Downgrading laptop from Vista to XP

Greetings to everyone here. I've stumbled along this site in the annoying process of downgrading from Vista to XP on the laptop I recieved for Christmas (like many others).

A friend of mine is good with computers and started me on my way, but he's somewhat unreliable and left me stranded halfway for the time being.Long story short I dont have time to wait. He told me it would be a simple process, but it is more confusing than i expected and im at the end of my line.

I'm working with:

HP Pavilion dv6917cl Entertainment Notebook PC
AMD Turion (tm) 64 X@ Mobile Technology TL-62
2.10 GHz, 2.93 Gb of RAM
went from Vista Home Premium to XP Professional (SP2).

My friend told me to search for drivers for Pavilion dv6000's, since it appears on a tab on the face of the computer (which i suppose means its in a series?) But he also left me with a question which really threw me off. He questioned that the product on the bottom was marked as Pavilion dv6700, and ge never cleared it up. He installed a few drivers, some of which, like the wireless LAN, didnt work. I took it up where he left off and tried a dv6700 driver for the wireless, and it worked.

I was able to get the nvidia sound back up and running, but i'm unsure about my sound. I installed the Conexant, but im not sure about the UAA Bus since the setup never seemed to launch. I wasn't sure if it worked or not, and I feel like what I'm hearing now is a bit lower in quality than what im used to.

I just need help clarifying what drivers i should be looking for, dv6000, dv6700, or dv6917cl (its all so confusing), and I need to know if the Conextant would work without the UAA installation, and if there is any loss of quality if it does.

Also, my Windows Movie Maker doesn't allow me to "Capture Directly from Video Camera" (Im using a Dazzle DVC100). My computer basically freezes as soon as I press that button, left alone try to choose what to capture from and how to capture. I really need help with this as well.

Kind regards, and thank you for any assistance.

 

If you follow this link, it should point you in the right direction to confirm your model number and download the right drivers from HP

 

Well I tried that and it tells me to use my product name/number, which then leads to many, MANY results. I used the AutoDetect feature as well and came to another list with many 6700's listed on it. Its basically a circle at the HP website, from what I see anyway.

Also, would you happen to have any information on why WMM isn't working properly? I know i'm asking somewhat forcefully, but this process has left a really bad taste in my mouth.

 

Ok, I did a quick looksee using your model #... I see what you mean, plenty of drivers listed for Vista but bugger all for XP.

All is not lost, we'll just have to locate the right ones with a bit of searching.

Download & install Everest:
http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

Follow the instructions found here (thanks dlb )

and we'll see what we can do

 

Cool, I never knew about Everest. Seems really useful. Here it is:

View attachment Report.txt

 

I've got to shoot out for a bit, probably for a couple of hours, hopefully someone might drop by & help you out, otherwise I'll have a look when I get back

GM

 

Thanks. I have to head to sleep myself, so i'll check back in the morning.

Thank you so much for the assistance so far, it has truly put me at ease to have some help.

 

May I ask why you wanted to downgrade from Vista to XP?

 

OK, so first up the 'official word from HP' on this...

Not to say that it can't be done, but, it may be less than ideal.

But,
you've already got the nvidia drivers installed from here?

If you do the SP3 update for windows it should take care off the UAA Bus driver. If you don't want to do this then go here. Uninstall your conexant drivers first and then use the driver here
Ricoh card reader here
To take care of the 'HP quick launch' buttons go here
your DVC 100 needs this

After all this, if you could do a screenshot showing device manager with any yellow exclamation marks expanded and we can take it from there.

GM

 

I suppose it is mainly personal preference, but my change was also a result of how I work. I'm headed off to college and haven't been able to adjust to Vista yet, so I thought it would be better to use something i'm more acquainted with. I promised to give it a few months, but it just hasn't caught on for me.

The overall interface became more of a hassle than an asset, I'm not sure why. Things seemed slower than on XP (I know its not because of the laptop), it seems very restricted, and of course I've lost some compatibility with some feature/software that worked on XP. This includes using Movie Maker 2.6, which is why I asked because I recently purchased hardware to record movies for Youtube/family purposes, but now WMM freezes when i attempt to capture form video device. It would be quicker to use my laptop than the family computer, but 2.6 didn't allow analog->digital capture.

EDIT: Ahh this was in response to usafveteran. GM, i'll check out what you posted and we'll see whats what.

 

Hang on, I'm not sure I read all the fine print for the DVC... looking into it still, hold fire on that for now

EDIT: Right, for the hardware drivers only have a look here

 

Hmm.. the UAA Bus driver from the website still doesn't seem to install. I donwloaded it fine, but like before the Wizard Setup only launches the first step, then disappears. Is there a way to get through this problem without upgrading to SP3?

 

did you uninstall the conexant driver first?
otherwise,
There should be a hotfix for this issue in Windows update. Skip the SP3 recommendation and look for the hotfix that relates to KB888111

other wise you can request a download link via this page

 

Yea I uninstalled the conexant drivers, but i'm abit confused with the page you showed me.

For the hotfix, is it asking me to delete the K888111 regedit? I just want to make sure, because the one I have appear is K888111WXPSP2, which I assume is the correct one?

