Vista Downgrade to XP
I initially gotten my laptop (Gateway ML6720) in late 2007. It came pre-loaded with Windows Vista Home Premium and of course the usual Gateway bloatware. I am a Debian GNU/Linux kinda guy so it took some getting used to with all the ‘pretty’ Aero effects and whatnot. Over time I came to enjoy Vista after customizing it (Windows Classic, Memory Upgrade, Bloatware Removal). I really enjoyed some of the new networking features (or bugs) especially the net shell extensions. Being true to Debian I ended up dual-booting with Vista and that was ok for awhile. Then, I decided to eliminate Vista as I started using it less and less and run Linux primarily.
Recently, as of a few weeks ago, I decided to eliminate Linux and install my copy of Windows XP Professional. What a chore that would be I quickly discovered…
The infamous “Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer.” message during XP installation stumped me for a minute until I realized I remembered seeing something about native XP not supporting Intel Matrix storage controllers (SATA).
So quick & short explanation, I created a slipstream XP CD with the Intel drivers for the harddisk so I could actually install XP — problem solved — sort of.
The daunting task of collecting the drivers was, well, daunting. I happened to run across someone who copied the drivers and compressed them into one pretty file (minus the video which I’ve included).
Without further ado, I offer you Download Vista to XP Gateway ML6720 Complete Drivers.
I created the bootable CD using nLiteos’s nLite which is (from their site):
Deployment Tool for the Bootable Unattended Windows ISO
(Remove components, integrate hotfixes, drivers and themes. Tweaks, patches…)
A great tutorial with screenshots is over at HowtoGeek.com on creating the slipstream installation CD and adding your drivers.
I can happily say things are running great. This post was primarily to archive and hopefully help out anyone else wanting to downgrade from Vista to XP on a Gateway ML6720. I can even help as I documented my steps and can email them (PDF) if you’re interested.
about 1 year ago
Hi, I am trying to install XP on this same laptop. I am using a copy of Windows XP Pro, which I have tested on numerous other computers to work. But, of course I keep running into the SATA driver problem and it does not find the hard drive. I have the drivers for this laptop, but I do not have access to a floppy drive, much less a USB floppy drive. I tried putting them on a USB thumb drive, but that did not work. So, I am totally lost. My next thought was to copy the driver files + windows isntall cd onto a new cdr. But I am not sure if I would need to place the drivers in a particular folder on the cd in order for it to work. I would greatly appreciate any help you can provide, including the pdf that you mention. Thank you!
about 1 year ago
A1) Download nLiteOS: http://home.midmaine.com/~nlite/nlite/nLite-1.4.9.1.installer.exe
A2) Follow these instructions to create the XP SP2 slipstream: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/resolving-setup-did-not-find-any-hard-disk-drives-during-windows-xp-installation/
And that should get you set to go.
I would recommend you taking a look at your SATA controller now to see what it is. Do this by following these instructions:
1) Open Control Panel
2) Go to “System”
3) Go to “Device Manager”
4) In Device Manager, look at the tree item “IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers”
5) Expand it and review the model of the AHCI Controller (you’ll need this when you select the drive when you follow the instructions in step #A2)
about 1 year ago
I have tried a couple of times to use nlite and it is not working. I put the cd in the drive and turn the laptop on and it simply does not boot. It just keeos going throught the cycle of pulling up the initial gateway screen. I have no way of looking at the setup of the devices because the hard drive died on this computer, I bought a brand new hard drive and am trying to set this up with xp. I have pretty much given up. I cant get anything to work, except linux. I am doing this for my brother, and he wants to have XP on it. I even tried downloading iso’s that claim they had SATA support built in.
about 7 months ago
when will the drivers be back up for download
about 2 months ago
Please, could you make the drivers available again. It is hard to find.
Empty ad slot (#2)!
about 2 months ago
Drivers are available: http://www.techish.net/files/drivers/GatewayML6720_XP.zip (97MB)