Hi!
Please read this whole message.
> >But there isn't any XP drivers _specifically_ for that model. You have to
go
> >hunting one driver at a time from the component mfg's...
What you may very well find is that the driver packages available from Acer
contain *all* the drivers for various Windows versions and maybe even other
operating systems. Only every once in a while does a system provider "trim"
the drivers they provide so that only one operating system (or family of
operating systems) is supported.
> Chipset Intel 965 Chipset Driver 8.3.0.1013
> AHCI Intel AHCI Driver 7.6.0.1011
> VGA Intel® Extreme Graphics Driver 7.14.10.1329
http://lnk.nu/downloadcenter.intel.com/sgh.aspx
You need:
32-bit Floppy Configuration Utility (probably required so XP can see your
hard drive at setup time) and a floppy drive (built in or USB)
INF Update (one of the first things to install when Windows XP has been
installed, get the non ZIP version)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator Driver (use the latest version, get the
non-ZIP package)
> Audio Realtek Azalia Audio Driver 6.0.1.5486
The driver from your disc is probably fine for this.
> TouchPad Synaptics Media Key/TouchPad
> Driver 10.0.15.0
Use the driver from the disc.
> Modem\Agere Lite-On Agere Modem Driver 2.1.77.9
> Modem\Conexant Foxconn Conexant 7.6.2.00
> Modem Driver
Which one does your computer have? Check the device manager, it will only
have one.
> 80211abg\Intel Intel 3945 802.11 a/b/g Wireless
> Lan Driver 11.1.1.22
> 80211abg\Intel Intel 4965 802.11 a/b/g/n Wireless
> Lan Driver 11.1.1.22
> 80211abg\ Broadcom 4311 a/b/g Wireless Lan
> Broadcom Driver 4.102.15.63
> 80211abg\ Atheros XB63 a/b/g Wireless Lan
> Atheros Driver 7.2.0.215
Which one does your computer have? It will have only one, listed in the
device manager.
> LAN Broadcom LAN Driver 10.9.00
The driver from your disc should be fine. This is your wired network
hardware, not the wireless. Your computer has two network adapters, one from
the wireless category above, and this one.
> CardR O2 Card Reader driver 6.0.6000.10092
The driver from your disc should be fine.
> Webcam\Bison Bison Crystal Eye Webcam Driver: 7.96.701.12a
> Utility Application: 2.0.0.9
> Webcam\Suyin Suyin Crystal Eye Webcam Driver: 5.8.30.500-1.0
> Utility App:1.0.11
> Webcam\Chicony Chicony Crystal Eye Webcam Driver: 5.7.31.400-1.0
> Utility
I suspect these will be difficult to identify, as they probably don't show
up by name in the Device Manager.
> As you see there are multiple Modem, LAN and Webcam drivers and
> checking in Vistas Device Manager does not help. Anyone know which I
> should select?
I'm surprised Acer's driver disc doesn't know what hardware you have after
running some kind of a probe to find out. The presence of multiple drivers
on the disc means one of two things--either Acer uses the same disc across
several models, or that they have built the same model of computer with
slightly different parts depending on what was available during a given
production run.
Device Manager *will* tell you most of what you need to know. The only
potentially troublesome one will be the webcam, which is likely to be
labeled as something generic instead of what it really is. But your modem,
LAN and Wireless adapters *will* be listed by their names and model numbers
in the Device Manager. Of that I am pretty sure. If nothing else, the
manufacturer name should be a big hint for some of the above. You might have
to double click some of the items to get more information, like the name of
the driver provider.
So the first thing to do is to write down everything listed in Device
Manager and the name of the driver provider for any entries that aren't
perfectly clear about who the manufacturer/driver provider is. The second
thing to do is to think about whether or not you've got the time to deal
with this right now. Can you take the time that may be required to get
everything working? I'd expect a couple of hours at most from start to
finish, if you don't need to take any breaks. If this is your first time
doing something like this, it will take longer.
Once you've done that, make any recovery CDs that Acer might provide a
utility to produce. This way you can at least in theory get back to the
factory state of the computer if you decide that you can't convert it to run
Windows XP.
You'll most likely need a floppy drive to give Windows XP setup the drivers
it needs to utilize the hard disk and storage controller (this is the Intel
AHCI part). Otherwise, Windows Setup will probably say that it can't find
any hard drives in your computer.
Take a deep breath, get comfortable and dig in if now is a good time to work
on this and you think that you're comfortable working on it. That's the
important part. If you're not sure that you know how to do some or all of
this, it's time to find someone you trust to do it for you. You should also
realize that doing what you're about to do will in theory invalidate any
software technical support Acer provides. It will not void your hardware
warranty, unless of course you get so mad that you throw the computer out
the window.
Anyone who says that your computer cannot run a different operating system
and maintain use of all the installed hardware is being silly, to be polite
about it. Some things are easier than others, but I have yet to see any
computer that cannot be taken from running Vista to another, earlier version
of Windows and have 100% functionality in the end.
William
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