XP PRO clean install, Q. about drivers?

smulverwell · #1 02-21-2006, 05:21 PM

Hi all,

My current laptop was running Windows 2000 until I started having problems with it....

I have a copy of XP PRO, and been doing a lot of reading about upgrading...

What I would like to do is format my HD and install XP PRO... But I am concerned about hardware drivers (for essentials such as graphics, sound, etc)... I still have the Drivers and Utilities Disk which came with the PC (for windows 2000), but I've read about the Intel Chipset Installation Software, should I bother with this? Or do I just go about installing windows then use the Drivers CD since most 2000 drivers are compatible with xp?

I want to get this right without problems!

I also have no idea what chipset I have and cannot find the information anywhere!

Thank you in advance for you time, sorry if you've heard thjis Q. before....

Matt

ANZAC_ELITE · #2 02-21-2006, 06:17 PM

You will need to go to the manufacturers website and ascertain if you need different drivers, most drivers these days are win2k/XP so you may, and I stress may, be able to use some off the disk you have. The best bet is to check the manufacturers website, search for your laptop model number, d/load the XP drivers required.

To find out your lappies internals you can use programmes like Belarc, PC Wizard etc, google them, they're freeware (or still were last time I looked

)

ravi1326 · #3 02-21-2006, 06:36 PM

hi
Please go ahead and install xp/professional, it is wonderful peace of operating stystem, you will not face any problems with it. it has all the drivers for most of the gadgets which has been digitally signed off by microsoft.
for any specific hardware driver you can always goto the respective website to download and to install.
i am using it for couple of years. i dont see any problem.

see to it, your xp/installation installation goes well without any problem. thats very very important.

good luck
ravi1326@yahoo.com

smulverwell · #4 02-21-2006, 06:38 PM

Hi, thanks for replies.. I think i know what my internals are now, but the only drivers for them on the fujitsu site are for windows 2000.

Im installing because windows 2000 locked me out and stupidly (i know, i know) i only had one user name...

My hard drive is partitioned to have operating system on one and documents on another, so should i be able to recover my documents if my windows install goes on the current OS partition? (theres only a handful of docs i need)...

When Im asked if i want to change to NTFS, should i say yes? considering it is currently fat32? (the files i want are on a seperate fat32 partition)

Thanks again for the help, much appreciated, btw its a full version of xp pro i have, not the upgrade.

Matt

ANZAC_ELITE · #5 02-21-2006, 07:06 PM

You should be able to recover your documents as NTFS reads FAT32 ....... but FAT32 cannot read NTFS without third party software.

I would recommend NTFS for your operating system partition.

EDIT: Once you have your operating system up and running and have retrieved your documents you can then convert your second partition to NTFS

Phippy · #6 02-21-2006, 07:41 PM

First and foremost, you need to make sure your data is safe. With that in mind, what do you mean that Win 2000 locked you out? Do you mean that you can't log on due to a password problem?

If so, that's easy to bypass so you can retrieve your data, then you can wipe and reinstall without worry.

smulverwell · #7 02-22-2006, 05:22 PM

Ok thanks, I'm getting prepared for it....

My chipset is a Intel 440ZX, and the only version of the Intel Installation Utility that is compatible with this is like version 2.something and only works with windows 2000... any suggestions on what to do?

Thanks so much for all your help!

Matt

yoni5002 · #8 02-23-2006, 12:52 AM

Hi, please just install the XP you have with you I've been reading for a little while about the Intel 440ZX, I don't see any problems at all. Windows XP has features that allow you to run programs in different ways. It is called COMPATIBILITY... All you need to do is Click on the exe file/ properties and select compatibility mode... Windows 95, 98, Me, NT4, 2000... Do you still thinh you would have a problem???

Please!!

Hope this help

Yoni5002º
________

smulverwell · #9 02-24-2006, 07:36 PM

Hey guys, thanks for your help...

Just to update you, the intel software said it wasnt required, and every other piece of hardware was already supported by xp pro with correct drivers! I also managed to recover my important work documents, phew!

Thanks for all your help, I appreciate it.. I'll stick around in case I see anything I can help people with but I have to say you're doing a great job, this is a great resource.

Matt