Lenovo X200 downgrade to XP - part 2

Just to recap (and this applies in general to many laptops, not just Lenovo's) the steps in the downgrade from Vista to XP are (a) find the XP drivers for your hardware (in this example the Lenovo X200) and download them (b) go into the BIOS and switch your HDD to 'compatibility mode' and (c) boot up with the XP install disk. After that fine tune as needed. But that's not all as (as in life) there are alternatives.... like a call to Lenovo support to get the optional XP install disk.

Or, if you really want to do the job yourself have a read of this variation on the theme...

X200 remove Vista and install XP - Lenovo Community

Well, to install Windows XP you will need a Windows XP cd of course.

Insert the Windows XP cd in your external optical drive. Set the boot order in the BIOS so that your external optical drive is boot up before your hard disk. Reboot and follow the instructions :smileyhappy:

X200 remove Vista and install XP - Lenovo Community

However, I got "Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer" msg and asked me to quit the setup.

Seems it couldn't recongnize my harddisk

X200 remove Vista and install XP - Lenovo Community

Go into you Bios (by clicking on F1 while booting) and go to "Config" -> "Serial ATA (SATA)" and amend type to "Compatibilty" mode.

Afterwards press F10 to save and exit.

Now you should be able to install XP.

Once XP is installed, do not amend SATA type to original one, this would lead to a boot error.

X200 remove Vista and install XP - Lenovo Community

This solution works but however, I doubt it's the best solution because basically you're using old SATA drivers to run your Harddrive now. Here's what I did. You'll need another computer for this.



1. Get a Windows CD and copy the ISO to your PC.

2. Download nLite - Link

3. Download SATA Drivers - Link

4. Add Sata Drivers to your nLite Copy

5. Burn a Copy of this new Windows with Drivers.

6. You're set! No more BSOD.



Notes: The SATA drivers will unzip themselves in a folder make sure you pick the right one (9M). Instruction on how to add drivers on nLite are pretty easy; add "Single Driver" (read their forums for more stuff you can do to your installation).

X200 remove Vista and install XP - Lenovo Community

Actually, since this is a montevina based machine, you need to start with a XP cd that is SP2 or higher. You do need to go into the BIOS and change the SATA mode to Compatibility. Once you have installed Windows XP, you need to download the IMSM driver from lenovo's website. Once you have installed the IMSM package, go back into BIOS and change the SATA mode back to AHCI.



If you use an XP cd that is SP0 or SP1, you will blue screen on PCI.SYS. If you don't change the SATA mode to compatibility, you will likely blue screen with a 07B error.

X200 remove Vista and install XP - Page 2 - Lenovo Community

This is the way to do this.

change the sata controllor to compability.

install xp sp3.



after installation install the Intel matrix storage manager from the driver page http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-70477.html



reboot and change the sata controllor to ahci again. The driver will be automatically installed.

install .net from the ms site.

install system update from the lenovo site.

run system update.

after this installation there are still some drivers missing.

wifi, bluetooth, modem, and two pci devices.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-70477.html



but the tricky thing is the two pci devices.

for this one you need first to install this one

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-70313.html

and after reboot you install this one

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-70317.html



Now you can update xp with all the necessary updates. and you're done.



there are still some missing tools like active protection but this you can download from the site too!

X200 remove Vista and install XP - Page 2 - Lenovo Community

i used nLlite with my own XP Pro disk and Lenovo drivers. With no prev experience with nLite, I found it very easy. Will do this from now on.

Windows XP Clean Install

Welcome to the Windows XP Clean Install/Downgrade Guide!

I've seen a lot of threads asking how they should do a clean install and what they should do when problems occur. So I've made this thorough guide so everyone can have a stable, clean, and complete installation of Windows XP without any 3rd party software. ThinkVantage applications are considered 3rd party software. This Clean Install Guide can also help with slow boot up times (mine went from 90 seconds to 30 seconds from the moment I press the power button to a usable desktop), BSOD's (Blue-Screens-of-Death), a slow, unstable system, adware, spyware, viruses, and many more problems. The Guide can be used to install XP on any ThinkPad, e.g., T61(p), R61(i/e), X61(s), T60(p), etc.

The guide is somewhat tedious to follow due to its length. Please follow the guide carefully and make sure not to skip anything or else your computer will be incomplete. This guide can also be used as a downgrade from Vista to XP.

ThinkPad SuperGuide

Windows XP Clean Install

Method 1 (manual driver installation)

1. Backup data if necessary.
2. Use the Driver Matrices to download the following drivers/software and their respective readme's to an external storage device: