Anyone Install XP On A Compaq F572US Laptop Or Equivalent?

[Gary Brown]

Hi,

Has anyone here installed XP Home on a Compaq F572US?
I might need to reinstall the OS on my laptop which currently
is Vista Premium. For a number reasons XP Home might
be a better alternative. There is a website of a guy who has
done it and compiled a set of drivers. Has anyone here done
it and can relate the difficulties involved and performance
improvement?

Thanks,
Gary

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Are you aware that downgrading to WinXP, if even possible, will
automatically void your Warranty and any Service Contracts?

 

[Ravenshadow]

I agree with the other users comment. Don't downgrade if you still have a
Warranty or any Service Contracts.

 

[Anteaus]

Not encountered this model, but have 'upgraded' numerous HP/Compaq models,
and so far not one has beaten me. Some might involve a bit of head-scratching
over deciding on the right drivers to use, etc. but all of the drivers should
be available.

I note that http://www.hp.com offers no XP drivers for this model, but you
may find that nVidia supply drivers for the main chipset.

Since it's an nVidia chipset I suspect you won't have any problem with
IDE/SATA boot-time drivers, but if you find the XP setup won't run, check the
BIOS settings for a SATA mode option, and set it to 'IDE' or 'Legacy' mode.

Before you format the HD (which is essential) take a look in Vista's Device
Manager and note down the IDE/SATA, display, modem and sound driver types.
This will save you some hassle later.

As for warranty, IMHO the other comments are nonsense. Vendors know that
users will install software, and that they cannot deny them the right to do
so. How does replacing the OS differ from installing a game that bluescreens
the computer, necessitating warranty support?

In any event, most business users would erase the HD when returning a
computer as U/S under warranty. Again, most vendors realise that this is
necessary to protect the company's data.

As for the performance advantage; like night and day. Especially as you will
be getting rid of Norton, which is even more of a performance-hit than Vista.
Use Avira, AVG or Eset AV instead.

The other option, I suppose, is to wait for Windows 7, which from the betas
looks to be a vast improvement over Vista. You would still want to do a clean
install, though, especially on a Nortonised computer.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Try to get Warranty or Service Contract support for a machine where you've
installed another OS (even a retail version of the OS that came preinstalled
on the computer), d00d.

Anteaus wrote:

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Hi,

Has anyone here installed XP Home on a Compaq F572US?
I might need to reinstall the OS on my laptop which currently
is Vista Premium. For a number reasons XP Home might
be a better alternative. There is a website of a guy who has
done it and compiled a set of drivers. Has anyone here done
it and can relate the difficulties involved and performance
improvement?

No, but I can tell you that I installed XP Pro on a Thinkpad that came with
Vista Business and found a performance *decrease*.

It's not a given that XP will be faster. I wound up putting Vista back on
and being much happier with the performance. Yes, UAC was the first thing
to get turned OFF.

HTH
-pk

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Hi,

Has anyone here installed XP Home on a Compaq F572US?
I might need to reinstall the OS on my laptop which currently
is Vista Premium. For a number reasons XP Home might
be a better alternative. There is a website of a guy who has
done it and compiled a set of drivers. Has anyone here done
it and can relate the difficulties involved and performance
improvement?

Thanks,
Gary

As well, it's not at all difficult to get a new laptop or desktop shipped
with XP installed. Just go to the various manufacturers sites, and don't
go to the "Home or Home Office" sections. Use the *business* sections.
Models offered in the business sections all come with XP Pro as an option.

HTH
-pk

 

[Daave]

Anteaus wrote:

Try to get Warranty or Service Contract support for a machine where
you've installed another OS (even a retail version of the OS that
came preinstalled on the computer), d00d.

It's possible to get warranty service if you had cloned the hard drive
as it was when you first received the PC and swap the hard drives. Then
if you ever need to get warranty service, simply swap the hard drives
again.

Then again, it might seem suspicious if it appears the PC had never been
used.

 

[Gary Brown]

For closure: XP installed very easily on the laptop. It is newer than the
desktop MB so the SATA driver wasn't an issue. In the little time I've had
it does appear to be quicker than Vista. (FWIW, with Norton removed and UAC
turned off.)

The dual boot Vista/XP did not go so well. Only the last one installed will
boot. That is another issue.

Thanks,
Gary

 

[farid]

Hi Gary,
I installed XP Pro on my Dell Vostro 1500 which had Vista Home Basic
preinstalled. Did not work because Display drivers for XP were not available
for this machine. I downloaded all drivers from the Dell site and when
installed the VGA drivers I got a message that these are not compatible with
the machine on which I also have Fedora Core 10 which does not need any
driver download and works fine.
Reverted to Vista which gave me a lot of problems after installing updates.
Cheers,
Farid