Its OFFICIAL! Windows XP works perfectly on the XPS m1330!

Most Recent Update: Jan.31, 2008...

Sorry I haven't updated this link in awhile (almost 6 months now!)... I've switched to Vista (tweaked its actually not bad)...Feel free to look for newer versions of all the software linked to below....

UPDATED! I have included direct links to all the drivers, including a better order to install them in...

I figured I'd write a little step-by-step on how to get Windows XP SP2 installed on our new little baby

I have nothing against Vista, and it actually is a pretty nice OS when properly tweaked, however, I still think it'll be much better once SP-1 is released...

For your info, my machine was ordered on July 4 and received Aug 7 in to Montreal, Canada. It has the following specs:

XPS M1330, MATTE BLACK
C2D T7300 (2.0GHZ)
2GB, DDR2, 667 MHZ
LED display with camera
GEFORCE 8400M 128MB
200GB 7200rpm HARD DRIVE
8X DVD+/-RW SLOT DRV
Bluetooth
Dell 1505 Wireless N
(No fingerprint reader)


OK, so now for the Windows XP walkthrough...

Step 1... You need a version of Windows XP SP2 with built-in SATA drivers... I personally used LastXP (feel free to go find this on a torrent site somewhere, you have the option to install one of your own valid XP keys as part of its setup). (The other way is to put SATA drivers on a USB stick and hit F6 during initial Windows setup...). If this all seems like too much work for you, then you can avoid the whole SATA issue by going into your BIOS, and changing the hard drive mode from SATA to IDE mode.

Step 2... Start the computer with the Windows XP disk in the drive, and hit F12 to load the boot menu.... Pick CD/DVD drive...

Step 3... Windows setup will now boot (blue screens, etc). Here you will have the option to format your harddrive...

Dell likes to partition their drive into 4 partitions... 2 of them hidden partitions... (Boot partition, Recovery partition, OS partition, Mediadirect partition) I deleted them all and started from scratch (I burned the recovery partition to a DVD beforehand anyways, just in case). One of the partitions is for MediaDirect, but this is such a useless program, I would much rather have those 4 GB it eats up...

I'd recommend partitioning the harddrive into 2 partitions, one for the OS, and one for everything else... I chose 40 GB for C: and 160 GB for D: (NTFS of course)

Ok, now windows installs...

Step 4... DRIVERS! DRIVERS! DRIVERS!


FIRST, I'd recommend installing the Intel Mobile Chipset drivers from the Dell website:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=27&fileid=205326

SECOND, I'd recommend installing the latest nVidia drivers v169.09 from here:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=16154
Don't forget to download and copy over the modded file nv4_disp.inf BEFORE running the driver installation!

THIRD, you should go download and install the following from the Dell Support website for the m1330 and Windows XP:

Ricoh Memory Card Drivers:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=27&fileid=188377

Broadcom 59XX 10100 Ethernet Controller Driver:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=5&fileid=207055

Broadcom 59XX 10100 Ethernet Controller Utility:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=5&fileid=201425

Creative Labs Laptop Integrated Webcam: (only if you have it of course)
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=17&fileid=235336

Dell Touchpad - Pointing Stick:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=17&fileid=207655

SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=3&fileid=235761

Dell Wireless 1505 Draft 802.11n WLAN Mini-Card:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=5&fileid=236819

UPEK Fingerprint Reader: (only if you have it of course)
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=50&fileid=209514

FOURTH, it gets a little tricky now, because Dell hasn't updated their m1330 drivers site very well...

Here are links to working drivers for the following parts:

Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module (Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR): (only if you have it of course)
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=5&fileid=216131

Dell Quickset Drivers v3.4:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=25&fileid=222116

FIFTH, download and install the latest Directx runtimes:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...38-DB71-4C1B-BC6A-9B6652CD92A3&displaylang=en

VOILA! That's it...you now have a perfectly running XPS m1330 in Windows XP! Of course, this is for my configuration. If you have a different wireless card for example, obviously I'd recommend installing the appropriate driver instead...


This machine flies in Windows XP by they way... I will have to start doing some benchmarking, but a quick test of the harddrive shows my burst speed at over 90 MB/s and an average throughput of over 53 MB /sec!

And in case you were wondering, there are no flagged items in Device Manager...

Take care, and enjoy your new FASTER toy

snowbro

 

repped if it works Thanks

 

sounds good

 

im tempted to intall xp essential 2, but im kinda getting attached to vista

 

Good for you! I'm trying to install Win XP 64bit, but can't find correct/working SATA drivers. I've already tried Dell (no SATA for M1330 running on x64) and Intel. Intel at least claims that it has x64 drivers, but after pressing F6 and trying to show which driver to install my installation stops with:

M1330 has ICH8M controller and PM965 chip (8400m), right? I tried all of them (AHCI, RAID, for notebooks and desktops) but I always get the same error. If anyone has installed 64bit XP on their M1330, please let me know what to do now.

