Device driver question

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My manager has just had his pc replaced. It has come with XP on it BUT I have notice that it has a Vista sticker on it.

He keeps having issues such as the opticle drive dissapearing and not being usable.

Am I correct in thinking that if this machine had vista on it and then had xp put on it that all of the vista device drivers would have needed to be uninstalled and xp ones put on?

Could this be why he is getting the crazy issues?

or could this machine be specifically designed for vista?

 

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go to the manufacturer's site, and download and install the latest driver for XP.
The vista sticker normally represents that the computer can run VISTA.

 

will do, thanks

 

Yeah, you can order computers now that come with preinstalled with XP, but are also licenced for Vista with the CD's so you can upgrade whenever you want, we've got quite a few of em here.

 

Yep. Do as Cheeks says and get an updated driver.

As for the sticker. Read it closely. It may be one like this:-



Which obviously means XP is installed, but it's capable (sort of) of supporting Vista.

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You could try the upperfilters and lowerfilters fix, not sure how applicable it is in this case, but it couldn't hurt to try (The registry values regrow anyway).

See here

 

it just says Windows Vista, not capable or ready

 

A lot of PCs these days come with vista pre-installed and they have to be "downgraded" to xp. I think this is especially true for PCs from places like Office-World Business.

That would explain the Vista sticker and if they bodged the "downgrade" could also explain the issues being experienced.

Is it possible to verify where it came from and how it was purchased?

 

I will try and verify but according to the websites I have checked this HP compaq dc-7900 comes with vista.

 

It will say that because Vista is the 'default' OS.

Doesn't mean it can't be downgraded.

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In addition, thus proving my point:-

http://www.softchoice.com/catalog/product.aspx?R=AK0009_US_EN

http://www.pcworld.com/shopping/detail/prtprdid,94740695-sortby,retailer/specs.html

Both of these sites offer the model in question with a downgrade option, so the assumption is that this is what has happened with your manager's PC.

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Also some new pc's might only have vista drivers available from the manufacturer site. So in order to get XP drivers you would have to find them on some third party sites.

My laptop was designed for Vista, meaning that not all drivers were available. The Dell site only had vista drivers and any other third party website that had XP drivers but they weren't working that well. In my case the video camera and Wireless network card XP drivers didn't work.

 

It could be that it was already downgraded to xp when it was bought. I know that instead of the 2GB option he had 4 put in but I am not sure if it was done he or was part of an option when bought.

 

It could be, this can be requested when ordering a new rig - I've done it myself.

Either way it doesn't really matter though - you're still going to have to hunt down XP specific drivers for the machine if you wish to stick with XP as the OS.

That's just the way the cookie crumbles.

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Hmmm, the last four PSs I purchased for my employer all came from Office World Business and all four were downgraded from Vista to XP. I haven't had a single problem with any of them yet and everything seems ok.

Surely if you are sourcing from a major outlet offering a "downgrdae", that would include the relevant drivers? After all, you normally have to pay extra for the lesser OS

Mind you, the PCs here are just glorified typewriters and produce documents and do little else, so they've probably never really been tested.

 

The more components that are there (tv-tuner, sound card, graphics card yadda yadda), the more drivers you'll need. A PC with less driver-driven components will obviously require less additional downloads if you chose to change OS.

There's a plus for having a simple no frills PC if you didn't have one before

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Can I just ask, why do you all think that drivers would make a difference to the optical drive? Presumably if Windows is installed, and running from a Hard drive, the SATA/PATA controller is installed, and proven working? Drivers are just largely irrelevant at this point. Try changing cables? Changing slots/ports on the board?

 

Because drivers control how components work.

In this example the optical drive driver could have been installed prior to the downgrade and then not replaced with an XP equivalent driver afterwards therefore causing weird behaviour.

Another possibility is the age old third-party sound software screwing up your optical drive. Here's the MS support article (including fix) if you fancy giving it a bash - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060

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I know what a driver is. It's just a standard driver. Vista would allocate it the correct one from its store of drivers, downgrade or not. And as I said before, if Windows is running from the HDD (Which it is), then it understands how to use the controller, i.e. the correct driver is installed. I've never seen Vista struggle to find a standard driver. Ever.

Of course, there's the possibility that the drive's knackered. Tried booting to Bart PE?

 

Just because there are native optical drive drivers supplied by Windows doesn't mean that it will work perfectly with the device (or any device for that matter - One boot doesn't fit all! ).

The native driver might appear to work fine, but you may encounter problems (reduced functionality etc). That's why there have been suggestions to download an XP specific driver from the manufacturer's website.

I wasn't trying to be an arse, so my apologies if you thought I was talking down to you. I just want you to understand the logic behind my suggestions.

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