Despite the emergence of new operating systems, the Windows XP operating system is still one of the most popular. Most laptops are sold with Windows 7 preinstalled, while many users immediately after purchasing a computer remove the "seven" and install the familiar XP.
Necessary
- - boot disk with Windows XP;
- - drivers for the chipset and video card under Windows XP.
Instructions
Step 1
The main problem when installing Windows XP on a laptop is finding the necessary drivers. If you have Windows 7, first find and download drivers for the video card and chipset for XP and only then proceed with the installation of the operating system. Do not forget to create recovery discs for the operating system available on the computer, do not delete the disk partition with data on the factory state of the computer - they will help you restore the original state of the laptop in case of any installation problems.
Step 2
If you want to leave two operating systems on your computer at once, then after installing XP you will have to perform certain manipulations in order to return the Windows 7 bootloader that was removed during XP installation. This is discussed in detail in the article "Installing Windows XP on a Windows 7 computer". In the event that after installing XP you install the second Windows 7 system, you will not have to make any adjustments, you will have two operating systems at once in the boot menu. With the correct installation order, the lower version of the OS is installed first, then the older one.
Step 3
To install XP at the time of computer startup, select boot from CD, for this you usually need to press F12. The specific boot menu selection key may differ. If the boot menu fails, enter BIOS and set to boot from CD. The keys Del, F2, F3, F10, etc. can be used to enter the BIOS.
Step 4
After starting the OS installation from the CD, wait for the screen with information about the disk partitions. If you do not need the already installed "seven", select full (rather than quick) formatting of the disk partition on which it is installed. If you choose fast formatting, the files remaining on the disk (only the headers are deleted, but not the files themselves) may interfere with the normal operation of the OS. The formatting system is NTFS.
Step 5
The OS installation will begin immediately after formatting is complete. If you changed the boot device settings in the BIOS, you need to enter the BIOS again after the first automatic reboot and select the hard disk as the primary boot device. If this is not done, the system will start booting from the CD again, the OS installation will not continue, but will start over.
Step 6
Some distributions of Windows XP contain drivers for the most common video cards and chipsets; during the download process, you may be prompted to choose the ones you need. If you have original drivers, it is better to refuse to install the built-in ones. If there are no drivers, select the ones you need from the list. You can always change them later.
Step 7
During the installation process, you will need to select the language and time zone to use, specify the name of the account under which you will work in the system. Some Windows XP distributions automatically create an Admin account. When the installation is complete, you will see the Windows desktop
Step 8
Check the operation of the OS. If the drivers have not been installed, install them. To do this, right-click the "My Computer" icon on the desktop and select "Properties" from the context menu. In the window that opens, select "Hardware" - "Device Manager". Devices that require drivers will be marked with a yellow question mark or exclamation point. Click the device with the mouse and select "Install driver". After installing all the drivers, the computer will be ready for use.