EDIT: Managed to finally access my HDD with drivers found by DoubleBack in this thread x64 on 1420? Will report success or failure on DoubleBack's thread.

 

What are the advantages of using Windows XP in 64-bit? Is it only if you have more than 2 GB of RAM?

 

snowbro, you mention the 802.11n drivers with the dell card. Will this apply for intel's or is there another driver to get?

 

For Intel's 4965 Draft-N, you'll need to get their drivers:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2753

I'm still waiting on my XPS, but "upgrading" to XP will be the first thing I do. Repped for the great set of info, all in one place - thanks mate!

 

What about driver for standard WiFi a/g mini card? Where can I find it? I am not interested in the "N". I think it's a gimmick and not much faster than standard WiFi. I would save $25 and get the standard WiFi.

Is this the right driver?

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2259&lang=eng

Peter

 

If you go to the support page for the Inspiron 1501, or 1520, you can find a Dell specific driver that supports your specific wireless card... I used the wireless 1505n driver cuz thats what I have...

I actually prefer the Dell drivers when it comes to wireless...

 

Is it really necessary to install NVIDIA graphics driver? Doesn't Windows XP default graphics driver work? If so, is the NVIDIA graphics driver any better or worth it?

Thanks,
Peter

 

I saw the following in another post:

This really needs to be PINNED because I post this same exact thing (written by me) at least once a day here...

That problem is because the OS can't see the drive, but it does because you installed it...right? Typically, you assign RAID drivers and stuff so you can install on that drive because it doesn't see it...but this gets confusing, because it actually sees it. When it asks you where to install, you'll see an option to load drivers - you want to go to support.dell.com and download the Intel Matrix Storage Manager and load the drivers in there prior to installing. The problem is you need a special AHCI driver, and not the generic Microsoft one. Yes, this is really frustrating and I was the first person to post about this in the forums - I called Dell and they had no idea what I was talking about, I had to figure all of this out on my own...

If you don't know how to do this, or anything like that...and don't mind taking a *small* performance increase for ease just go into your BIOS and see the HDD operation mode from AHCI to ATA and then you can install Vista using ANY disk!

The direct download link for Intel Matrix Storage Driver is here:

http://support.dell.com/support/down...&fileid=205611


It may not be necessary to use special SATA drivers when installing Windows XP.

See post: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=154322

 

I'm all for making this PINNED / Sticky. This is perfect for me! Not having much time to experiment, I've just been waiting for this! THANK YOU! Hopefully I can get to doing this sometime over the weekend.

 

Before you format the drive and install Windows XP, if your notebook has a fingerprint reader, please go to Device Manager and look up Manufacturer, part number, driver number, etc for fingerprint reader. Please document as much as you can and post your findings.

I am interested in purchasing M1330 and fingerprint reader is the only driver left that I am not sure where to get for Windows XP. I believe it's made by Upek ( www.upek.com) and you can download drivers from there. Fingerprint reader is pretty handy and you don't have to enter password anymore. I highly recommend to spend little money for this cool little device. It's only $25.

Thanks,
Peter

 

I had no problem finding and installing the drivers for the fingerprint reader in XP. I can't find the application to install that allows us to enroll fingerprints. Anyone have a link for that?

 

Where did you get the driver? Did Windows XP find it for you?

Peter

 

Do you need a driver for the DVD writer?

 

No driver needed for the DVD writer (automatically detected by Windows XP)

To the poster above regarding the fingerprint reader, unfortunately I can`t help you out, since I didn`t get one...

Before wiping out Windows Vista, I did 3 printscreens of my full Device Manager so I had a record of all the hardware in my machine... Thats how I know everything was re-installed properly in the end on Windows XP..­.

 

posting so I can come back later

 

You can bookmark this thread.

 

XP installs easily after you go into the bios and change the achi to ata. Do that, get the drivers as needed for whatever hardware you have as the OP stated and it's no harder than installing xp on any other machine.

There is no big mystery or unusual degree of difficulty.

 

That's good to know.

Does your notebook have a fingerprint reader? If so, what driver and software did you use and where did you find it?

Thanks,
Peter

 

It wasn't the installing XP that I was worried about, it was the drivers. I didn't even think of looking under the other laptop models for compatible stuff.

 

to download the 16250.inf do I just click modded INF download that?

