How To: Install XP After Removing Vista?

[joey.powell]

Hello guys,

I have a machine that had Windows Vista on it. The customer was
unhappy, so I tried to use his "Windows XP Media Center 2005" install
media to install MCE 2005 on his machine. However, when I went through
the XP setup, it didn't recognize the existing partition that had been
created in Vista, and it wouldn't allow me to Delete and Create any
new partitions on the HDD.

Then I booted with Vista media and blew away the partition...back to
XP...same results.

Then I booted with Vista media, created a new partition and formated
it...back to XP...same results.

Then I read some posts...used XP recovery console to run "fixmbr"
....rebooted...no luck, same results.

At this point, I am wondering why something so trivial as installing
Windows XP MCE 2005 is so difficult!

What do I need to do to make it work?

 

[Don]

Hello guys,

I have a machine that had Windows Vista on it. The customer was
unhappy, so I tried to use his "Windows XP Media Center 2005" install
media to install MCE 2005 on his machine...

Did he burn that CD himself, I wonder? Do you have another XP
install disk you can try as a test?

 

[LSR]

Hello guys,

I have a machine that had Windows Vista on it. The customer was
unhappy, so I tried to use his "Windows XP Media Center 2005" install
media to install MCE 2005 on his machine. However, when I went through
the XP setup, it didn't recognize the existing partition that had been
created in Vista, and it wouldn't allow me to Delete and Create any
new partitions on the HDD.

Then I booted with Vista media and blew away the partition...back to
XP...same results.

Then I booted with Vista media, created a new partition and formated
it...back to XP...same results.

Then I read some posts...used XP recovery console to run "fixmbr"
...rebooted...no luck, same results.

At this point, I am wondering why something so trivial as installing
Windows XP MCE 2005 is so difficult!

What do I need to do to make it work?

Does the system have a SATA or SCSI disk controller? Maybe you need to press
F8 during the CD boot and provide XP with the driver diskette. Vista must
already has the driver built in.

 

[LSR]

Maybe you need to press F8 ..

Make that F6

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

You were on the right track, you need to remove the install partition, but
when you create the new one you need to do it with the XP setup tools, not
Vista's. There are some subtle differences between the version used by XP
and Vista, and you cannot install XP to a volume created by Vista.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[joey.powell]

Make that F6

I opened up the case and looked at the drive...it's a regular SATA
drive. The XP install media should have no problem reading it, but it
can't now that Windows Vista had been installed on it.

Hasn't anyone seen this before? How can I fix it?

 

[Shirley Daugherty]

Hello joey, It seems that you are not loading the sata drivers for XP. The
Vista media has them available. You would need to locate them, either from
the computer system driver disk or download them from the system
manufacturer and copy them to a floppy disk. At the XP install startup, a
screen appears to "Press F6 to install driver" or something to that affect.
At this time press F6 several times. The setup will continue and the drive
will be recognized. Shortly thereafter, you will be asked to install the
drivers and they will be copied to an 8mb hidden partition that XP will
create to use for the installation files. The setup will continue normally.
A little longwinded but hope this helps.

 

[cvp]

I'm late to this thread but...

It doesn't sound like an F6 problem since I think that you're saying that
the XP MCE CD can boot, recognises that there is a disk there, shows it as
vailable, but on the "available drives" install screen won't let you delete
partitions or create partitions. Is that correct?

If so, do you have a spare normal XP CD (any version) that you could use to
see if it has the same problem?

 

[joey.powell]

I'm late to this thread but...

It doesn't sound like an F6 problem since I think that you're saying that
the XP MCE CD can boot, recognises that there is a disk there, shows it as
vailable, but on the "available drives" install screen won't let you delete
partitions or create partitions. Is that correct?

If so, do you have a spare normal XP CD (any version) that you could use to
see if it has the same problem?








- Show quoted text -

Hey guys, I got it fixed. I had to go into the machine BIOS and change
the SATA drive mode from RAID to IDE. This is a SystemMax machine, if
anyone is interested.

 

[Shane Nokes]

You didn't fix it, you just told XP to pretend it's an IDE drive when it's
not.

You NEED the drivers for it to see the SATA channel properly.

Why do people these days think they fixed something when all they did was
work around it

 

[Shane Nokes]

Incorrect.

I can create volumes using Vista all day and XP can read & write to them as
well as install to them.

His issue is the fact that he doesn't have the SATA drivers.

XP does not include them by default.

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Shane,

No, you read it incorrectly.

I didn't say XP couldn't read/write to Vista volumes, I said don't try to
install it on one created by Vista.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Frank]

Hi.
I´m with the same problem. I have recently installed Windows Vista and
after testing it i tried to install back XP and he can´t find any hard
disk.
Because of this, system can´t find HP Recovery Partition and i can´t
set up default os and drivers.

The same thing with another laptop, a Toshiba (mine this one), but XP
setup runs perfectly. Without delete Vista or format any partition i
can install XP again.
Now the big difference:
Toshiba -> PATA Disk Drive
HP -> SATA Disk Drive

Conclusion:
How can i install SATA drivers in a Laptop with no Floopy Drive? By an
external one? I found the driver in HP Website but this means that i
have to buy a external enclosure to install the drivers...

Anyone got another solution for my problem?
Thanks

You can put them on a flash drive, or burn then to a cd.
HTH
Frank

 

[Charles W Davis]

WHY did you want to step back six years? Vista is an excellent OS.

 

[Kartik]

I dont know if u have a problem like mine, but this is wot I did

I do have vista still on one of my HDD but u can download a small program
call "nlite" google it, then slipstream the SATA drivers into the WINXP
installation and make a bootable CD with u'r SATA drivers loaded by default.
The procedure is more complicated than it sounds but I could do it, ok one
last tip, use some other program to make the iso image of XP cos nlite for
me screwed up, I used ver 1.1 of nlite, n deep burner to burn the iso image.

Good Luck

 

[Guest]

This is a general reply, there are just too many post I picked one to reply,
but this might help you if you have a SATA disk like me:

First of all, get a floppy drive, they are cheap.

Seek into your Motherboard documentation to find the SATA drivers, and
create the floppy disk and put it away on a safe place, you will need it each
time you install WinXP since it doesn't self support those kind of HD as
Windows Vista.

Windows Vista is an excellent OS, but if you want XP back, and you can't
install it, then just use WinXP disk, load it, have your floppy disk rdy,
press the F6 and IT WILL recognize the HD, then delete the partition and
allocate the new volume for WinXP. Simple.

SATA HD are very useful because you can configue it to use two HD and set
the BIOS to use it as one, or to keep a mirror copy to the second drive.

Though, I'm just a n00b on these stuff.