Upgrading to XP from Vista - HLAP!

[Lexa]

Let's say I'm a complete computer noob and know nothing beyond very simple steps in the Windows OS. Let's say I had a laptop running Windows Vista, which at its very best only can run FFXI with up to 20 FPS. Now let's say I wanted to "upgrade" from Vista to XP, to see if FFXI could run better without the system resource hog that is Vista.

Where do I start? Talk to me as if I know nothing.

EDIT: Incoming computer specs...

HP Pavillion dv9628nr
1.9 GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core
2048 MB DDR2
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7150M
559MB video memory

[Shuemue]

You're in luck, HP has XP drivers for your model.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/soft ... 566&dlc=en


Do you have an XP cd?

[Cephius]

First off, you'll need a windows XP reinstallation CD. If your laptop came with XP, the CD would have been included in the box. If not, you'll need to borrow or purchase a CD.

Load CD in tray, reboot computer, tap (may differ but I think HP uses) F12 for boot options, choose to boot from the CD. You'll see a blue screen come up, the installer will take time to copy a bunch of files from the CD. The next screen will ask you if you want to repair or install windows. Choose install.

Next you'll choose where to install. The screen will show you the available partitions on your hard drive(s). Pick the one where you want to install XP, it will tell you that this is not unallocated (free) space and ask you to format. Let it format, and it's off and running. Note that formatting your drive will erase any data on it, wiping out Vista from your system. Make sure you back up anything you need before doing this.

Windows will install, takes about 30 minutes, you'll need to set up the time and user accounts, ect. Depeding on the system, you also may be prompted for a CD key. If you have one, enter it. If not, you'll need to purchase one. Once you get into Windows you'll need to download drivers for your video card, internet, sound card, ect. It's a good idea to download these from the HP website and put them on a USB stick so you can easily load them once you're done formatting.

That's it in a nutshell. There are other ways to do it, and you can even set up a dual-boot if you wanted to, but if you have any questions about this go for it.

[Lexa]

Big <3 for fast replies that means I hopefully won't make my PC go kaboom.

A friend is sending me XP CDs since they were impossible to find around here. x.x

[Snowknight26]

FFXI won't run better, just a heads up.

[Epical]

FFXI won't run better, just a heads up.

Since I know your next post is going to be "why?", S26 is referring to your video card not having much more potential for anything over 20FPS. It's a lightweight/mass-manufactured card that they put in a lot of those retail laptops to keep prices down.

[Snowknight26]

That and the fact that FFXI runs like crap on any system anyway. It probably runs better on worse hardware.

[Lexa]

OK, then what CAN I do to make my laptop run it better, then?

I've already maxed performance/minimized battery life, turned off any fancy special effects or bells and whistles that Vista came with, disabled Aero theme and uninstalled pretty much every single f'in program except Firefox, Word and FFXI.

Don't tell me to buy a new one, because I can't afford it, not even if I managed to sell this one at what I paid for it (which let's face with, with computers ain't gonna happen).

[Hitoshura]

Invest in a PC.

[Shuemue]

Unfortunately, you're looking at a maximum increase of 10% by going to XP and tweaking stuff. Thing is, it could easily make it worse, Windows installs are so subjective depending on hardware. Personally I think you need to suck it up and then build a budget PC. You could spend less than half the cost of a new laptop and build a sweet FFXI machine.

[Epical]

There actually isn't a whole lot you can do to your laptop to make it run any better. You're currently at a hardware bottleneck (which is no fault of your own), and the only thing you could do is actually upgrade the hardware itself. That, or live with 20FPS.

[Jefe]

Visit your laptop's manufacturer website and see if they have drivers for xp. Rats Q was answered.

[Lexa]

I have a desktop which is more than powerful enough to run Vista and FFXI flawlessly and all the other programs I like to have up at once. The laptop is an annoyance, since I use my 2nd character quite frequently, both to merit my main character, get ToDs for ls, etc.