I'm headed out with family since I just heard the news on MJ, so I will check back in in a few hours. Thanks.

 

Audio Device on High Definition Audio Bus
Modem Device on High Definition Audio Bus
OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller

Those are the only items left on the device manager with yellow exclamation marks next to them. I know the first (and maybe the second) can be solved with the UAA and Conexant drivers, correct?

That just leaves the last one, which I have no idea what it is. I'm still waiting for a response from the site you gave me, but I might just go ahead and get SP3 if i dont get a response from them by tonight and see what happens from there.

 

The uaa bus driver issue has caused a lot of folk a lot of hassles it seems & I can't remember what it was that I did to get it sorted (was a while ago now).
By the looks you've already got the KB888111 hotfix which may actually be the problem if I've understood correctly reading the following posts:
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=160407
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=160952
possibly a fix you could try:
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showpost.php?p=1164149&postcount=7

The suggestions have been to uninstall the hotfix and any related audio drivers then starting again.
You could try with the drivers from the conexant site here

as far as your firewire goes, windows should have a generic driver for it, try selecting update driver from within device manager and seeing where that leads.

 

Sorry to slow down a bit, but I just want to make sure.

So basically i'm to uninstall that folder/hotifx in the registry, then uninstall all of the audio drivers indevice manager? Because in the Sound, video and game controllers section I have Audio Codecs, Legacy Audio Drivers, and 3 video related devices.

I just want to clarify if the plan now is to delete KB888111, the Audio Codecs, and the Legacy Audio Drivers? If so, then after that is done I would go about returning to the HP website and installing the UAA and the Conexant?

Also, if the firewire is referring to the OHCI Host Controller, then i tried updating the driver but it said that there is no better match for the hardware than the software that is already installed. :confused

 

I just got a PM from GM.... uninstall the UAA from HP; you can probably do this via Add/Remove Programs, check the little box up top for "Show updates". Once it's removed, restart the PC. If you have installed any sound drivers, uninstall them also. Download the 'true' KB888111 from this direct link. This is straight from Microsoft and is only about 700k; the one from HP is over 35mb!!! Big difference! Anyway, install this version of KB888111. Download the Conexant HD Audio driver for XP from this link. DO NOT install it!!! Now, follow the steps in this thread to install the driver via the Device Manager and Hardware Wizard. DO NOT skip the steps about TUGzip and extracting the sound driver, but you can obviously skip the very first part about a wifi driver.... Hopefully this will get the sound working. Lots of these HP laptops with Conexant HD audio have the modem tied in with the audio. Luckily, the audio will work without the modem, but the modem won't work without the audio. We'll worry about the modem after the sound is working unless you don't need to ever use the dial-up modem.... and we'll deal with the firewire later also.... one problem at a time LOL

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dlb]

 

Hmm.. well I went ahead earlier and deleted the KB888111 hotfix, and then installed the UAA and then Conexant drivers, and magically I got sound. The problem now is that I can't control it for some reason. It seems like its set on its loudest volume and even if i mute it or whatever it wont go down or go off. I don't think its the fault of the Quickplay buttons because I can pause/stop/restart a song by using them. The volume just refuses to adjust.

Would I need to reinstall that new KB888111 in order for it to work, or what? If it helps (it probably doesn't), the modem installed just fine. I'd hate to start over to have missed over a quick fix.

 

Actually let me describe the problem again. I can control the volume if I, lets say, open up windows media player and change it inside the player, or go on Youtube and adjust it while there, but even at lowest volume it sounds loud. I can't adjust the volume through the computer itself, whether by using the Quickplay buttons or opening up the volume control and doing it manually.

It's as if it doesn't apply to the computer...gah its hard to describe @_@.

 

UPDATE: (Why can't I edit my last post? >_>)

Anyway, I tried that and it worked miraculously. I'm somewhat back where I started, because I have sound but didn't install UAA to my knowledge, but I'm going to leave it as such. I'm through tampering with sound hehe -_-.

As for the firewire, is it something really necessary for my computer at the moment? It runs fine without it, but I wouldn't want more trouble down the line so i want to make sure. Thank you all for everything so far.

 

so the sounds working OK? cool

The firewire port should be picked up by windows or possibly included as part of your chipset driver, but, they may not have been included in the drivers you got.
Your evest log doesn't say much for the firewire chipset manufacturer? does it list this anywhere else?
SIW may be able to extract that info if everest can't
http://majorgeeks.com/SIW_System_Info_d4387.html

Ultimately, if you don't want to go to the trouble, then its not important. Firewire is mainly used for transferring Digital Video streams from your handycam.

Oh, and I believe you can only edit your posts within 10 minutes of posting the original message

 

Yup, audio works fine :drool

But yes, the firewire was my next major problem next to the audio. I wanted to work on a series of movies I started on another computer to speed up the process, and i need to capture video from a device, but i wasn't aware that the firewire was the issue.

What exactly am I trying to confirm with SIW about it?

 

The chipset manufacturer of the firewire controller.

