Installing Windows XP on the Dell XPS m1330

We all know that the m1330 comes with a pre installed Windows Vista version, straight from Dell. This installation has a lot of software pre installed, 6 GB restore partition and a 1,5 GB media direct partition. If you don't need this kind of stuff, you are at the right place. I was wanted my older Windows XP back, because I was tired of not working software titles that I used every day that did not install on Vista. And I was not in the mood of upgrading them either.

Installing Windows XP 64 on the Dell XPS m1330

If you are interested in installing the 64 bit version of Microsoft Windows XP on the Dell m1330 check out the tutorial on installing XP 64 on the m1330.

The main "problem" that you get when you plan to install Windows XP on the Dell m1330 are the drivers. You have to download them all manually from Dell's support websites. So make sure you have an extra computer available before you install XP or download them prior to the installation.

Step by Step instruction

Step 1 Go into the BIOS of your notebook and disable the SATA support for the hard disk. This will make the hard disk just a little bit slower, but it will enable you to install Windows XP without the need of drivers during the installation process. If you have a Windows XP cd that has the SATA driver included this step is not neccessary. Also set in the BIOS that the first device to boot from is the cd and not the hard drive.

Step 2 Start the m1330 with the Windows XP cd in the drive. In the Windows installation program you can choose on which partition you want to install the operation system on. I have just deleted all existing partitions and created on new one that is as big as you the whole internal hard drive. After creating the partitions just install Windows as you would normally do.

Step 3 After the installation of Windows is done you will need all kinds of driver to make the m1330 run with Windows XP. Without the driver really nthing except the touchpad, the cd drive and the keyboard will work.

Download all these drivers:

• Intel Mobile Chipset
• nVidia graphic card drivers
• Card reader
• Ethernet network driver
• Ethernet network utility
• Integrated webcam
• Touch pad
• Fingerprint reader
• Wi-Fi drivers
• Bluetooth
• Sound chip
• Dell Quickset
• Latest Windows DirectX drivers

Careful: When you doloaded the grafic card drivers unzip the package first to a folder on your hard disk. Now replace the .inf file from the driver with the one offered on the driver's download page

Step 4 After installing all the drivers on your system the Dell XPS m1330 should work fine with Windows XP.

Please note: This is how the installtion of Windows XP worked for me on the m1330. It might not work exactly the same way on your machine. So there is no waranty from my side!

Right after the installation I used 1,4 GB of space, much better then the 3 partitions and the huge Vista installation I had before.

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