BleepingComputer.com: New PC, Wanna Get Rid of Vista for XP & 7

Hi, I'm about to pick up a HP Pavilion a6433w for a couple hundred bucks. It's a decently fast computer and I really like it...the only thing I don't like is that the OS is Vista Home Premium 64bit.

Before I say anything else, let me lay out the specs:

HP Pavilion a6433w
3.0Gb RAM
500Gb HDD
Intel Pentium Dual-Core CPU (E2180 @ 2.00Ghz)

HP Spec Link: HP Pent a6433w Specs

Seeing how I hate Vista with a passion, I'd like to wipe the drive and install XP SP3. I understand that I will need certain drivers for the PC to operate after I switch OS (chipset, audio, video, etc.) for everything to work. WHERE CAN I FIND THESE FOR DOWNLOAD?????

So, I have 2 main questions:
1)How do I format the HDD? (Disk Management?)

2)Can I wipe the 500gb HDD and create a partition? Maybe 300gb for XP and ~200gb for Windows 7? Or, would I be better off just getting a 2nd HDD for a Windows7 install?

Assuming the computer supports XP you can get the chipset driver from the HP website and the others from the various hardware manufacturers. Have you ever used Vista? It's just an OS and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. You should use it for a while and then decide what you want to do.

The reason that I want to get rid of Vista so bad is because I do alot of audio recording and mixing. And, almost every piece of audio software that I pick up says "has known compatibility issues with Windows Vista", so I need the XP.

I went to the HP website and found every chipset driver except for the one(s) for XP versions. Anyone know where I can find the chipset drivers for XP?

You need to contact HP. It's very possible the computer was not designed to support XP.

Does your software have "know compatibility issues" with Windows 7? Most of the newer computers these days don't support Xp as a standalone OS because of limited driver support from the manufacturer. With that said you could install a virtual machine for Xp in Windows 7 professional.. so that could be an option if you HAVE to have Xp.

MarkGS, on 15 July 2011 - 08:32 AM, said:

The software lists:

Known Compatibility Issues With Vista (both 32 & 64 bit versions)
Full Compatibility With Windows 7 cannot be verified due to limited testing with the Windows 7 OS.

These 'Incompatibility Lists' appear on roughly 70-80% of recording/mixing softwares currently on the market.

I will contact HP Support now, if I can find it. They make it soooo hard to talk to an actual person, and even then they immediately treat me as if I don't know how to turn the damn thing on, you know?

One last question: At the HP site I was able to find and download about 12 different chipset drivers for certain OS. My question on this is: If I want to keep the Vista that's already installed on the 500gb and create, say, a partition of 250gb to install Windows 7....which one of the chipset drivers do I install? It seems as though I would want to leave my current chipset so that my OS works properly. Or, I'm I just absolutely retarded and installing the chipset driver for Windows 7 (32bit) would allow Vista to operate as always and the chipset driver that I install just ADD the ability to run the newer OS (Windows 7 Ultimate in this case). Just to sum it up real quick: IF I HAVE to keep the 64-bit Vista, I want to create a HDD partition (one that would split the 500gb HDD down the middle, 250gb and 250gb) in which to install Windows 7 Ultimate.

But, if there's anyway possible for me to get XP to run on this, I'MA MAKIT HOPPIN'

If you are going to dual-boot Vista and 7 leave the chipset drivers as they are unless told otherwise. I would suggest dumping Vista entirely and just upgrading to Windows 7 Ultimate and installing XP mode so you can run your software no problem. You "could" do a full install of XP, but it would have Windows native drivers (those may not even be available) .. so your video would be terrible quality, no sounds and sometimes no networking.. XP is a bad idea all in all.