Ooohh ooohh.... aaghhh aghh.... ooooooh..ooooh.........oooohh......aghhhh (beating fists frantically against chest!)

quote:

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Originally posted by tegwin
Ooohh ooohh.... aaghhh aghh.... ooooooh..ooooh.........oooohh......aghhhh (beating fists frantically against chest!)

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Get an XP installation disc. Put it in CD drive.

Reboot

Enter bios (usally del or F2)

Change first boot device to cd (usually in boot options or advanced options)

The let it boot and follow the instructions

When given the choice of where to install the OS choose the C: partition and it will ask you if you want to format. Tell it yes and let it do its magic.

When the PC reboots change the boot device back or you will go in circles

To stay legal & register xp properly you'll need a proper license key (one that no-one else is using). Maybe you can get one by pulling the windows sticker off a scrapped PC - they're in bins all over the place these days - maybe your local dump would look the other way while you pulled a sticker off....
Then you have the problem that xp install discs don't know about SATA drives that new PCs have... I've got an install disc that puts the SATA drivers in (had to make it myself, does 'slipstreaming' I think they call it). If it all starts to look too hard U2U me & send me an SAE & I'll post you the install disc.
I'm no expert - the above worked for me a few weeks ago... ;^)
Bob

XP handles SATA no problem as long as its an SP1 or higher disc.

I have never had an issue formatting and installing direct to a sata drive using either XP home or XP pro.

tee hee - mr whippy, perhaps you'll remind flak about that assertion when you've stopped cursing..... ;^)
Strange they stopped putting the drivers in on an SP3 install.....
I did exactly what mr w is trying just a couple of weeks ago, & it involved a lot of swear words...

[Edited on 19/11/09 by Bob C]

quote:

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Originally posted by Bob C
tee hee - mr whippy, perhaps you'll remind flak about that assertion when you've stopped cursing..... ;^)
Strange they stopped putting the drivers in on an SP3 install.....
I did exactly what mr w is trying just a couple of weeks ago, & it involved a lot of swear words...

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I had problems installing XP SP3 onto my previous PC which had a SATA interface (Intel 945GC chipset). In the end I had to use NLite to slipstream the required SATA drivers onto the CD in the end.

My new PC, also with an Intel chipset, didn't need this however. If you look on Google this is a very common issue.

[Edited on 19/11/09 by MikeRJ]

MR Whippy, put snow skis on your planes and you won't need the flight sim, couple of feet of snow saves a lot of broken R/C airplanes.

If you Google Win XP there's a company selling legal new xp pro discs and licence for £35 and it was here the next day! My biggest problem was getting all the drivers. Again I bought a prog (£15) which found them for me and downloaded them rather than trying to find them manually. (after about 8 hrs trying to find em!).
So for a total of £50 it was all sorted and legal... plus PC World said it wasn't possible.. makes it even more fun!
If you need name of supplier and program for drivers let me know and I'll dig them out..

ah yes - that could explain mine & flak's different experience, mine was AMD chipset...

I would make sure that you can get allof the drivers you need for your machine before you start withn the rebuild.