HP DV6609WM Vista->XP

I have a HP DV6609WM laptop that was bought with Vista OS installed. I would like to upgrade to XP SP3. Unfortunately HP does not support XP on this model and does not have the video drivers for the NVIDIA GeForce 7150M video adapter that is installed on the MoBo. I went to NVIDIA's site forum and found a link from one who reportedly upgraded another model that has the same video, using an older NVIDIA exe that installed the drivers.

My problem is that when I try to install XP I get the dreaded blue screen after the default drivers have loaded and it trys to "Start Windows". The blue screen font is not the typical one you see, but it does appear to be a test screen with a different DOS font.

I'm guessing it's the video driver although this machine also has a SATA drive and the CMOS does not support compatible mode, hence the XP install must have SATA drivers. I'm using XP SP3 install which I understand does have the SATA drivers. During the install I do see SATA drivers loading.

Would appreciate some help on this since I would like to get this machine off Vista.

Thanks in advance

 

Maybe you can clear some things up for me.... does the PC boot successfully to the XP desktop? If so, what you need to do is install the NVidia chipset drivers first, reboot, then install the video driver. The SATA will be part of the chipset drivers. It's been my experience with laptops and SATA drives, that if you remove the SATA hard drive and format it NTFS on a different PC (hook it up to a desktop motherboard SATA connector or use an external adapter/enclosure) it will work fine when it's back in the laptop. You can boot to the XP CD and install it without needing the SATA drivers (aka the F6 drivers).

 

No it will not boot in XP at all. As I mentioned in the first post, it goes to the blue screen after it loads the drivers (during the install) and proceeds to "Starting Windows".

 

:confused Sometimes I'm not the brightest bulb in chandelier... so.... it crashes to a blue screen during the first part of the XP install? You put in the XP disc, you boot to it, you "press any key to boot to CD" when prompted, then the setup screens come up (these are blue with white writing) and they list the files being installed down at the bottom in the white status bar. And at some point during this process it crashes? How does it proceed to "starting Windows" if it has crashed? When installing Windows XP from a CD, it is normal for all the screens during the first part to be blue with white text. It is also normal for it to say "Starting Windows...." after which it should show a list of the installed hard drive(s) and ask how to proceed. If you're not getting this far, please post exactly how far it gets, and if you're getting BSOD errors (Blue Screen Of Death) please post the error message, any filenames listed, and the stop code (they look like this STOP:0x0000007F for example). You should try to remove the drive and format it NTFS on a different PC; doing this just might bypass all the problems you're having. Or you could boot to a utility CD that will format the drive for you. These can be downloaded from the drive manufacturer's web site, or you can use one from the Ultimate Boot CD, available for free right here at MajorGeeks. If I remember correctly, the download is an .exe file that extracts to an ISO disc image which you'd then burn to a CD to boot to. Just be sure you burn the ISO as an image and NOT like you'd normally burn a data disc or it won't work.

 

OK Chief,

I just re-created the crime and took notes. Here's how it went....

When booting my laptop with my Windows XP-SP3 disk, I get the typical "Windows Setup" screen with "Setup is loading files" at the bottom. It loads the files as it should, then the message at the bottom changes to "Setup is starting Windows". At that point she blows off to the blue screen with the following message...

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:
Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.

Technical information:
*** STOP: 0X0000007B (0XF7953524,0XC0000034,0X00000000,0X00000000)

I can remove the XP install disk, and boot back into Vista with no problems.
That's what I've got here chief. Any ideas??

 

Thanks for the clarification :rolleyes
0x0000007B errors are generally caused by faulty hard drives, by faulty hard drive sectors, or faulty hard drive controllers. Run an in depth diagnostic on the hard drive. Just because it boots Vista doesn't necessarily mean it's healthy. It could also be a 'self preservation' tactic that is preventing the Windows XP from installing. Perhaps if you used a 3rd party utility to wipe th drive before trying to install XP to it.... but run the diagnostic first. You can download the diag tools for free from your drive maker's web site. I also found some other things to read:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324103/en-us
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316401/en-us
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822051/en-us (written for Win2000 but much of the same applies to XP)

I hope this helps! Keep us posted

 

Thanks dlb I will certainly do the diagnostics and report back, but may I "lead the witness" (or should I say pro) just a little. I've talked to HP about upgrading to XP and they tell me that I can't unless I have the correct SATA drivers for the hard drive. The CMOS in this particular model does not support "Compatable" mode is what they tell me, hence the proper SATA drivers must be loaded during the XP install. It was my understanding that XP-SP3 does contain SATA drivers. I do see some SATA IDE drivers load during the install. If that is the problem, they must not be the correct ones.
Just some "food for thought". I'll let you know what the diagnostics indicate.

Question??? Could I remove this drive, connect it to a motherboard that does have the correct SATA support and install XP on the drive; realizing that the system devices and adapter devices will be all out of wack, but I think that can be fixed once it's installed back into the laptop... Just another idea you might ponder...

Thanks loads man for staying with me on this...

 

If SP3 has SATA drivers, the drivers would only load if they were on the install CD. So, unless you have a CD with SP3 on it (and maybe you do) the drivers won't install. My experience with SATA drivers and installing XP is that if the drivers aren't installed, setup simply reports that no hard drive is attached to the PC and it does not crash to a BSOD. However, if SP3 is installing the wrong SATA drivers, then the BSOD is a definite possibility.

Yes and no. You can format the drive NTFS, which erases Vista, then try it as a blank formatted drive. But if you complete the setup and install the XP, it will not get far enough on the other PC for you to do anything about installing drivers: it will crash almost immediately. So, try formatting it and leaving it as a blank NTFS drive and check the BIOS. Many laptops have a 'compatibility' setting for the SATA drive. Try it both ways: enabled and disabled. I had a similar problem once and I got passed by formatting the drive NTFS and turning off the compatibility mode, and XP SP2 setup recognized the drive and the install was successful.

 

Got it dlb... It was the SATA drivers. I found a Corporate version of XP-SP3 that has the correct SATA drivers. The XP install goes to the drive partition list as it should. First time I've ever seen it got that far. I lost my nerve and cancelled when I reached that point. Gotta convince myself that I will have all the other drivers I might need to complete this process. Also want to wait 'till I have time to complete the process without any interruptions. Any words of wisdom?

 

You're on the right track thinking about getting the XP drivers now. Most people that go from Vista back to XP don't think about drivers until the drive is formatted and they're sitting at the XP desktop with no sound, no internet, and whacked-out video settings. So, gather the XP drivers NOW and burn them to a CD or put 'em on a flash drive... whatever.... but get 'em before you decide to format and reload. This will insure that the correct drivers are indeed available. Every so often, a PC (esp. laptops) will not have a certain driver for XP. It simply will not exist, and in these situations all that can be done is to go back to Vista, or try to function without the needed driver (not recommended). So, before I really start rambling (it may be too late for that) gather up the XP drivers now before you being the actual install... good luck, and keep us posted!!!

[dlb]
:major