Windows 7 --> XP

Yesterday I picked up a new PC -

This1:

http://support.packardbell.com/global/item/index.php?m=home&pn=PV.U2402.006

It came with Windows 7 which I thought would be ideal, but after I tried installing all my hardware from my old PC (ext soundcard, MIDI keyboard etc), I realised only half of the devices I have actually work with x64. So I made some backup recovery disks and just completely formatted the whole thing, then I put in my XP disk... and booted from CD - it did the whole driver search thing then came through just before copying files with - boot device blue screen error. Tried a few different partitions & formats.. still the same error.. So, I thought maybe it's the hard disk (Western Digital Caviar Hard Disk Green), I dunno.. maybe i'm missing something. It's a new PC.. what's wrong...?

So with multiple internet searches and forum reading I found some people going through the same problem, but I honestly didn't know where to start with fixing this. Their problems all seemed to be hardware related, but they all had different hardware so I was just not sure.

What I want - Windows XP

Or

Windows XP & Windows 7 Dual Boot

What's the easiest way to do this without encountering problems?

Another question.. this PC is quadcore 8300.. will xp give me it's full capability?

Thx 4 the help in advance

 

To successfully install XP (32-bit) on this machine, you will need to have XP SP1 or Media Centre Edition minimum (to access the full HDD size without the risk of corrupting data and to use USB 2.0), also the F6 drive controller slipstreamed (or available to install from a floppy disk + drive during the initial install), see the generic instructions for RAID Floppy Disk Install (direct PDF link from nVidia) and drivers on the nVidia site.

The other drivers are Realtek HD audio and ethernet and nVidia VGA, only Vista drivers are available from PB for these, nVidia and Realtek will have XP drivers and they should be straightforward to access. Install XP to a small partition (@ 100Gb or less?) and get it running sweet, then installing 7 for dual boot should be straightforward.

The mainboard does not allow more than 4GB of RAM so XP will be able to use this 'board/PC well, possibly better than 7 64-bit (which will have higher RAM overheads).

 

Thanks a lot for the helpful info. I will attempt this now.

 

Everything works great now, thanks again.