Can someone tell me a private source from which I could buy the Dell Drivers necessary to convert my new XPS420 from Vista to XP. Dell insists they are no longer available from them. All suggestions greatly appreciated.

I bought the Dell XPS420 six weeks ago, and have spent countless hours trying to make Vista work for my business. Long standing software will not work, and there have been numerous glitches, causing business disruptions. I just don't have any more time to spend trying to make it work. Thanks very much. Robert

Wait for other suggestions. But I would download and run 'SIW' to determine the manufacturer and model of the devices that you need the drivers for. Then do a Google search using that info.

Good luck, I hope you can find them all. Manufacturers do not like to use manpower developing drivers for older operating systems.

I suggest you do as aegis suggests. Dell can't provide WinXP drivers for that unit due to licencing agreements with MSoft. MSoft wants Vista to be used.

I looked at Dell austrialia and asia and no joy. Find SIW.exe at the link below. Download the standalone version.

http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download...

Keep in mind too, that a machine built to Vista specs (such as the XPS) may not have XP drivers for some of the hardware.

Life's more painless for the brainless.

The applicable drivers for your machine if you are adamant about going the downgrade route should be available on Dell's website. No need to pay for them via some private source.

Jabbering Idiots: Everywhere You Look!

I'm a little foggy in the head this morning but I interpret this as a request for a source for a copy of XP Pro O/S.
Is the mission here to dump Vista and load XP?
If that's the case you should find what you need here:
http://tinyurl.com/6efuqn

Sarertooth

As I stated above, Dell sites don't have any WinXP drivers for that computer listed. I have heard this is due to agreement with MSoft.

Last week someone linked to an asian site for WinXP drivers to downgrade but I can't recall if that was Dell or someone else. I did look at a couple of foreign sites with no luck.

Rob, IMO you shouldn't have bought a Dell with Vista on it if you didn't want Vista. Build your own.

http://www.dellcommunity.com/suppor...

Yes, it can be done. It will require a bit more work on your part, but it is indeed possible.
There's lots of info on installing XP on the XPS-420 at the Dell forums; link above.

Good luck..

http://www.dellcommunity.com/suppor...

Info here too.....

GimmeShelter

Good find. No one said it couldn't be done. It can be a problem IF drivers are not available. This is common on Laptops. I have seen issues with HD sound and wireless LAN drivers.

There are computers with XP still available on the Dell site.

Life's more painless for the brainless.

...and here's another XPS 420 downgrade success story.

All in all, it seems the main thing you are going to be without is the integrated LCD & that's not something the machine can't do without.

I almost forgot to add, the OS transition is inevitable & XP isn't going to be around forever: you either deal with it now or deal with it later.

Jabbering Idiots: Everywhere You Look!

http://www.dell.com/content/default...

Yup, you're correct Jennifer. In fact Dell still has quite a few offerings with Windows XP operating systems on their "small business" site.

You need not be in any type of business to order from their small business site neither. As a rule, those small business pc's are configured with better quality goods than the home pc sales site.

Hope I helped a bit; take care everyone...

Thanks for all comments. And yes, I should not have bought Vista. Very big mistake. I just wasnt aware of all its problems, and the downtime it would cause. Yesterday I put everything back on my old computer and will use it until XP is on the new one. This computer is for work. Noth for play.

I have a friend here locally who is an IT specialist, and will actually make the switch. Their company has all the XP software. But not the required drivers. I am told by both Dell and locally the drivers are absolutely not on Dell's website. So I guess I need to acquire them from the various companies that make the drivers. I have just run SIW.exe.

What information from SIE would indicate what drivers are needed? Any other suggestions greatly appreciated.

Motherboard model # may be helpful

Chipset model (north & South bridges)

Video Adapter

Network card

Sound

I actually got thidata from running a Belaric Report::

Motherboard model # Dell OTP406

Chipset model (north & South bridges)

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GelForce 8800 G

Network card: Intel 82566DC-2 GB

Sound: ATI Unified AVStream Driver

Sigma Tel High Def Audio CODEC

You did not list the Chipset on the MBoard. From Googling the board model it appears to be an Intel X38 chipset. The third link below is a starting point for you. Intel usually has many variations of their chipsets. The differences are denoted by any suffix on the number.

The sound chip is not listed in your list. Try using SIW to identify the sound. It is probably integrated into Intel’s chipset. The computer must have an add in card. Use the second link to get the correct driver.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/fil...

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/inde...

http://www.intel.com/support/chipse...

OtheHill & Rob1960, you can use the CPU-Z utility to obtain the kind of chipset a motherboard uses.

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Run CPU-Z on the computer, then click on the Mainboard tab to get the motherboard chipset info.

ERP

SIW.exe will yield much more info than just that. It is like Belarc or Aida32/Everest but more comprehensive. Try it.

I purchased a Dell XPS400 and it said on the tower Vista ready . It came with WindowsXP MCE 2005 which uses WinXP Pro w/SP2 ! I figure if you can upgrade ,why would you not be able to downgrade ? Now I realize the XPS420 has the Duo2 processor and my XPS400 has the Dual Core 2.8 Gig processor. I purchased this PC and they released te Duo2's a month later,Uugg ! Well I had my share of problems with this PC including a fresh re-install of the O/S ,and to many other fixes to list. However for now its running great ,and hopefully it will stay that way. I really believe where there is a will there is a way ! If you want WinXP on your PC it must be possible to get the WinXP drivers for the H.W. (I doubt Dell used all newly aquired H.W. just for the XPS420)? Knock em down one at a time as far as locating a WinXP driver, and then installing WinXP Pro should not be a problem with a powerful system like that !
Good Luck ,Nick

Nick

This issue has nothing to do with the hardware itself. At least in this case. It is about Microsoft wanting to push Vista. The OEMs licensing agreements don't allow for the downgrade on all machines.