 

Would my Dell 700m laptop XP disc have built in SATA drivers?
I'm not familiar with some terms. Sorry for the dumb question.

Thanks.

 

If my m1710 xp home cd doesn't have sata drivers built in, I can change the bios to ata from achi and install windows xp? Then install the sata drivers? Then go back into bios and change back to achi? Is that right? What's achi and why do I install sata drivers ?

 

probably not.

 

danish do you think my m1710 xp home disk would?

 

how could i make it so that instead of choosing which OS to run in a boot menu, xp could boot when i pressed the MediaDirect button?

 

I've made the decision to pass on LastXP.
I've looked into nLite and am comfortable with creating my own XP disc. The only thing I need are the SATA drivers for this laptop.

Is this the correct download?
http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R154200&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=205611
Thanks-

 

Should be...

 

followed the guide...everything works fine except I get no sound..what should I do?

 

I have the same problem!

Did exactly like it sais in the guide, but the sound wont work.

It seems that the soundcard actually does work, but not the speakers.

Anyone got an answer to this? Gotta be someway to fix it!!

Thanks!

 

pm zzxzz, he got it fixed somehow.

 

yeah, not sure about a fix for the laptop speakers sound....

 

Wouldnt you know it ............I dont have any speakers either! Ha-Ha this is a sad day for me. If anyone knows a way then share the love pweez

 

yea....

Buy a 1420, the speakers/sound work fine under XP

-LQ

 

Sigmatel STAC92XX C-Major HD Audio Driver
http://support.us.dell.com/support/...eid=R153908&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=205136

this should fix it..

 

HA. Was just going to post that. Well done.
I'm installing today. So we'll see how it goes.

 

so far so good, thanks zzxzz for that latest download, it helped with my Audio.

Now I just have this fingerprint reader. Anybody know the download for the Application/drivers? Thanks in advance!

 

Ok, so that Bluetooth 355 Bluetooth Module that was reccomended doesn't work, as it is a Vista only download. Are you sure that was the one you used?

 

http://www.upek.com/support/downloads/

Ok so that has the download so the computer recognized the Biometric scanner, but I cant find an application that allows me to put the fingerprint on file. Anybody?

 

I'm curious which version of LastXP people are using. I installed it on my old 700m with no problems. But when I tried to install it on the m1330, it couldn't find my drives.

I'm going to try nLite to install them now.

 

Today 12:41 AM
zzxzz Sigmatel STAC92XX C-Major HD Audio Driver
http://support.us.dell.com/support/d...&fileid=205136

this should fix it..



Thanx man it worked!!!! Now I can enjoy my $2,000 notebook. how funny

THUMBS UP 2 zzxzz!!!!!

 

WinXP won't recognize SATA drives in AHCI mode w/o an external driver. So either try to swap in the driver disk during the install (i think it has a SATA driver on it) or switch ur HDD into basic mode in bios. 700m is PATA drive so WinXp recognizes w/o any problem.

 

I switched my HD into ATA mode (The choice was ATA or SATA).
Installed XP. But now if I switch it back to SATA after the install, I get an endless blue screen loop - reset.
I'm not sure how to install the correct SATA driver and get it to install so that I can reboot into BIOS, change it back to SATA and have it recognize the driver.

Ideas?

 

Hi im from switzerland and my english not so good... sorry.
Y have install XP on my XPs m1330, fast everything works but the sound not...
It's the component for europa different? Can y have make the driver instalation false? Have you an idea? Y have ever time the message =~"this driver don't work in your material".
For instaling the nvidia driver, y have take the driver from a samsung Q45 and it's work very well.
(XPS m1330, T7100, nvidia, bluetoth, wireless A/B/G, tuxedo black, LED, 120go, fingerprint in bonus...)

 

Holy mother of god.
Finally got it up and running.

I couldn't use LastXP. I had to use nLite and slipstream the SATA drivers. It took a bit to figure out the correct settings, but I was able to get it to work.

Unfortunately, I still can't get the sound to work, and I am missing the SM Bus Controller in my device manager. But everything else appears to be good to go.

I've tried the two links provided in this thread for audio but neither of them appear to work. If anyone has a suggestion, I am open to it.

I only have the High Definition Audio 2.0 if that matters.

**EDIT**
Solved. It was a sequence thing.
I'm done. lol.

 

Has anyone one got sound to come out of the onboard speakers, I tried the inspiron drivers for the sigmatal sound card from the original post and only got headphone sound?

 

If you are getting sound out of the headphones, then this driver should work for the sound out of the speakers.

1 page back in this thread. ;-)
http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=ca&cs=cadhs1&l=en&s=dhs&releaseid=R153908&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=205136