laptop: Dual boot XP required

J

James Death

Member
Hi all,

I have recently been stung by Dell in purchasing a laptop with the need to set up a dual boot with win7 and XP pro, the laptop wouldn't do so due to Dells lovely limitations. So I've been investigating other sites and found this wonderful site.

The dual boot is an absolute requirement as the Win 7 XP mode and other virtual boxs have not allowed for the installation of the required software (Analysis software which the company is only starting to rebuild for windows 7- expected release 18 months!!)

So here are the specs of the laptop I'm thinking on from here:

Enigma II: 15.6" Full HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy
Intel® Core™i5 Mobile Processor i5-540M (2.53GHz) 3MB Cache ***SPECIAL***
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 - 1GB GDDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
320GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD3200BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Integrated 3 in 1 SD Card Reader
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD (AS STANDARD)
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

the chipset is intels PM55 and I think I have sourced drivers for most that should work for XP but I was hoping someone else had a similar experience and could give me some tips. From what I've heard I'll need to slipstream the XP install to get around sata issues and some others my big fear is the ACHI issues which BSOD the Dell I have now returned to them.

In the end I will be purchasing a laptop anyway for non-research related work but it would be great to combine the systems saving me from building a second desktop to run XP on :/
 
J

James Death

Member
laptop for dual booting XP

Hi all,

My old Dell recently collapsed (8 year old) I'm now looking to replace it, my biggest requirement is the ability to dual boot the laptop with windows XP. This is for specific research software that will not install under Windows 7 XP virtual mode or other similar virtual boxs. The kind people at pc specialist have been a great help but are unsure if the laptop will operate successfully in XP. I have found drivers for most components listed below but still I am wary after getting burned by Dell (bought one which they said could run XP, it couldnt and had to return- not happy).

Anyone with similar experiences or tips to help me would be greatly welcomed

Chipset: Intel Ibex-Peak (PM55)
Chassis & Display
Enigma II: 15.6" Full HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Mobile Processor i5-540M (2.53GHz) 3MB Cache ***SPECIAL***
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 - 1GB GDDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
320GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD3200BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 3 in 1 SD Card Reader
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD (AS STANDARD)
USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Enigma Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (4,800/5,200 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £727.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/enigmaII/
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Welcome to our forums :)

This laptop will work with XP, but it's not officially supported by us because many of the drivers are not available, such as chipset and graphics drivers, etc. If you simply need the XP boot for running one piece of software, and this software does not require chipset or graphics drivers, then all should be OK. However without testing this, I cannot guarantee feasibility.
 
J

James Death

Member
The graphics is unfortunately required for this as its a visually intensive program.

If the laptop set-up I've choosen isn't suitable does anyone know of XP supported new laptops anywhere
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
James Death said:
The graphics is unfortunately required for this as its a visually intensive program.

If the laptop set-up I've choosen isn't suitable does anyone know of XP supported new laptops anywhere
Click to expand...

Unfortunately not, XP is over 10 years old now and Microsoft don't sell it anymore, so support is rare.

I'm not 100% sure if the graphics driver will load or not, it might well, but definitely not the chipset and onboard devices. I will find out exactly which drivers will/won't work on this laptop with XP and get back to you tomorrow.
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
I have spoken to our laptop technician and he is 100% confident that we can install XP on the Enigma II laptop, after we flash the BIOS and disable AHCI. If you would like to send us your XP disc and licence, we can install it for you on your laptop providing your order Windows 7 from us, and that way we can install the graphics drivers also.

I cannot guarantee that every single driver will install, but most will and therefore your program should work OK.
 
J

James Death

Member
So it would be dual boot capable? :D

that sounds great, though I would need to know what drivers couldn't be installed.

I presume you would need the original XP cd (at parents house- I keep a copied version in my term address) so I can get that sorted in a day.

Could you e-mail me with regards to what way you want me to order and send the XP cd?
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Dual boot is possible, yeah. We would need the original XP CD and licence to perform the install, to verify that the software is genuine, etc.

Once you've placed the order, let me know the order number and I'll add a task to the order. You will need to send the CD with the order reference attached to our main address, as listed on our website.
 
J

James Death

Member
I want to thank you for all your help so far, I have one final question though:

If I put the order in, send the XP cd, and your team are unable to get XP to install or not sufficiently installed to run Genemapper (the reason for all these problems) then will the order be cancelled/refunded?

If its not fit for what I need sadly it's useless to me :( but if it is :D

Many thanks
James
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Of course James - if we can't supply what you need, then we'll provide you with a refund. Just make sure you give me your order number after ordering so I can add a task to the order to ensure we do what's required. :)
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
I have added a task on your order - for your reference you will be able to see this when viewing your order on your account. :)

Please ensure you clearly mark your order reference on the XP disc when sending this back to us.
 
J

James Death

Member
I just wanted to post for all that the Laptop has been received. Staff at PC Specialist were successful in setting up the Dual boot system sufficiently for my picky analysis software to fully install and operate.
So a huge thank you to everyone involved in getting this setup. Many Thanks, I have been shouting your praises to all who will listen!
 
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