Listed under pci devices in SIW

 

Alright, the chipset manufacturer is Ricoh co LTD. Is there anyway to make a report, just in case you need to see it? I feel like I'm lacking info for you...

 

OK, the ricoh firewire chipset has some issues in XP it seems.
found some good info at this link

 

Hmm...I guess I only have a few questions left then if that really works:

1. How exactly do I go about changing (in this case, downgrading) the BIOS?

2. Would you happen to know the risks if something messes up?

3. If I create a resotre point before doing this, will I be able to return to it? I'm not sure if BIOS can affect something like that.

Phew, almost there~~~

 

Flashing BIOS can be a nerve wracking task, its the most basic subsystem of your computer. Something goes wrong, power cut or something interrupts the process, well, it will leave your computer in an un-bootable state.
A restore point will not fix this as the OS is higher up the chain.

I have flashed the BIOS on plenty of machines with no problems, either from within windows or using a boot disk. But, thats not to say that its without its risks.

The HP flash utility works from within Windows, disconnect from the net, disable all antivirus or security related software you have running, kill off any unneeded processes in task manager (all the auto update type features that a lot of software seem to run)
make sure that your power supply is stable... plugged in to mains, battery in.
then run the flashing software, cross your fingers and toes & poke your tongue down and to the left (well thats what I do )

all going well, it should run through the process in a minute or three, shut down and (fingers crossed again) reboot.

your call if you want to do it, just do the best you can to ensure it doesn't get interrupted in the process and you should be OK

Good luck

 

So the link you gave me for the Flash Utility, all I need to do is close everything and launch it after I download, and it will take care of everything? I wouldn't want to get stuck in the middle of it and come across something where I would need to back up and ask someone for help.

Oooy, this is nerve wracking already. After orientation tomorrow I guess I'll go through with it depending on your response. Thank you so much for leading me this far, GM, its been a journey haha.

 

Its all pretty straight forward when using WinFlash, I've done a couple of HP Laptops before, it happens with little user interaction. You might possibly get a warning saying something along the lines of, what you are trying to flash is an earlier version, just allow it to continue.
Also, if it prompts you to save a backup of the current BIOS... do it, to an external drive if possible.

One final parting thought, have you changed any settings in the BIOS at all? If so, it would be pertinant to restore the BIOS to defaults. (if you don't know what I mean, then chances are that they're already set to default)

Good luck dude.

 

That was VERY nerve wracking lol. I left my computer for a minute and then i found it turned off and almost died >_<.

I left it there for a good 15 minutes, then came back and turned it on, an just like that the firewire was back to normal.

So, I guess that takes care of everything.:-D Thank you so much GM and dlb for all of the help and patience, i'm so grateful. I wish I could just go and shake your hands in gratitude, but alas, we all lead busy lives and could be anywhere or anywhen. Ironically I would ask about one more problem with my family computer, but I think I already know the solution (though I might be back soon to ask ).

But until then, kind regards, and thanks for everything.:wave

 

:celebrateThanks for reporting back, I had all my extremities crossed for you...

Final thoughts, make sure you store all the known to work drivers away in a safe place, burn them to cd if necessary.

Or, an even better idea would be to image your hard drive now in its working state, that way, if something breaks in future from a virus or something, you can restore the image of your working system in its current state without having to go through the full reinstall process again.

There are a few good how-to's floating around on the net, I could post some links if you're interested.
:major

 

Sure, that would be most helpful. I surely wouldn't want to go through that again, but i guess a positive is that I learned more about my computer than I expected I would

 

It been a learning experience for us both I think...

'Gizmo' Richards has a great 3 part how-to over on his site, quite comprehensive

http://www.techsupportalert.com/partitioning-hard-drives-1.htm

 

Hm, I thought I had left a thank you message here for that link...thank you for it :drool

The reason I'm bumping this ancient thread tonight is because, even though I hate to reapproach it, I can't ignore the audio issue I've been having anymore.

I think i discovered what it is: the audio input (microphone?) doesn't seem to work. I noticed when i tried to use Camtasia studio to record something from my desktop and got no sound. Then I tried opening up the webcam and still no sound.

Also, the volume is OBNOXIOUSLY loud, so much that I have to leave the volume near the bottom of the slider to listen to anything comfortably.

The volume wasnt anywhere near this loud before I installed the new drivers, and the microphone/audio input worked from what i remember (i tested the webcam awhile back).

Even though it pains me to delve into this again, are there any suggestions for the problem? Any information i can provide?:-o

 

Rollback as in im supposed to have the older versions already on my laptop or just uninstall what i have now and find older drivers?

Either way, I never had the sound at a "normal" level since I changed to XP. It's been loud since I finished the downgrade, but I didn't notice the lack of a microphone until just recently.

EDIT: Oh I forgot to mention another issue which I'm sure is related. When I plug in ear/headphones, the speakers still play the sound at a loud level, but the sound/music is also played in the headphones at the same time, at something that sounds like the normal level it should be at. :confused

 

Not to sound like a lost sheep, but is there anywhere I could start or anything I could get to resolve the problem then? There must be some way to fix it if I was able to install sound drivers in the first place...