XP on DELL STUDIO 1557 ??

[Apollo13]

Originally Posted by OneCool

Its like going back to 2007 and buying the latest and greatest laptop then getting mad at Dell because it doesnt support Windows 98..... same thing.

I tried to install Windows 98 on my new 2007 Dell laptop back in 2007. And it didn't work . It was somewhat annoying as I would have rather had Windows 98 than Windows Vista, but then again I didn't really expect success. Although now that I know that too much memory was probably at least part of the problem, I'm curious to see if I could succeed with less memory. Maybe I'll have to try that if/when I next do a reinstall.

Originally Posted by freeman

I mean you buy the newest machine today and your copy of DOS6 still boot, right?

Indeed it does. So does Windows 3.11 (drivers are a bit lacking but local desktop stuff works). But not everything in between.

Originally Posted by pieter808

I have been looking for a way to install XP on my studio 1557 and god it took me quite some time ! BUT now i have xp installed on my studio 1557. If anybody's interested I can give my way of working.
I do have one problem at the moment: I need the drivers for my studio 1557 for XP (they are not on the Dell support website...)
I'm from belgium too, can you give me the drivers, than i'll help you with the installation

I don't know where the drivers are exactly, but one place to look is Dell's drivers pages for business models with the same components, but with XP support. I did this for XP 64-bit on my Inspiron 1520, and had quite a bit of success, although I didn't find everything. One key thing will be knowing exactly which components you do have; your order confirmation e-mail in conjunction with Dell's driver page for the Studio 1557 (on Vista/Win7) should allow you to pinpoint that.

It'd be useful for anyone else who comes searching for the solution to post your way of getting XP on the 1557 here. As I've found out, it's quite frustrating to Google how to do something, see someone post, "I figured it out!", and then have them not post any details.

[pieter808]

Ok so here are the steps to install windows xp pro SP3 on your dell studio 1557 laptop:

- first you download the ahci driver for your sata HDD here:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Deta...=2476&lang=eng

Note: if you are installing a 32bit version of windows xp pro SP3 than download the 32bit version driver.. (otherwise same method for 64bit)

- then you download and install nlite (for slipstreaming the driver into xp installation cd)
nLite - Deployment Tool for the bootable Unattended Windows installation - Download

- make sure you have a working installation cd for windows xp pro SP3 ( or an iso ) and copy the content on your computer. (make sure you take a copy, because nlite will modify the files in the folder you are working with !!)

- next start nlite and select the folder with your installation files for windows xp pro SP3 and click next. Then only select "drivers" and "Bootable ISO" and click next.

- Here you should include your downloaded ahci driver so click "insert" -> "single driver" -> and go to the folder where you downloaded (and unpacked) the ahci driver earlier and select the file named "iaAHCI.inf" (it doesn't matter which .inf file you select, because nlite will automatically include the rest, so you only need to insert 1 .inf file).
Next nlite asks you to select your hardware. Select the "textmode driver" option and than select your hardware in the available list.
Hint: It is safest to just select everything in the available list (and you really have to highlight everything with SHIFT or CTRL) so you are sure it will work, otherwise you will just get the famous bluescreen... then click next.

- you will be asked to start the proces, click "YES". then wait until completed and click next.

- then select mode: "create image", fill in label if you want to and click "make ISO". Just give the iso file a desired name and place to be stored and click OK. nlite will now make an image file (.iso). When done, click next end finnish.

-THAT'S IT !! You just made your custumized windows installation cd !
- now if you have nero installed, just doubleclick on the newly created .iso file and burn it on a cd.

- backup your computer and reboot with the cd you just made.

IMPORTANT: When windows setup is starting and gives the option to hit F6 for non blablalbalbla driver and F2 for .... at the bottom of the screen HIT F7 INSTEAD (don't hit F2 or F6) !!!!! (it is possible you have to use "Fn" + F7 in order to really hit the F7 key and not the second meaning of the button which is "mute" in my case..)

- Windows should now complete the installation and no bluescreen with acpi.sys error will appear...

- now the only problem I still have is that I don't find the drivers for XP for my laptop.. Any help would be appreciated !

[pieter808]

Originally Posted by Apollo13

I don't know where the drivers are exactly, but one place to look is Dell's drivers pages for business models with the same components, but with XP support. I did this for XP 64-bit on my Inspiron 1520, and had quite a bit of success, although I didn't find everything. One key thing will be knowing exactly which components you do have; your order confirmation e-mail in conjunction with Dell's driver page for the Studio 1557 (on Vista/Win7) should allow you to pinpoint that.

Ok I have searched the website under home support, but without any succes. Also the drivers for windows 7/vista don't work (as expected). I also sent an email to dell support, I hope they reply soon..
I'll try your method today and post what it resulted.

[pieter808]

Ok, so apparently it is impossible to find decent drivers for the hardware in a dell studio 1557 (or at least my hardware). Dell is not responding to my email either.. I only found a driver for the sound, but that's not good enough for me to work with XP so I just gave up.
I'm planning to dual boot my laptop with windows 7 (32bit) and windows 7 (64bit). I refuse to use vista : )

My conclusion: It is possible to install xp on a dell studio 1557 but finding the drivers for xp is rather impossible..

Good luck finding/creating them !