O/T Laptop probs...

[ndicki]

I have recently bought a second-hand HP 530 laptop which comes pre-loaded with Vista basic in French. That is the problem. I want to reprogramme it to XP in English and kill the two birds with one stone. The problem is though that it won't let me (this seems to be the story of my hitherto unsatisfactory relationship with Vista, in fact.)

I get as far as the "To install Windows XP press enter" screen, which them normally moves you on to the reformat/partition HD screen, and I press enter - and lo and behold, it tells me that the computer doesn't have a hard drive, so get lost and leave it alone.

This is driving me mad, and I shall shortly be going to the toolshed to get an instrument the forceful application of which will at least allow me to understand why it can't load Windows XP or anything else any more...

Does anybody have any ideas, before I begin using Soviet maintenance procedures?

[ndicki]

OK, found it. You need to disable native SATA, whatever that may mean. Geeks...

[KellyB]

My son is an IT specialist, complete with master's degree, and he says that most of the problems he has had to deal with, other than people who actually believe the cd drive is a cup holder, is what he refers to as "Vista infestations."

He is, as I said, a geek with a masters, and he too has trouble with Vista.

If it's any comfort.

[ndicki]

A great deal of comfort! I'm utterly sick of it. And now I'm utterly rid of it too. I've got it all up and running with XP in English, and only one unrecognised device...

[italflyer]

I think XP can't see sata drives unless you install sata-drivers first.

[Z-IanMCD]

You can install them afterwards too, after having indicated in the BIOS that the system should look at the drives as IDE drives.

Do that, install windows XP, then install the drivers and switch them back to SATA in the BIOS afterwards.

You could of course install windows 7 a lot less hassle and a lot better os than XP!

[ndicki]

So you'd need to find SATA drivers... Is that these?

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=3375953&prodNameId=3375995&swEnvOID=1093&swLang=13&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=ob-56416-1

It looks as though it is - which means I've actually got it right for once... I hope!

Thanks for the help! Even if I've blundered through by myself, it's reassuring and lets me understand things better.

[NachtPiloten]

Are you a teacher or college professor? If so, you should be able to get win7 for a very good price from MS or from an on-line vendor by supplying the appropriate information. I purchased Office '07 for $50 US (complete suite) and win7 for a HUGE discount!

[ndicki]

Are you a teacher or college professor? If so, you should be able to get win7 for a very good price from MS or from an on-line vendor by supplying the appropriate information. I purchased Office '07 for $50 US (complete suite) and win7 for a HUGE discount!

In French, yes. I don't know if a UK company is going to accept French university paperwork! And I have to get it over the internet because you simply can't get English Windows or Office in France. If I wanted it in French, I'd simply borrow the school's copy - which I used to do, but I don't enjoy having my software in French!

Also, after my experience with Visat ("You are not authorised, etc, etc") I'm sticking with the one I know that works!

[hairyspin]

I just hope that laptop has a US or English keyboard. I used some French ones on holiday and some blighter had rearranged the keys! Not as tricky as the ones in Israel, mind you...

[ndicki]

LoL! No, it's a French keyboard. In some ways that's no bad thing despite being a bit confusing, because you actually can't write French (I do have to on occasion) with an English one - no accents. My desktop at home is 100% English, which means that if I write in French on it, it's a mess. Andre (Dewoitine) can confirm that! He carefully typed out something I'd posted in French and added all the missing squiggles.