Vista Basic to XP Pro

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lizzie
  • Start date Start date
L

Lizzie

I work at a not-for-profit where we sometimes get computers donated. I'm
responsible for them....I am self-taught so sometimes what I know can be
dangerous.

We got a brand new Dell Dimension C521 that was loaded with Vista Basic.
Since it's important the computer be compatible with everything we have, I
got a recommendation to downgrade it to XP Pro (of which I had a new legal
copy).

I had absolutely no trouble with removing Vista and installing XP Pro. I
got network and printer drivers from the Dell site and they installed just
fine.

My problem has to do with sound. There is none. The audio drivers that I
downloaded from Dell for my specific computer won't install because it says
there is no device installed. I find this hard to believe since there is a
place for speakers and, I believe but am not sure, that media center was
part of the original vista.

If this makes any sense to anyone, I'd appreciate any thoughts you might
have on getting audio to this computer.

Thanks. Liz
 
Start/Run, type:
msinfo32
Open Components/Sound Devices
Is there a device listed? If not the hardware device (probably built into
the Motherboard) is broken, and you need to buy a card to put in an open slot.
 
That particular model comes with "Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio", which means
there is no separate card, the sound chip is built into the motherboard. You
need to double check that you have the correct driver for that motherboard
as there are three drivers listed on Dell's download site. The documentation
or order sheet should indicate the specific sound system you have.

If you still can't determine the correct sound system then:
Try Belarc Advisor: http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
It does a good job of providing a wealth of information.

JS
 
Lizzie,

I have the same machine and also cannot use Vista Enterprise as it was
causing problems with our existing machines.

The sound driver it tried to load using XP was the Creative driver, and I
found that by using the Sigmatel driver all worked fine. I had to completely
remove the Creative installation before it would work properly though.

Not certain if you have the same problem, but this worked for us.

Papa
 
Papa's suggestion worked perfectly! (I tried that first because I
understood it best).

Thank you all for your time and help!

Liz
 
I work at a not-for-profit where we sometimes get computers donated. I'm
responsible for them....I am self-taught so sometimes what I know can be
dangerous.

We got a brand newDellDimensionC521that was loaded with Vista Basic.
Since it's important the computer be compatible with everything we have, I
got a recommendation to downgrade it toXPPro (of which I had a new legal
copy).

I had absolutely no trouble with removing Vista and installingXPPro. I
got network and printer drivers from theDellsite and they installed just
fine.

My problem has to do with sound. There is none. The audio drivers that I
downloaded fromDellfor my specific computer won'tinstallbecause it says
there is no device installed. I find this hard to believe since there is a
place for speakers and, I believe but am not sure, that media center was
part of the original vista.

If this makes any sense to anyone, I'd appreciate any thoughts you might
have on getting audio to this computer.

Thanks. Liz
Click to expand...

hi there, I have the same situation, remove vista to install xp, but
i cannot get xp to install the sata drivers. I have downloaded them
from the dell site, and extracted what I believe to be the correct
files, but windows says it cannot find "txtsetup.oem" on the floppy,
and its right because it isn't there. Can you tell me how you achieved
your successful result?

thanks in advance,

Terry
 
Hi there,

I had no trouble with SATA drivers. Everything except the audio loaded
fine. I wish I could help, but I'm not too familiar with this process. I
was lucky it worked for me.

Hopefully a person with more knowledge that I have will read this and help.

Liz
 
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