Hi,
I have a Compaq C700 Presario laptop which came bundled with Vista. I want
to downgrade it to XP Professional. Can anyone tell me how to do this? Any
help would be greatly appreciated

TIA
klyjak

"c&j" <klyjak@iinet.net.au> wrote in message
news:48119ddc$0$1637$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...
You're definitely not the first to want to do it, so read this note from
HP's website first:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...d uct=3641211

"If you have already downgraded your computer from Vista to Windows XP,
you have probably discovered that your PC does not work properly. You may
have noticed that features like sound, DVD, or the webcam on your new PC
have stopped working. You are probably wondering where you can find the
right XP drivers. HP does NOT provide XP-compatible drivers for PCs that
were designed exclusively for Vista."

If you call them for help they will say - insert DVD #1 and boot -
reinstall Vista.

I know you came here looking an easy help, and you can certainly install a
store-bought version of XP and hope, BUT if it shipped with Vista, as far
as HP ( all OEM's ? ) is concerned - you're on your own. Especially for
laptops - where it's all onboard - I think you'll have issues as the
company isn't going to write drivers for any version of software that they
don't support. Why would they spend their time doing so ? Having said
that ... look in device mgr to see what exactly you have ( a RealTek 1234
NIC , Nvidia 2345 video etc) Then look for similiar model PCs at
compaq.com and see if same devices - XP drivers online for THAT device (
the Realtek 1234 etc). That's still not a promise that the drivers WILL
work, depending upon what changed, but that's how to start. Worst case
you'll restore Vista - SO make sure you have made Vista restore DVD's
FIRST. Actually I'd spend the $20 and BUY Vista 'Full install' DVD's from
HP site in case anything ever goes
wrong with hard drive or if you wipe the restore partition while
installing full XP etc.
http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/...isplay=drivers
To order - have it 'detect your model' then click on parts info / manuals
in left margin to get a full list of components ( While you're there ...
maybe download all manuals / parts info etc if it's a rainy day - for
future reference.) Click on part number for the DVD's for info.
Or enter your model # here:
http://partsurfer.hp.com/cgi-bin/spi...ISO_country=us

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

- Bobb - wrote:
All this is good advice. I will add, before your do anything, save your
present drivers (using for instance Driver Genius). Then, after
installing XP, using driver genius again to help you find the necessary
drivers, and check http://www.driveragent.com/.
well worth the price.

At any rate, don't get intimidated by the hard work ahead of you, once
you have succeed (I am convinced you will), you will have a much better
machine.

Regards


--
John Doue

"John Doue" <notwobe@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:d8kQj.114$cR1.8@read4.inet.fi...
There's no guarantee that the OP will be able to find the XP drivers he
needs, especially for a Compaq laptop.

Jerry wrote:
but persistance and trial and error may well be rewarded. Persistance is
the key word. In the past, Compaq machines definitely were odd machines,
not conforming to the general standards. But today, I suspect HP has
seen to it that Compaq oddities were replaced by the prevailing standard.

Anyway, it is well worth the try, provided the OP has the time and
persistance.

Regards

--
John Doue

- Bobb - wrote:

I have a Sony Vaio VGN-SZ4XWN/C laptop and Sony have now released XP
drivers. Initially the support site said they would not be releasing XP
drivers, but I guess enough people asked them, they had little choice.

I've no idea if Sony are doing this with all models (this is a fairly
expensive model which cost £1620 in the UK, or around $3200).

I've installed Solaris x86 on mine, and have everything working except
the camera and fingerprint reader.

You have to do a total install from scratch.

Before you do that, right click on the start button and select "Classic"
start menu, then "customize" it. Vista has settings (this one and
quite a few more) that make it as friendly as XP or even 98. But they
are not well known and they are scattered all over the place.


c&j wrote:

Bobb .....

Everything you say is correct, and your good post is well worth reading.

THAT SAID, whether HP publishes the drivers or not, supports it or not,
the drivers needed ALMOST ALWAYS do exist (not necessarily from HP, but
"they are out there"). The problem is finding them.

I have done this for a number of laptops over the years. I have always
succeeded, but the time required to work out the support for an OS that
the manufacturer does not support is significant, ranging from at least
8-16 hours to as much as 80 hours.

And, unfortunately, if the drivers are not available from the
manufacturer, finding them is WAY beyond the capability of someone is
not truly knowledgeable about computer hardware and software.


- Bobb - wrote:

I'll go further and suggest that it's best to experiment on a totally
spare hard drive.

John Doue wrote:

Strictly speaking, you are correct, but in almost every case, at the
moment, XP drivers for pretty much everything in pretty much every
laptop do exist. The problem is finding them.

Jerry wrote:

I thought that the primary issues with Vista had to do with performance, not
the interface.

I bought a Compaq V3000 that was labeled as Vista compatible and ready. I
got the free Vista upgrade (?) and lived with it for about a week, before
returning to XP. Thankfully, I had made a complete set of restore disks.

Still living with XP, and with all I'm hearing about Vista, glad I'm not
needing to buy a new machine in the near future.

EQR

c&j wrote:
I have had 2 fail, a week out of the box.

G.G.Willikers wrote:
See the article in the last PC Magazine.

Before you start make sure you can collect the necessary XP drivers for
all the hardware. Lacking those, you may have some features that might
not work.