downgrade from vista to XP (acer 5315)

[moodyfeller]

alright everyone,
just got my ACER 5315-201G08Mi laptop, and since i really don't like vista, i'd love to downgrade to good old XP. i saw some user here (bigozone?) has already done it. so i've checked all the drivers i need and i got this list:

- Intel Celeron(R) CPU 550 @ 2.00GHz
- Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller
- Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller
- Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Realtek High Definition Audio
- Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter
- Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM5906M Fast Ethernet PCI Express
- CXT HDAUDIO Soft Data Fax Modem with SmartCP
- Suyin Corp. HP Pavilion dv9640us WebCam (Acer CrystalEye webcam)
- Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller
- Intel Matrix Storage Manager ICH7/ICH8/ICH9/ICH10 (drivers 8.2.0.1001
- Intel Chipset Device Software (drivers 9.0.0.1008 WHQL)
- Intel Turbo Memory Driver (drivers 1.5.0.1013 WHQL)
- Intel Matrix Storage Manager ICH6 (drivers 7.0.0.1020 WHQL)
- Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller
- HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T20N ATA Device
- Alps Pointing-device
- Acer Inc. Launch Manager
- Moniteur Plug-and-Play générique
- Intel 82801 PCI Bridge - 2448
- Intel ICH8 Family PCI Express Root Port 1 - 283F
- Intel ICH8 Family PCI Express Root Port 2 - 2841
- Intel ICH8 Family PCI Express Root Port 3 - 2843
- Intel ICH8 Family PCI Express Root Port 4 - 2845
- Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller
- Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller
- Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller
- Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub
- Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1
- Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2
- Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3
- Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4
- Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5
- Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1
- Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2

so far i've found most of these drivers and i'm still searching for the ones missing. however, i wouldn't mind having some general guide lines as i really don't want to **** up in the process (obviously). is there anything i should be particularly careful with?

thanks for your help.

[Andy]

well, with such a massive list i dont think u have left out anything....
i guess if bigO will be around he might give u some more advice....!!

out of all curiousity how r u doing it....?? reformatting the hdd and then doing a fresh installation of xp..??

[moodyfeller]

haha i guess...

i'm just downloading the main items anyway (chipset, sound, etc.), i won't bother with the webcam and the other "side dishes" for now.

[bigozone]

http://soulpass.com/2007/11/10/insta...5-2153-laptop/

this site has an excellent walk thru for the entire process...
and once you post a few more times i'll PRIVATE MESSAGE you with a few other tips

but the main thing to do is install XP/ XP pro and upate to Service Pack 2,, then install the sound drivers..

then you can do the other drivers in the order listed on the link above
BUT SOUND NEEDS TO BE FIRST DRIVER INSTALLED..

it just solves a few probs with getting sound and modem to work.

bigO

[moodyfeller]

yeah that was the original plan. but i heard i should keep the SATA drivers safe on a CD because XP doesn't come with its own SATA drivers. but that's the only tricky bit i've been warned about, and i'm afraid there's a couple of other thingies i should think of, which is the reason i'm asking for some advice now.

[moodyfeller]

good god, that was quick haha.
thanks for the tip bigozone, that tutorial looks dead good. i'll give it a careful read tomorrow when i can think straight and have a bit less alcohol in my body (as it's already 3.12am here in europe) and let you know what the story is. if you have more good tips to share, feel free to drop me a line here : mehddr at gmail dot com.

[bigozone]

just follow that guide to creating the XP disk using NLITE to embedd the SATA drivers into the install cd...

you can download the entire driver pack as one file there also..
but it doesn't contain the CAM drivers

i'll send you a PM with a cool link

bigO

EDIT::

Aspire 5315 CPU upgrades and other info

my 5315 info thread... i've been adding important stuff as i come across it!!

[moodyfeller]

bigozone, you've just made yourself a proud man. nice one!

[bigozone]

Originally Posted by moodyfeller

bigozone, you've just made yourself a proud man. nice one!

glad you approve!!! and thanks for the REP...

i'll go outta my way to help someone who shows a little thanks

just message me with any questions you have...

i'd start by following that SOULPASS guide to the letter

then i can point you to UPGRADED drivers (i think i have newer ones than ACER or most anyone)....

have fun
i know i'll never go back to VISTA... and that Core2Duo cpu is a great investment... 2 gigs is a must if you don't have it now.... but if you are like me you just have to go one step at a time

later,
bigO

[moodyfeller]

hey bigo, so i've went through the whole step by step tutorial, and everything went fine until i reached the launch manager set up, then it started to get a bit funny.

first, i can't get the laptop to make a sound. in the sound manager it says everything's working fine (codecs and that), but it also says there's no device installed for playing sound. i did follow the tutorial carefully and installed everything in the right order, starting with sound. did it happen to you too?

the other thing that bothers me is the fact that i can't access the WLAN set up: you know that small icon next to the time in the taskbar (bottom right corner) that tells you whether you're connected, when i double click on it to scan for available WLAN networks, it says windows isn't allowed to manage my connections because another program is. what program would that be?

apart from these two things, the whole XP installation process went fine and it looks steady enough. i would really like to be able to listen to music and connect to the internet though haha.

thanks in advance and sorry for being so demanding. it's just that i'm moving to a different country on tuesday and i don't want to be trapped there without a functional laptop...