Marvin Lee Dot Net

So you got a brand new laptop from Dell, or to be exact an Inspiron 1420?

It comes with Windows Vista and you have no option to select Windows XP?

But you are so desperate to use XP for the following reasons?

1. Loyal to Windows XP
2. Your important programs doesn’t run on Vista
3. You’re sick with Vista’s questions asking if you’re really really sure on the actions you’re going to take
4. You just want XP

Recently I got to find out how to downgrade the notebook operating system from Windows Vista to Windows XP. This task, after many hours of trial and error only I finally had my trial and success.

These are my trials and errors:

1. Put in WIndows XP installation cd and try to setup, BUT, it says it couldn’t detect the hard disk and make sure it is active
2. Format the disk and making sure the disk is OK using the Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management
3. Tried to format the hard disk with another computer, BUT, it still says unable to detect the hard disk!

Finally, this is how I did it:

1. When you startup your laptop, press F12 to go to the boot menu
2. Select BIOS Setup
   
3. Go to Onboard Devices -> SATA Operation
4. Change the default AHC1 to ATA
   
5. You might be prompted to turn off the Flash Cache Module, if you do, set it off at Onboard Devices -> Flash Cache Module
   
6. Save settings, and restart
7. F12 to go into your boot menu and select CD-ROM/DVD-ROM with your WIndows XP installation CD
8. Good luck!

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Good To Know, Hardware, Technology

Dell Inspiron 1420, format, Windows Vista downgrade, Windows XP