Hello folks,
Well I thought I was in for another couple days of struggle and a night with Windows Update for my wife's new Lenovo 3000 n200 laptop. The first laptop we ordered was XP (her Citrix VPN won't work with Vista) but was DOA and out-of-stock so we got a faster processor (Core 2 Duo 1.8 vs. 1.5) bigger HDD (160GB vs 80), free Bluetooth & a webcam for $50 less...but it came w/ Vista Business.
Of course I had already researched the hardware and there were XP drivers available for all, but the readme on the AHCI driver called for a floppy & F6 install to use the ICH8 for XP. I checked in the laptop's BIOS and there was a "compatibility mode" that would work without a driver.
Lenovo's support site is excellent, and as I was browsing it I saw "downgrading to XP". I clicked the link, called the number (1-800-426-7416 for USA, others on the site) and purchased an XP downgrade kit for $45 + tax. This saves $90 on the OS, but more importantly keeps the warranty alive. It also allows for the re-install of Vista at a future date and avoids any possible incorrect driver problems. I can only hope that the OS CD is separate from the bloatware CD...
I highly recommend this solution to anyone faced with this same issue. Just one thing...the tech asked what version of Vista I had...I responded "Vista Business" and he said I qualified for the kit. Whether this means Vista Home is excluded from the offer I cannot say, but a word to the wise...
Tony
"If it can't take it, I don't want it
Well I thought I was in for another couple days of struggle and a night with Windows Update for my wife's new Lenovo 3000 n200 laptop. The first laptop we ordered was XP (her Citrix VPN won't work with Vista) but was DOA and out-of-stock so we got a faster processor (Core 2 Duo 1.8 vs. 1.5) bigger HDD (160GB vs 80), free Bluetooth & a webcam for $50 less...but it came w/ Vista Business.
Of course I had already researched the hardware and there were XP drivers available for all, but the readme on the AHCI driver called for a floppy & F6 install to use the ICH8 for XP. I checked in the laptop's BIOS and there was a "compatibility mode" that would work without a driver.
Lenovo's support site is excellent, and as I was browsing it I saw "downgrading to XP". I clicked the link, called the number (1-800-426-7416 for USA, others on the site) and purchased an XP downgrade kit for $45 + tax. This saves $90 on the OS, but more importantly keeps the warranty alive. It also allows for the re-install of Vista at a future date and avoids any possible incorrect driver problems. I can only hope that the OS CD is separate from the bloatware CD...
I highly recommend this solution to anyone faced with this same issue. Just one thing...the tech asked what version of Vista I had...I responded "Vista Business" and he said I qualified for the kit. Whether this means Vista Home is excluded from the offer I cannot say, but a word to the wise...
Tony
"If it can't take it, I don't want it