Inspiron 1750 and reinstalling XP

Hello,

I just bought 3 of these and they also came preloaded with Windows Vista Basic.  I also wanted to downgrade to XP but can't seem to get past the F6 option.  WHere can I download the correct Intel Matrix storage drivers for this model?  Did you have any luck?

Thanks,

Ted.

ted,

not sure what the F6 option is.  But  try http://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx for those drivers.

i have not begun the process of reformatting with xp yet, i was just asking to see what kind of problems i might run up against.  if you get yours going could you let me know?  thanks!

EAG

Ted,

a bad sign is that when i went to Dell's driver download site, and put in request for drivers for inspiron 1750, they do not offer XP as one of the OS options - only vista and windows 7.  Not sure then where to get all the drivers for this machine.  hmmmm....:emotion-7:

EAG

Hello,

I was able to successfully start the Windows XP installation on one of the Inspiron 1750s I purchased.  Make sure you have a USB floppy drive attached when you start the install.  Preferably the XP CD should be a slipstreamed SP3 installation CD also.

1. Download the F6 Floppy Drivers from the Dell support website (the Vista SATA section is where you will find this).

2. Create the floppy and make sure it is in the floppy drive when you start the computer.  Boot from the CD and DO NOT press the F6 option when Windows setup starts.  XP will automatically search for the proper drivers on the USB floppy drive when appropriate and load them when it is ready.

3. The install should continue just fine from that point on.

4. Now for the remainder of the drivers, from what I understand, if the Vista drivers do not work, simply download the drivers for the Inspiron 1545 for Windows XP and that should work fine for the most part.  I haven't tried this yet but I will update this post if all else fails.  Good luck!

Ted,

i don't know what the F6 floppy drivers are that you are referring to.  do you have a link that will take me to where you got these? 

thanks!

EAG

http://ftp.us.dell.com/SATA/R197861.exe

Simply copy the 32-bit drivers in the 'f6flpy32' folder to a floppy disk and follow the instructions in the previous post.

If you are installing a 64-bit OS, simply use the files 'f6flpy64' bit folder instead, obviously.

ok, ok...nuff said... :emotion-10:

let me know how it turns out for you...

eag

sorry to keep bothering you with questions, but what is a slipstreamed SP3 installation CD.  i do have an xp installation CD but i don't think is has the SP3 with it and i am not sure if it is "slipstreamed"

thanks,

eag

Google should become your best friend.  This really should be a piece of cake for you from here on out...

Ted,

did you get your 1750's working with xp?  just curious how it worked out for you.

EAG

Hi,

Yes I was able to somewhat succesfully install Windows XP onto my 1750s with all necessary drivers.

It took some doing to locate some of the drivers but once I found them all, everything went smooth.

So rest assured that with a little effort, it can be done.

Ted.

"It took some doing to locate some of the drivers but once I found them all, everything went smooth."

Could you post links to them or upload all them to megaupload or similar and provide the link to them?, there are others that need to downgrade to XP on this model but are not savy enough to find the drivers, this would be a huge help to others.

TIA.

I tried to find the XP drivers without success, ¿do you have the URLs to download them?

Thanks,

Italo

I tried:

Win XP SP2

Win XP SP3

Win XP 64bit

But:

IDT High definition audio don't accept the drivers (I tried 10 different version)

Dell wireless 1397 WLAN mini card accept the driver but doens't work

Can Anyone help me please?

Thnx

Hi all,

Don't worry - help is at hand!  I bought an Inspiron 1750 a couple of months ago only to find there were no XP drivers (and I needed XP to run Catia on).  Luckily I'm pretty handy with figuring drivers out - as even for me it was a bit of an epic trying to get everything working.

But thats the bad news.  The good news is that its certainly possible to get everything working perfectly.  Unfortunately, Dell are extremely short sighted not providing XP drivers.  As I had to actually write drivers to get the IDT audio device to work myself - and after posting this on an obscure website where a couple of others were having the same problem, the updated 1750 XP install package has to date received nearly 1100 downloads.  Thats over one thousand people who want XP drivers for this system that Dell are refusing to give.

Anyway.  Heres a quick 'getting your 1750 up and running with XP' guide - this is from memory so probably won't be 100% exact:

Booting - XP will BSOD on booting the CD unless you go into the system bios and change a setting called SATA operation from AHCI to ATA mode.  After doing this it should install no trouble with no extra drivers or anything needed.

Audio (IDT) - Heres the tricky one.  Fortunately I've written a how to.  (not sure if I'm allowed to post links to external sites - scroll down to post 9 on http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/24874-inspiron-1750-and-idt-92hd71b-xp-driver/)  If you do a search on google for 'Inspiron 1750 XP IDT Drivers', the top result is a link to a post on laptopvideo2go.  Scroll down to post 9 (by myself) and it includes instructions and updated drivers to get this working.

Video - Another tricky one until you know how.  Google for 'Mobility Modder' - the top link will explain exactly how to create an updated driver package to get this working. (not sure if I'm allowed to post links to external sites! - http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool.php)

Wireless - can't quite remember this one, but I remember it wasn't straight forward.  I believe you need to download the Intel wireless driver pack, extract this.  Don't run the setup program.  Go to manually install the drivers, tell it to not detect your adapter (you'll select it from a list), browse to where you extracted the intel wireless drivers to, then when prompted choose your specific model wireless adapter from the list.

And that should be all!  Everything else should install pretty straight forward.

Hope that helps,

Sean

PS Dell - over 1100 people are struggling with this.  There is demand for XP drivers for this system, and its not like its incompatible or anything.   Would be a good idea to sort it out...