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Downgrading from Vista To XP only need one driver, New Toshiba Laptop


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#1
thejushinator

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*Not sure if correct forum, If not mods please move :)*


Ok I recently purchased a Toshiba A215-s7422 Laptop from Office Depot.
http://yahoo-ssp-cne...466820073270#p5

Toshiba does not support downgrade of this laptop from Vista to XP, so they have none of the XP drivers on their website. After many hours of searching the Web I found a "bulk" download of all the drivers.

Everything on the laptop is working fine now EXCEPT the FN key. I have been doing research and found that this is called the "common module" driver. I can not find it anywhere and I have looked for hours. I was wondering if anyone knows of a driver to fix this issue or anyway to manually fix it.

Thanks
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#2
Murray S.

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Howdy:

You probably aren't going to find that one as it would be specific to Toshiba.

Also, are you aware you probably voided your warranty by downgrading? Hope nothing goes wrong with the laptop.

Murray
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#3
thejushinator

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Howdy:

You probably aren't going to find that one as it would be specific to Toshiba.

Also, are you aware you probably voided your warranty by downgrading? Hope nothing goes wrong with the laptop.

Murray


That is what I have been reading in the other posts, that the driver is specifically Toshiba. I was not aware it would void the warranty.
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#4
Ztruker

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I don't know how far you are in the Vista to XP process, but if this was my laptop I would use the recovery part ion or CD to put Vista back then install XP in a Dual Boot setup to play with. That should leave you with a valid warranty and leave Vista to learn when you feel like it and XP to use day to day till then.

See here for directions on setting this up: Dual boot Vista and XP with Vista installed first
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#5
thejushinator

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I don't know how far you are in the Vista to XP process, but if this was my laptop I would use the recovery part ion or CD to put Vista back then install XP in a Dual Boot setup to play with. That should leave you with a valid warranty and leave Vista to learn when you feel like it and XP to use day to day till then.

See here for directions on setting this up: Dual boot Vista and XP with Vista installed first



thanks, that is great information. I will try that
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#6
VernonX

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Howdy:

You probably aren't going to find that one as it would be specific to Toshiba.

Also, are you aware you probably voided your warranty by downgrading? Hope nothing goes wrong with the laptop.

Murray


Can you please identify where in the license agreement voiding the warranty is a risk by a downgrade to XP (assume I have a valid license for XP)? {Hardware with certain Vista editions can downgrade per Microsoft}
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#7
VernonX

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*Not sure if correct forum, If not mods please move :)*


Ok I recently purchased a Toshiba A215-s7422 Laptop from Office Depot.
http://yahoo-ssp-cne...466820073270#p5

Toshiba does not support downgrade of this laptop from Vista to XP, so they have none of the XP drivers on their website. After many hours of searching the Web I found a "bulk" download of all the drivers.

Everything on the laptop is working fine now EXCEPT the FN key. I have been doing research and found that this is called the "common module" driver. I can not find it anywhere and I have looked for hours. I was wondering if anyone knows of a driver to fix this issue or anyway to manually fix it.

Thanks


Perhaps this will help.

99.9% Toshiba Satellite A215-S7472 downgrade and/or restore for Windows XP Professional
On boot I still get Found New Hardware and cannot locate driver, device is listed a UNKNOWN in Found New Hardware, BUT Device Manager does NOT show any missing/unknown devices.

I did a restore of my old dead system, not a reinstall of XP. Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery include Recover Anyware that allows restore to dissimilar hardware (only costs slightly more than Ghost and is much more robust).

Drivers

http://www.driverhea...dtool/index.php for Modder program to modify ATI display driver

7-12_xp32_dd_ccc_wdm_enu_55811.exe ATI_mobility_radeon_HD_2400 ATI driver package to use (from ATI site) Be wary of display driver updates from any source as such updates may make your system unstable/unusable—make backup before install.

http://tinyurl.com/2buwss for Atheros AR5008 Wireless Network Adapter Driver 6.0.2.75

Bluetooth Monitor: util_bt_monitor_25884A.exe???

http://tinyurl.com/2mc8nq for Toshiba drivers (only use those that include XP) and the bios upgrade.

http://tinyurl.com/3chr5t for StandardDualChannel_PCI_IDE_Controller

http://tinyurl.com/33a94x for REALTEK_HighDefinitionAudioDriver1.84
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#8
subaru99

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HI, I saw an article on the Toshiba support page dowload section that stated that computers that had a bios Version of Ver 5.0 and above are for Windows Vista and do not support XP. Therefore, it said anyone who had XP installed and a bios of ver 5.0 or above, the function keys would not work. You could look for it yourself. Also, I called Toshiba Support and ask if I could change the Vista OS on a Satellite L305-S5920 (Brand New) over to XP. He said it was designed for Vista and would not have the proper drivers for XP. I explained why I wanted to do so and I asked if drivers were available anywhere for XP and he said he had no knowledge of any. He didn't mention voiding the warranty. and I didn't ask. However, you could call and ask! Good Luck. I don't if I will persue trying to switch to XP myself. However, the program I want needs XP according to it's documentation. Hope this helps you.
Subaru99
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#9
123Runner

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The reason that the warranty issue was brought up is because if you start having driver issues, video problems, keyboard, hard drive, cd, etc, and you want them to fix it under warranty, they most likely will not because you did major changes to the system.
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#10
posterx

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Just to add to this warranty void issue...

Software does not void the warranty. I have a Toshiba laptop, downgraded it successfully to XP, got a hardware issue later on, sent it to Toshiba and it was taken care of. XP being on it did not cause any issue.

It is a pity though that we are being imposed that crappy Vista indirectly by the manufacturers not giving the XP drivers.
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#11
usasma

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The warranty issue involves a lot of judgement calls by techs. Hardware should be covered irregardless of the OS installed, but some "hard-a**es" will use it as an excuse - while those with a kinder heart will be understanding and will repair things.

The EULA's state these things, but it takes lawyers to figure them out.

Drivers are available for most hardware on computers today - but they are getting more and more difficult to find. The reason for this is newly developed hardware won't necessarily have XP drivers developed - but older hardware usually has an XP driver somewhere on the web. I've used HP drivers in Dell's (for example) to fix this sort of issue.

Hardware drivers are fairly easy. You get the hardware ID from Device Manager, then search http://www.pcidatabase.com for the Vendor ID and the Device ID numbers (USB devices are at a different page...search for USB Device ID in Google).
Once you know the manufacturer and model number of the device, then you can search the web for XP drivers. This is sometimes a long and painful process - but eventually you'll locate all the hardware drivers.

Now, the "common" module for the Toshiba's is a different matter because (if I understand you correctly) that "device" doesn't show up in Device Manager. So, the thing to do in this case would be to research the Toshiba models that used this feature back when XP was being sold - and then try that application on your XP system.
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#12
posterx

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*Not sure if correct forum, If not mods please move :)*


Ok I recently purchased a Toshiba A215-s7422 Laptop from Office Depot.
http://yahoo-ssp-cne...466820073270#p5

Toshiba does not support downgrade of this laptop from Vista to XP, so they have none of the XP drivers on their website. After many hours of searching the Web I found a "bulk" download of all the drivers.

Everything on the laptop is working fine now EXCEPT the FN key. I have been doing research and found that this is called the "common module" driver. I can not find it anywhere and I have looked for hours. I was wondering if anyone knows of a driver to fix this issue or anyway to manually fix it.

Thanks



I have uploaded the XP drivers for my Toshiba laptop. I see that those drivers are no longer available on Toshiba's website.


Please download it, it's likely that the missing driver is in there....


http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0XNVYVTW
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