Downgrading to XP

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How do I downgrade to XP on a HP Pavilion dv6915nr laptop?

(I plan to use a pirated version of XP on some torrent site and then remove undesired features with pclite.)

Any help would be appreciated.

First off, a lot of people consider Vista as being the downgrade, not XP. XP simply runs faster than Vista on the same hardware.

Before you start, you need to collect all the necessary XP drivers that you will need for the PC. Usually, the mfg site will have them, but sometimes you have to go hunting. Its a good idea to have access to another computer that you can use to get them if you forgot one.

After you get all the drivers, save any personal files on a CD or flash drive and then install XP. The pirated XP install CD's are usually better than factory ones because they contain more drivers and practical software like Firefox. You should do a virus scan when finished just to be safe though.

"Downgrade" just meant going back to an older version, not a worse one.


Thanks.

Would the mfg site (what is that?) have drivers for the mouse pad?

Go into the drivers section in windows xp control panel. write down details on the drivers there for monitor, keyboard, mouse, and any other devices you use, such as external drives, cd/dvd drives... You can get details on the device labels as well.

Find those manufacturers web sites and get copies of the drivers you need for windows xp. Save them to a flash drive(they are ultra cheap right now, with school sales), or a cd or dvd.

If you have the original device disks thats good too. Most vista devices will come with xp drivers as well.

Most of us woudl recomend when you do your downgrade to have two partitions in your drive. one will be c: for the operating system, and one will be d: for your data. Its good sense to separate them in case you ever have to reinstall. It will prevent your personal data from being reformatted.

Just downgraded a Compaq Presario f500 for someone a couple of weeks ago, Vista was a snail.

Found two links that should help you out:

http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/for ... Id=1260110

http://www.fastfs.com/help_pages/hp%20downgrade.htm

Thanks, but I got a new laptop, so I don't have any personal data to keep

There are some laptop manufacturers that are @$$ holes when it comes to providing XP drivers so that people can upgrade back to XP. But others are cooperative. Its best to check the manufacturer website under "downloads" for your specific laptop to see if they are there. If they aren't, its still possible to upgrade in many cases, but it requires googling for each device that you need.