New Experiment: Vista --> XP

[--BulletMagnet--]

Ahhh, by the looks of it, this is our guy:

0x0269 Ethernet Controller 0x10DE NVIDIA Corporation

I'm simply not sure how to find the correct drivers for it. There needs to be an indexed library of this stuff somewhere, lol.

[Scott]

Looks like this could be it:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_....26_11.09.html

Found it here:
http://www.pcidatabase.com/vendor_details.php?id=606

Searched for 0269 and bam, some nice fella included a link to the driver.

[--BulletMagnet--]

As I type this from my newly created machine, THANKS A MILLION!

What's funny is I had downloaded that exact same driver in a slightly different "international" version and it didn't work. That worked like a charm... appreciate the speedy and helpful responses!

[Guest001]

Well answered here but I will chip in. Some questions may have already been answered.

Pro's and Con's

You won't gain much extra (power) using XP and it could be difficult RE Drivers

Buy a PCI NIC Card (drivers easier to get) for the network and scrap using mobo Network Chip (outdated drivers)

Vista is stable at last service pack but is now not fully supported (XP Still Is)

Vista has native transparency

XP has faster navigation

XP doesn't support modern Drive and USB versions without fiddling IE (SSD's) and (USB 3.0) no matter what hardware is available.

[--BulletMagnet--]

Thanks for the extra info, Stompem.

I wouldn't think this is a very popular topic anymore (I just got a random itch), but to any potential downgradees out there, this isn't for the faint of heart. Even if you know what to do beforehand, finding drivers is like finding a needle in 47 haystacks covered in soy sauce.

That's my second completely unrelated analogy in this thread. Whoever can find the first wins $400 theoretical dollars.

[Guest001]

the amount you've had to drink that day, and the skin color of hippos.

[Scott]

Drivers have always been a big PITA. I'd advise you keep the ones that work and store them somewhere safely in case you need to do it again. Windows 7 does make drivers A LOT easier. Most everything on all the PC's i've built in the last few years have had drivers built in to Windows 7. Pretty much the only driver I have to look for now days is the display or printer driver, but even those often show up with Windows Update. It's a beautiful thing

[--BulletMagnet--]

Nice going, lol. You can add a theoretical $400 to your NovaHQ account.

Originally Posted by Scott

Drivers have always been a big PITA. I'd advise you keep the ones that work and store them somewhere safely in case you need to do it again. Windows 7 does make drivers A LOT easier. Most everything on all the PC's i've built in the last few years have had drivers built in to Windows 7. Pretty much the only driver I have to look for now days is the display or printer driver, but even those often show up with Windows Update. It's a beautiful thing

Yessiree, I put all of them on one of my primary USB drives. The ethernet driver was by far the hardest to find. The chipset drivers were extremely easy to find (more of a universal thing, I suppose), and the rest of the drivers were obtained through the "Update Driver" function in Windows. All set now, it appears.

[Guest001]

Originally Posted by Scott

Drivers have always been a big PITA. I'd advise you keep the ones that work and store them somewhere safely in case you need to do it again. Windows 7 does make drivers A LOT easier. Most everything on all the PC's i've built in the last few years have had drivers built in to Windows 7. Pretty much the only driver I have to look for now days is the display or printer driver, but even those often show up with Windows Update. It's a beautiful thing

To my chagrin. I found the Windows 7 drivers for my GFX Card were perfect, I purchased a few high end games and found that I required more recent versions to run them. As yet, 2 weeks shy of 12 mths, they are yet to be updated by MS. Alas for GFXC as now it seems to be unstable at times with the newer versions.
I think it shows that even with care in update back-compatibility there are certain driver sets that are optimal for the particular hardware.

[Guest001]

Originally Posted by --BulletMagnet--

Nice going, lol. You can add a theoretical $400 to your NovaHQ account.



Yessiree, I put all of them on one of my primary USB drives. The ethernet driver was by far the hardest to find. The chipset drivers were extremely easy to find (more of a universal thing, I suppose), and the rest of the drivers were obtained through the "Update Driver" function in Windows. All set now, it appears.

Thanks and Good to hear, enjoy