[Ali1234]

Hi guys,

I'm new here and hopeful that here I will find a soloution. I am a complete computer rookie and have no technical experience so if anyone does have a solution please explain in simplest terms! I will explain my predicement in as detailed way as I can.
Heres the situation: My previous laptop (Inspiron 1501) with XP literally fell apart after 2.5 years good service. In that time I had fallen in love with XP, so when we had to buy a new laptop (the lovley Inspiron 1545) that came with Vista pre installed I was anxious about it.
I find Vista annoying, too flashy, slow and un-user friendly. Thats maybe because I have been so used to XP, but after about 3 weeks of battling with it, I have decided that I have to downgrade to XP. I dug out my XP disc, put it in, and booted the laptop with it. It appeared to all be working- until it said 'Setup is starting Windows' and after a few seconds it went to a BSOD (Stop: 0x0000007B i think). This always happens. I have tried a BIOS update from Dell support, searching the Web for hours at a time for a solution, and Diagnostics twice. As a last resort we are going to try and take it to PC World to see if they have any ideas.

Is there anything I can do to fix this? Am I doing anything wrong?

Thanks very much for your time,

Ali

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The error you're getting is probably due to a Sata driver that needs to be installed while installing XP. Since the Inspiron 1545 has no support for XP on the Dell site... meaning there are no drivers for XP, I found a website HERE that has XP drivers for your laptop.

You may want to visit the website, and read through all the comments to see what kinds of problems (and possible solutions) people are discovering, before spending money at PC World. I'm sure there's hope for you to install XP without the help (and cost!) of taking it to someone.

[makai]

The error you're getting is probably due to a Sata driver that needs to be installed while installing XP. Since the Inspiron 1545 has no support for XP on the Dell site... meaning there are no drivers for XP, I found a website HERE that has XP drivers for your laptop.

You may want to visit the website, and read through all the comments to see what kinds of problems (and possible solutions) people are discovering, before spending money at PC World. I'm sure there's hope for you to install XP without the help (and cost!) of taking it to someone.

[Ali1234]

Thanks very much for your response and the website. Do I have to download them all, and where do I have to put them, and is there a program/utility/instructions that I have to run or follow? I downloaded the Intel AHCI SATA controller driver, clicked run, put it in downloads (the automatic option), unzipped, the rebooted. Still didn't work. Guessing I'm doing something wrong. Thanks,
Ali.

[makai]

Hello,
I just looked up more things on google and found this...

<snip>... in the BIOS, System configuration set the SATA to ATA. Factory default is AHCI, this will give you a blue screen when trying to install XP.

So, you may just need to get into your bios screen and change this setting. You may not need the SATA driver.

To get to the bios screen by hitting the F2 key on the keyboard as you are viewing the Dell logo screen. Once in bios, you need to navigate the menus to find where to change the opiton. It'll probably be in an "Advanced" menu or something like that. Once you make the change, you need to save and exit the bios, then see if XP will install without error.

Do I have to download them all

Eventually, you will need to install all the drivers. However, we need to get XP on the machine first. Normally, computers should be installed in the following order...
OS (XP)
Chipset driver
Video driver
All other drivers
For now, just download the driver files and save them for later. We'll get to them.

Edited by makai, 15 March 2009 - 02:08 PM.

[Ali1234]

Thanks, I'll try that. I get back to you on how it goes as quick as I can.

[makai]

Ok!

One note... if you read through the comments on the page I linked, you'll see that some people had problems with some drivers. Some poeple have linked other drivers that worked, so when you download, be sure to go through the comments to find the ones that work and download them.

[Ali1234]

Hi,

After toggling with the SATA, the install worked a treat. Thanks ever so much for the help, makai. But, and sorry about this, after the initial set up (time, users etc) Windows started with the bare minimum of stuff on it (by this I mean all the basic pre built in Windows stuff) Which means I have no idea how to connect the the Internet (hence why I am speaking to you now from the bits of my old laptop). Any advice/help?

Ali

[123Runner]

Since you have XP on it now, the 1st thing you need to do is install the chipset drivers. It will be in the links that Makai gave you.
You might be able to live without the video for a while, so now you can do the ethernet controllers. This will get you the network.
Then the rest of the drivers after that.

You need to get them from the site, save them on another computer and then move them to the one you are trying to fix.

Once you get the ethernet controllers for the network, you can just go to the site and download them directly.

As you find the ones that work, SAVE THEM to make this easier in the future if you need to reinstall. By save, I mean burn to a CD>

[makai]

Well, I'm glad that worked. Please do not try to connect to the internet at this time. Your computer is not ready to do so.

What you must do is download the "correct" drivers in the order I specified. This is so we can get the computer running in the best possible way. Just download/save them to your old laptop/or desktop computer's "desktop", and later transfer them to your new laptop. Do you have a USB flash drive, a USB floppy, or a way to burn the drivers onto CD, so you can move them from the old laptop to the new one?

Since this is a new install, there is much to do to get your computer running. Anti-Spyware software, AntiVirus, possibly a 3rd party Firewall, along with all the drivers, and applications you use will have to be installed. A lot of patience is needed. I'll help you till the end, so no worries.

[Ali1234]

Great, thanks for the continuing support.
I shall download the drivers in the prescribed manner and order onto a USB drive. Where, once I have done that, do I put them onto the new computer? We have Norton as an anti-virus software and will also download spyware doctor as a secondary (which I can highly recommend). One other small issue: the XP appearence is slightly stretched; i'm guessing this is because it is a widescreen laptop, but is there anyway to fix this, as it is rather ugly.

Ali

[makai]

Download the chipset driver, install it. Download the video driver, install it... this will take care of the ugly stretched screen. This is a process... you have to follow it. Trust me, things will work out as you go along.

Uhhh... install these things on the new computer. Sorry, I jumped the gun while replying and forgot to mention it.

Edited by makai, 16 March 2009 - 12:22 PM.

[Ali1234]

YES THE VIDEO DRIVER SOLVED THE SCREEN! YESSS! Sorry, not me being dim, what I meant to say was where on the new computer? I just put them in the downloads folder, and seems to have worked. Will continue with driver downloads. Will get back to you later.

[makai]

Ok, I was a bit confused when you asked where to install the drivers. Yes, keeping them in the downloads folder is fine. Later on, you'll want to keep all drivers that work so in case you have to do this again, you'll have them available without having to hunt for them on the internet.

Edited by makai, 16 March 2009 - 12:37 PM.

[Ali1234]

Okey doke. What should I do about the bluetooth driver, it has no autorun thing and has files in two folders.

[makai]

Bluetooth drivers can be one of the most strangest animals to install and can give conflicts if not done correctly. Why don't we make this the last driver you install.

I need to ask though, did you install XP 32 bit, or XP 64 bit?
To determine which you are running...
Go to Start>run... type in sysdm.cpl, then click OK.
In the System Properties window, go to the General tab.
Under the System heading, do you see this...
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
or this...
Microsoft Windows XP Professional

By the way, which drivers have you successfully installed up until now?