Do like I did. Make sure the Dell you want had drivers for XP. Then go buy a orig copy of dell XP pro of ebay from someone. Works like a charm. As long as it has Dell bios good to go. Gnome pointed out that if it's a real old dell XP pro disk may not work with new dell, but as long as it's within a couple of years should be ok.
Thanks, I ended up discoovering this myself on the Dell website...but I'm happy if I didnt my fellow ETs here are always helpful. Thank you! Here are specs of my new system. Any thoughts on Dell Precision vs Dell XPS vs Dell Inspiron What do you guys think of my specs? Naything I should change or add? MY NEW LAPTOP SPECS: Dell Precision M4300 Date 6/25/2008 8:19:07 PM Central Standard Time Catalog Number 4 Retail 04 Catalog Number / Description Product Code Qty SKU Id Dell Precision M4300: Intel® Core⢠2 Duo T9500 (2.60GHz) 6M L2 Cache, 800MHz Dual Core M4266 1 [223-5271] 1 Operating Systems: Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate Bonus-Windows® XP Professional loaded XP3VUNP 1 [467-4321] 11 Hardware Support Services: 3 Year ProSupport for End Users and 3 Year NBD On-site Service Q3PY 1 [990-1538][987-3862][987-8280][990-1537][983-8252][989-3449][984-4780] 29 Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 360M, 512MB Turbo Cache memory (256 dedicated) NVQG86 1 [320-5486] 6 LCD Panel Options: 15.4 inch Wide Screen WXGA Anti-Glare LCD Panel 15WX 1 [310-9107] 2 Memory: 4.0GB, DDR2-667MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS 4G2D6 1 [311-7223] 3 Hard Drives: 320GB Hard Drive, 9.5MM, 7200RPM (Free Fall Sensor) 320D72F 1 [341-7070] 8 Module Bay Devices: 8X DVD+/-RW w/Roxio Creatorâ¢/Cyberlink PDVD⢠DVDRW 1 [313-5921][420-7984][420-8667] 16 Bluetooth: Dell Wireless® 360 Bluetooth Module for Windows XP BT360XP 1 [430-2383] 13 Wireless LAN (802.11): Intel® 4965 802.11a/g/n Dual-Band Mini Card IPW4965 1 [430-2378] 19 Touchpad Options: Touchpad with UPEK® Fingerprint Reader FRTPAD 1 [310-9109] 9 System Documentation: Resource CD and DVD contains Diagnostics and Drivers for XP and Vista RCDDVD 1 [313-5222][313-5220] 25 Batteries: 6 Cell Primary Battery 6CELLP 1 [312-0533] 27 AC Adapter: 90W A/C Adapter, Energy Star Compliant 90ACES 1 [310-9373] 15 Internal Keyboard: Internal English Keyboard ENG 1 [310-9110] 4 Productivity Software: Microsoft® Office 2007 Professional and Adobe Acrobat 8.1 STD WS27PR 1 [410-1099][420-6712] 22 Security Software: McAfee® Total Protection for Small Business, 36 Month MCTP3YE 1 [410-1732] 38 Migration & Backup Software: Laplink PCmover Essentials: migrates applications, includes transfer cable 139355 1 [A1139355] 177 Installation Services: No Onsite System Setup NOINSTL 1 [900-9987] 32 Purchase Intent: Purchase is not intended for resale. NOT4SEL 1 [462-4506] 138 OS Labels: Vista Premium Sticker VPDGRN 1 [310-9160] 750
--------------------------------- Thanks Banjo: I went ahead and ordered that XP disk you linked from Newegg... and an extra SATA HDD that was on sale... Even if I buy a ready built system later this Fall, I'll be able to sell this new never used XP disk around this area for most of what I paid so I am not risking much. Thanks... agpilot
New twist on this... I got a new Vostro 400 with XP Home. I wiped the drive and then installed XP Pro instead, but the computer didn't like it. At boot, I kept getting a choice of "Pro or Home"... fixed that by editing the boot.ini file, but had 2 other problems... (1) would not update the BIOS, and (2) would not recognize the NIC. Had to go back to the Home OS.. Dell could be doing something with the hardware to prevent other OS besides the originally installed one from running..
gnome, you know I'm not a tech guy but I just thought I'd post my experience here in case it helps someone. I bought a Vista-loaded Lenovo T61 recently and had them ship me the XP Pro discs with the unit. They said I was on my own to downgrade it if I wanted. I tried, but the machine didn't like the downgrade process. I talked to several Lenovo techs (you know how it is these days, you have to find the right guy) and eventually the guy who made it happen for me told me that the Vista install that my particular T61 shipped with was a flavour that did not like it when someone tried to downgrade to XP. Some Vista installs are configured that way, is what he said. This is FWIW only.
I am so glad you mentioned this I am having the exact same problem right now!! :eek: This is my third re-format attempt. I will try to download drivers from Dell otherwise it's back to XP Home. Come to think of it though. This, other, Dell had Vista I wiped it and downloaded drivers from Dell and used XP pro and no prob? The one thing I did different was dowload drivers from Dell and used the free Eraser program first before doing anything?
I've heard that it can be difficult to "get Vista completely off" your hard drive, even if you do a reformat. I've suggested running a "low level format" utility to be sure the MBR is cleared of Vista remnants. However, the OEM can still design the BIOS to support or restrict "things"... which is what I suspect is happening on some of these new rigs.
As Microsoft has stated they are going to support Home the same as Pro, there is no advantage to having Pro over having Home for 99% of users.