Thanks, those are good tips. I googled before I posted and found a few Windows isos but none of the sites looked particularly reputable (nor disreputable but nothing that I wanted to trust). Can you recommend a site for getting Win XP isos?
Also, if I could find the Win XP disks from my Microsoft Action Pack (?) subscription, would that media be okay to install on this desktop? On a ThinkPad? In both cases, with the specific product key of course. I realize it wouldn't have all the specific drivers, but if it could get online even with a cable, eventually it should have everything? Thanks again! -- Andrew mailto:[email protected] Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 6:38:26 PM, you wrote: > A big difference will be the DELL specific hardware drivers. Also, most old > Dell versions of MS Windows tend to be crippled (not all features enabled). > And the T41p recovery disks also include the original Think Vantage software > which won't work on the Dell. > (1) The easiest approach is to download from the DELL web site the drivers > specific to your desktop machine. Your desktop case should have a sticker > with the machine model number, often close to the Windows genuine Product > Key sticker--use that to reach a page with all DELL original and subsequent > drivers for the product line that includes your machine. > (2) Then install a clean copy of Windows XP. ISOs of full Microsoft > versions for Windows XP SP2 (as opposed to Dell versions) are freely > available on the web. During installation use the Windows Product Key on > your desktop. If you can't find a full XP SP3 version, download the SP3 > update from Microsoft and install that after installing the SP2 version. > (3) Then install the Dell drivers for the hardware included in your machine > (typically Dell machines will not have installed all hardware for all > drivers listed on the page, for example, alternative hardware options). > This installs a better version of Windows (the full Microsoft version) than > the original Dell version together with Dell hardware drivers. I have used > this method to rebuild several Dell machines, both desktop and laptop. Good > luck. > On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 4:37 PM, Andrew Webber <[email protected]>wrote: >> I need to do a complete reinstall of Win XP on a desktop machine, >> unfortunately the only media we have are Windows Vista (must have been >> bought with the Win XP upgrade pre-installed). I think the desktop is >> a Dell. >> >> The only media I can find handy are a set of Win XP recovery disks for >> my T41p. Can I use those? Of course I'd use the desktop's product key >> from the sticker on the case, but is there likely anything in the T41 >> disks that would prevent this? >> >> Thanks! >> >> -- >> Andrew mailto:[email protected] >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Thinkpad mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad >> > _______________________________________________ > Thinkpad mailing list > [email protected] > http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad _______________________________________________ Thinkpad mailing list [email protected] http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad
