How To Install Windows XP on Dell Inspiron 1525 or Downgrading Vista
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Follow this simple Installation step to downgrade Windows Vista to Windows XP.
a. You have to prepare SATA Driver on your USB Disk. You may get the Dell Inspiron 1525 SATA HERE
b. You have to prepare Dell Inspiron 1525 Wireless Card Driver as well known as Broadcom BCM 4311.
c. For Dell Inspiron 1525 Webcam you have to get Creative Labs Webcam that you may get it in the Windows Update Sites.
d. Get Marvell Yukon 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller drivers.
e.
Video Card Driver Intel GM965
Dell Application Software Quickset
Ricoh R5C833 Flash Drive controller Driver
Sound Audio Driver Dell Inspiron 1525 SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD
Download Intel Chipset
Dell Inspiron 1525 Modem Conexant D330,HDA,MDC,v.92,
Touchpad
Notes: After installing windows XP, you have to prepare windows Downgrade XP patch for Dell Inspiron 1525 before installing Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module and finish Dell Inspiron 1525 driver for Windows XP Installation. Enjoy Xp on your Dell Inspiron 1525 Notebooks.
Tags: Dell Laptop
Tags: downgrade, inspiron, how to install dell 1525 drivers, vista, 1525, dell, xp-install-inspiron-1525
March 21st, 2008 08:40
I want to give thanks for giving a proper sugestion that how can i install windows xp in insipiron 1525,,,,,
March 27th, 2008 05:05
Dude, you are the MAN. I stubled upon ur site by accident. I downgraded my 1525 to XP without checking for the drivers first. It has been hard but I had found most of them. BUT, I was missing the Yukon and Ricoh drivers…couldn’t find them ANYWHERE until you. I am so impressed. Too bad this site isn’t listed in any search engine. It would’ve helped me SO much. Anyway, the only driver that’s not working is the Touchpad. I have used several ones from the Dell website and went to Synaptics website also…just CAN’T get it to work right. Any suggestions?
-Thanks a million.
March 28th, 2008 09:51
Apos instalar o Win Xp no Dell Inspiron 1525, não encontro os drivers de Som e Modem. Se alguem tiver me mande por favor.
March 29th, 2008 12:54
I want to downgrade vista to XP on dell Inspiron1525,so ineed the drivers of the dell laptop 1525,can any one help me out
March 29th, 2008 17:23
Excellent job man… very usefull for us…. Thanks a lot.
March 29th, 2008 22:43
Thank you very much. It is very very very useful.
March 30th, 2008 05:04
Hey, I tried doing all this, but while I was putting Wireless card drivers, I got the error message saying that no compatible hardware was found.
I dont know, why is this occuring, can u please help me in this regard.
Presently I am not able to set up the wireless network.
March 30th, 2008 09:10
@Neha you may reinstall your Dell Inspiron 1525 Video graphics driver, I hope it will resolve your VGA problems
March 31st, 2008 03:20
This solution did not work for my case
March 31st, 2008 06:15
I have an error when installing the webcam driver. It is not updated by Windows Update. Dell provided the CD with my computer, but it is “vista” only driver, and even if i can install it, it does not work.
April 1st, 2008 05:29
I have tried a lot to find the drivers of audio device,the drivers above are not supported my dell Inspiron 1525 laptop.So,please provide me the drivers.
April 1st, 2008 12:18
Thanks a lot man. Just bought a 1525 and downloaded the exact drivers you said.
April 1st, 2008 13:51
i will try these one for my dell 1525…………thanks in advance
April 1st, 2008 23:48
Very good !!
Excellent job!! Thanks ….
April 2nd, 2008 06:07
The unknown audio device that shows up is actually HDMI. If you look in the extracted files\folders from the Intel Graphics driver linked at the top (must be the one from Dell), the HDMI folder contained the drivers you want.
April 2nd, 2008 08:10
Thanks for the really helpful information. Tried it and Everything is working fine but there is an yellow patch in device manager (HD audio Bus) I have installed KB 888111 but still. I was wondering why dell is not providing this in their support page. They simply want to make people’s life miserable or do they have a profit in this?
Jaison Philip
April 4th, 2008 12:08
Thanks a lot man. Just bought a 1525 and downloaded the exact drivers you said.
For webcam just go on next site:
http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/
April 4th, 2008 18:05
excellent research….nicely done, saved us all lots of time and headaches. Thanks!
April 5th, 2008 23:32
To install the
KB888111 hot fix from MS. You can google it. I found mine at
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=47079
After this is installed, install the Intel drivers. Intel_GM965-Express-Chipset-_A05_R173064.exe . This will install the HDMI Audio and fix the exclamation mark.
I found all of the drivers for my 1525 by going to the 1520 dell support page, and downloading the drivers for the XP version.
For the touchpad you need to find an Alps driver. I used the D630 version. Dell name R165804.exe
April 6th, 2008 15:26
This is a fantastic post and an amazing time saver.
Two quick questions:
1. Exactly which Creative webcam driver should we download
2. I would prefer to have this (soon to arrive to me) Dell 1525 dual boot XP and Vista; is anyone here doing that?
Thank you.
April 7th, 2008 07:17
How do I install the SATA driver after I have installed XP in ATA mode?
April 7th, 2008 10:18
thanks, it was very useful
April 8th, 2008 20:32
Thanks ever so! Been helping out a mate with her laptop and found everything I needed here……..diamond! Thanks……….
April 10th, 2008 06:31
My 1525 came with free dos. How do I install drivers
April 10th, 2008 07:27
Thank you.
Approach suggested works, except for wireless. I’ve got an error message on mu inspiron c540. Any ideas?
April 10th, 2008 13:50
this is very un helpfull. i dont care bout the drivers all i want to know is how do i install XP. can someone please tell me cos this is no help at all
April 10th, 2008 16:00
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. It saves me a ton of time of cobbling together drivers and finding the right ones. Kudos to you!
April 10th, 2008 16:33
ya ,
you can dual boot xp and vista on a pre installed dell with vista.
but i am not sure if the 1520 drivers will work for 1525 if any one have used them please let me know
.
I am planning to get 1525 in some time and install Microsoft
Virtual PC and then install xp on it use these drivers to check if they work fine on it.
untill then if any body tries these steps please let me know the results.
Thanks.
have look at these links to puit xp in dual boot..
http://lifehacker.com/software/geek-to-live/partition-and-image-your-hard-drive-with-the-system-rescue-cd-292972.php
http://lifehacker.com/software/dual-boot/dual-boot-windows-xp-on-a-pre+installed-vista-pc-248936.php
April 10th, 2008 21:41
Hey,
Do you have what I need to do to install Win XP Pro 64 bits on machine without operating system. I try to use this drivers, nLite and my copy of windows to make a bootable copy. But still the system can’t detect the hard drive. Do you have any suggestions?
April 10th, 2008 22:07
Thanks for the posts! Great resource! I did some research and found out that the Inspiron 1525 and 1520 are very similar. If you go to support.dell.com and choose drivers for Inspiron 1520, you WILL find WindowsXP drivers. I used practically all the drivers for the 1520 to downgrade my Inpsiron1525. The only thing left was the High Def sound, which is found in the Video driver folder under HDMI (thanks to this post).
Good work, everyone!!!
April 12th, 2008 14:50
thanks for drivers details but please send driver details for wi-fi
April 14th, 2008 09:14
Dell webcam driver for inspiron 1525:
R165116.EXE
download from dell’s support site: http://support.euro.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=be&l=nl&s=gen&releaseid=R165116&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=222145
April 15th, 2008 15:20
There are better drivers than the ones listed above.
1. Whenever possible, use drivers from the Inspiron 1525 website. Many of the drivers are the same for Vista and XP, notably:
Alps touchpad, Marvell Ethernet.
The Intel GMA and Sigmatel ones are NOT. Use the Inspiron 1520 instead.
Another tip — for most average users, it is a waste of time to configure ACHI, use ATA mode instead.
Unless you are running 7,200 rpm drives, the performance difference is negligible.
Note that Dell ships Vostros and Inspiron 1520s with XP in ATA mode.
I got 100% of the devices on the 1525 to work — but it took time.
April 15th, 2008 19:53
to nathaniel
Power on you Mobile
Insert XP CD
Reboot and press F12 when DELL logo appear
select boot from CD-ROM
when prompt “hit a key to boot from cd-rom” hit enter
Window setup should start
..
If Windows does not recognize your SATA drive
you either have to insert a driver during boot time (I don’t know how to do that)
or what I did is:
Reboot and press F2 to enter setup
Disable FCM
Change SATA to work on ATA mode
exist setup (with save)
Start windows setup again.
April 15th, 2008 21:11
FYI - You know that this will VOID the warranty in most cases. If you change the drivers and factory installed OS - Dell is not obligated to assist you with any tech support issue. Especially with Bootleg OS’s
Besides, it is not as easy as you think. Hope you back up everything first and know what you are doing. If it was this easy, everyone would be doing this.
April 16th, 2008 15:49
Techie,
Stop the BS fear mongering.
It will void the software portion of the warranty unless you were to reinstall Vista on it via the backup disks and just simply don’t tell them that you installed XP.
The easy solution, which is the one I used, is to buy a brand new drive (in my case an SATA 7,200 rpm drive that is better than the one it came with) from someone like newegg.com and then install XP on it.
The old drive I bought a casing for and is using as an external hard drive with the Vista crap on it intact.
It is not as hard as you make it out to be.
My standard time to do this job (without AHCI activated) is about 3 hours, most of the time waiting for XP to load.
Standard time to do it with AHCI if you have the disk with drivers made with nlite on hand is exactly the same.
Add 1 hr to make the AHCI boot disk if you don’t have one.
Take any longer than these times, and you can have your Techie credentials revoked.
April 16th, 2008 23:56
Hi, Yesterday i removed vista and loaded windows xp pro sp2 on my dell inspiron 1525. I installed all the drivers as listed above. But after i restarted my system(after installing all the drivers), I find that the display when set at a resolution of 1440 x 990 is not all the clear as it used to be when Vista was installed. But i do really need Windows Xp due to various reasons. It would be great if someone could help me out in this issue please.!!!
Thanks,
Vijay.C
April 17th, 2008 13:42
You probably have to get a more up-to-date X3100 driver — which one did you install?
Alternatively, go into the Intel Graphics settings and play with the settings and see if it improves.
April 17th, 2008 14:27
Hi Guys,
I am going to purchase Inspiron 1525 and install XP on it as per above. I can see now on Dell website that the graphic card is x3100 (not Intel GM965) and on dell website there is no X3100 drivers at all… Can anyone tell me what’s going on?
Thanks
Raf.
April 17th, 2008 16:11
Hey D,
I tried installing the latest x3100 graphics driver, but still i see the same issue.
I also changed the settings in the intel graphics settings option. I found out that the if i change my resolution to 1440 x 990 and change my aspect ratio to center desktop, it works fine. But even then, if i play a song in the WMP and select a visualization, I can see the visualization effects working at lesser frames per second.
Could you please point out towards what i should do to get this alright?
Thanks,
Vijay.C
April 17th, 2008 20:31
Tell me if this problem arise if you are running Vista?
I suspect there is some sort of conflict with the HDMI drivers… are those installed properly?
April 18th, 2008 19:37
thank you emeginize sa?l?k…………………………..
iyi çal?smalar
April 18th, 2008 21:28
I bought an Inspiron 1525 today.I have some problems with Sata drivers.Finaly i made that change from bios(Sata to ata) and i’ve instaled Windows Xp.Before that i tried to integrate sata driver with nlite but did’n work.Now i can’t change ata back to sata because i don’t know how to update hdd drivers.Does enyone know if it’s a problem if i let it so?and my compuer runs with ata ??I have a small problem with High Def sound but i try to rezolve it now.All others devices are installed and all it’s ok.
Thanks.
April 18th, 2008 21:30
Could anyone explain me a.point:You have to prepare SATA Driver on your USB Disk. USB disk means an USB Floppy?or can i use a memory stick?
April 19th, 2008 03:32
You cannot switch back to AHCI from ATA emulation mode after you installed XP.
XP will crash.
Slipstream of SATA drivers work welll but you MUST select the proper ICH8 driver.
Do not select the ICH9 driver, or the ICH8 drivers for RAID.
Select only 1 driver or the thing will crash.
I do not know if the USB floppy trick will work — try it and let us know if it does.
If you got it working on ATA mode, you are well advised to just leave it.
Unless you are a performance freak like me.
April 19th, 2008 13:04
Problem with Kworld VS ATSC 33U Hybrid HDTV Analog TV USB adaptor card running Totalmedia Software.
If anyone managed to get this to work, please let me know.
I installed the latest KWorld drivers from their website, but the pictures show up as 3 separate pictures overlaid as if there is a problem with the horizontal sync.
My installation will play DVDs fine with the PowerDVD player (not the MediaDirect Dell /Cybermedia player).
April 20th, 2008 11:10
I can’t use the wireless card driver for WinXP. anyone knows why? help me please.
April 20th, 2008 12:19
Exactly which Creative webcam driver should we download
2. I would prefer to have this (soon to arrive to me) Dell 1525 dual boot XP and Vista; is anyone here doing that? not able to acess my web cam its model 1525 dell
April 20th, 2008 12:40
Thank you for this guide. Like many people above I had a few problems:
1. Problems with wireless LAN (wlan)
2. Problems with Sound Device
3. Problems with WebCam
4. Problems with Touchpad
Solutions:
1. WLAN Driver
Downlaod and install:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=N&Inst=Yes&ProductID=2259&DwnldID=15809&strOSs=44&OSFullName=Windows*%20XP%20Professional&lang=eng
3. Audio Driver:
http://supportapj.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=au&cs=aubsd1&l=en&s=bsd&releaseid=R171789&SystemID=INS_PNT_PM_1520&servicetag=&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=8907&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=2&catid=3&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=3&fileid=235761
After I unpacked this file, another self-extracting file unpacked itself and then I think was supposed to auto-install. It didn’t, and I think this may have been because I had slipstreamed Windows XP SP3. If it doesn’t auto-install for you, what you need to do is run these two files that the compressed file unpacked:
HDAQFE\win2k_xp\us\Kb835221.exe
HDAQFE\win2k_xp\us\qfx.exe
2. WebCam Driver:
Download and install:
http://supportapj.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=au&cs=aubsd1&l=en&s=bsd&releaseid=R165116&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=222145
4. Touchpad:
Download and install:
http://supportapj.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=au&cs=aubsd1&l=en&s=bsd&releaseid=R165804&SystemID=WRK_NBK_PNT_P4_M4300&servicetag=&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=14029&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=2&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=17&fileid=223709
Comments:
These problems took ages to solve - especially the audio driver. My audio drivers still show up with exclamation marks next to them in device manager, but they are finally working after doing the above. If I had of known it was going to be so difficult I probably would have stuck with Vista, or at least not formatted the recovery partition! To anyone who is reading this before they have formatted and discovered there are no XP drivers for the Inspiron 1525: Be very, very cautious.
April 21st, 2008 00:24
Cameron,
The remaining problems in your audio drivers come from the modem — you got to install the modem drivers or you are going to have that problem.
I am afraid I had a much easier time than you did —
If I am not mistaken — you could have recovered your machine easily without the recovery partition because the DVDs are included with the machine.
However, I do feel if you are going to that much trouble, you might as well spring for a really good 7,200 rpm hard drive.
My audio drivers installed fine because I used the ones from the Inspiron 1520.
The touchpad driver you should use is the one for the Inspiron 1525 because it supports Vista and XP.
———-
As for the people with wireless card problems — be sure you install the right drivers as there are several different flavors of hardware — Intel and Dell, to begin with.
They are not compatible driver wise.
I am quite satisfied with mine because I paid $500 for it at Best Buy, handily beating the price of the regular priced Dell 1525s by several hundred.
April 21st, 2008 04:00
Done! two thumbs up to Cameron Young. My wireless LAN is working right now. Dell Inspiron 1525 uses Intel 3945ABG PRO/Wireless Network Adapter. By the way, i tried press “Home” button on the notebook, but there is an warning message “Unable to launch Dell Media Experience…”. if i not mistaken, i have installed the software, but why i can’t launch the application?
April 21st, 2008 09:50
thnks alot for generous kind. it’s really valuable information for dell 1525 victims to have xp flavour
April 21st, 2008 13:49
Eizan,
The 1525 uses both the Intel and Atheros wireless card, depending on your particular model. I have a 1525-100B which came with Atheros. The build to orders can come with either. Go check on the 1525 Vista drivers site and it will confirm this.
The reason you can’t use the “Home” button is because you did not install the Cybermedia MediaDirect player, which has to be installed ahead of the OS install.
There might be a way to retrofit it if you re-partition the hard drive, but I haven’t tried that.
There is no need to do it if you have an old PowerDVD disk lying around that lets you use a software player to play DVDs. Audio disks you can play with Windows Media Player.
I think the industry went to this kind of a player (which is based on Linux) because it offered tighter controls on copy protection compared to the ones that ran as an application on XP.
April 21st, 2008 15:45
Hi ! I got a problem with this device,and could not fix it :
Modem Device On High Definition Audio Bus
I did exactly the same,what is adviced, and tried to run the hotfix form microsoft website called : HDAQFE\win2k_xp\us\Kb835221.exe
HDAQFE\win2k_xp\us\qfx.exe
But the exclamation sign still next to the device.
I really do not care about this,i just want to know what could be the problem.
And the audi driver is bad quality I think,coz I listenning MP3’s and they are cutting, like the processor is bad or something like this.
Any Solution ?
please mail me at : firedaddy at freemail dot hu
April 21st, 2008 18:20
I just tested my machine with the Sigmatel audio drivers for the 1520 and the modem driver properly installed.
It played MP3s fine.
So the reasonable conclusion is you either got the wrong drivers or they were not properly installed.
I would delete the old ones, and then start over by downloading them and reinstalling again.
Be sure you install the Microsoft High Definition Audio drivers as well.
April 21st, 2008 19:17
I did download that 1 what you sent,and it was installed, and works not so fine.
Maybe i need to reinstall all my system..
April 21st, 2008 20:35
Reinstalling everything is extreme — there is probably nothing wrong.
Just remove the drivers for sound, both the working and non-working ones, and then reinstall them (it should be automatic if the drivers are in the directory).
Remember the Microsoft HDA drivers are separate — and you also need the HDMI drivers (for the Intel HDMI connector) as well. Plus the modem drivers.
If you want to be sure you have the right drivers, you have to run the install program again.
Try to use the drivers from the Dell 1525 Vista site if at all possible — if all else fails, try the sound driver from the Dell D630 — it is a current model machine that has the same sound chip as the Inspiron 1525.
It should work.
April 22nd, 2008 01:03
Wow. Thanks for your efforts. Saved me alot of time and trouble. All set up with XP and no SPLATS!
April 22nd, 2008 04:45
Hi
I have installed XP on my Inspiron-1525 but i was unable to get the Video-Drivers pls send me the Link to thanks
Krishna
April 22nd, 2008 07:01
It works fine.I did not mean nothing is works ! it is just so annoying.The sound is good,just the exlamation sign next to the modem.I will never use the modem device on high audio bus.I do not know what is the problem,but i will find out.I am that man who triing to fix it,till it works fine.
Anyway.Thanx for help D ! just one more question.What is the HDMI connector for ?
Does anybody use it ?
April 22nd, 2008 09:51
I made it ! I setup the Modem on High Def Audio Driver manually,and find the driver in the modem drivers directory. Thanx guys !
April 22nd, 2008 12:49
The HDMI connector is for output of video and audio from a “protected source” to an external “protected device”.
Or, strip away the BS, it is an effort by RIAA, Hollywood, Microsoft, etc. to find a way to allow PCs to play THEIR content and yet make it quite difficult to copy the content.
If you run Vista, the software spends a good chunk of its time policing your hardware to be sure that you are not tweaking it to steal music and videos.
A brilliant way to turn a $1,000+ piece of computer technology into a $50 video or CD player.
People who have benchmarked Windows Server 2008 against Vista (both of which are based on the same code except for content protection in Vista) estimate that there is a 11 to 17% performance hit because of content protection.
That, plus remote driver revocation (which means Microsoft can arbitrarily turn off your drivers remotely) is the No. 1 reason I went to XP.
I have no intention of playing Blu Ray movies in my PC, and if I want to do that, I would buy a $50 player. (They are not $50 now, but will be in a few years.)
For people who are audiophiles, the next problem is that Vista have ceased to support the use of hardware sound cards like Soundblaster’s line. The functionality has gone into software and is inextricably intertwined with content protection.
So independent creators of music who need computer power to do so pretty much have no choice but to abandon Vista either for XP or for Linux.
Ditto for independent producers of Video who want to hook up snazzy hardware based video processors that are not HDCP (High Definition Content Protection) compliant.
The bottom line is Microsoft have decided to make their PCs serve as dumb boxes for playing movies and music for Hollywood and RIAA, and have forsaken the people who paid their bills all these years…… people like us.
April 22nd, 2008 15:04
Thanks to all. This was very helpful.
April 22nd, 2008 19:31
I recently downgrade my wifes 1525 to XP and got all the drivers to work no problem, however I had 2 of the yellow exclamation and managed to get rid of 1 of them with the Sigma Drivers, is there a reason as to why I ha 2 errors of the same name? Did I not install something out of order? Though everything seems to be running fine I would still like to get rid of the 2nd error/yellow exclamation. Thanks!!!
April 23rd, 2008 07:28
MikeV what is the correct name of the device, which has error ? maybe I can help u cos i had the same problem ! If it is the Modem Device on High Audio Bus, You have to search for the driver manually in your modems drivers directory.or on every driver try to update from the internet, it should be works !!
I hope it it helpful to u
April 23rd, 2008 10:14
I have the same problem as V with the video driver. I installed the video from 1520 and, even in the native resolution( 1280*800 on 32bits), image is blurry. When the driver is not installed, the image on the display is perfect, but the refresh rate is very slow so somehow I have to install a driver for video. If anyone had this prroblem and solved it please leave a replay.
Thanks!
PS: the problem with HDAB disappeared on my laptop when I installed video controller.
April 23rd, 2008 12:48
i want XP Driver for Marvell Yukon 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller drivers.
i want to downgrade Windows Vista to Windows XP. so plz sent all the drivers for Dell Inspiron 1525.
VERY URGENT, VERY URGENT, VERY URGENT, VERY URGENT, VERY URGENT
April 24th, 2008 01:09
There is no question that following the above instructions will yield blurry video. I was freaking out about this but finally solved it. Do NOT use Dell drivers, instead use the generic Intel drivers for the Mobile Intel 965 Express chipset found on the Intel website. Once I did that (after two or three reformats!) the video was crystal clear. I’m not sure why everyone isn’t talking about this. I guess I (and a couple other people who have posted above) are more picky?
And for those who are having problems with wireless, you need to make sure you get the correct drivers. There is the Dell card and the Intel card. Get the correct drivers.
Also, I was fairly easily able to use the standard XP SP2 CD along with a USB floppy drive and the Intel SATA drivers. Just press F6 (or is it F2, can’t remember) when prompted, just after the blue screen appears. Then select the non-RAID driver for the ICH8.
Oh, and if you want Media Direct, INSTALL IT FIRST with the disc that came with the 1525!!! I read somewhere that if you do not do this, you might screw up your boot sector if you accidentally press the little house button when the computer is powered up. It will try to launch the Media Direct app and fail, sometimes with disaterous results, according to reports. It’s only 3GB, and might be useful, so you may as well do it.
One last thing. Once you install an OS from a CD or DVD as opposed to the built-in hard drive recovery partition, you will never be able to use that partition again, so you may as well delete it when installing the OS. You wil regain 10GB of HD space and the 1525 ships with a Vista recovery DVD, although you need to reinstall all the drivers from the drivers disc that also came with the 1525. Probably a cleaner way of doing it anyway since you don’t have to reinstall all the crapware that Dell loads up.
Good luck. It isn’t *that* easy to do this, but if you follow the instructions on this page (with my and others’ caveats) you should be OK.
April 24th, 2008 13:52
shinas !!
Ther drivers what you want, are on the top of this comments…
April 24th, 2008 16:55
pls i need to install linux on my dell inspiron 1525 preinstalled with vista can anybody help me.
April 25th, 2008 11:29
Just get a linux boot disk, slap it in the machine, and install it as dual boot.
Nothing simpler.
Or you can reformat the Dell drive and have a clean install.
Take your pick.
April 25th, 2008 11:43
Dan,
Thank you for a great post — the only observations I have are:
The “most recommend” method I have is to spend the $100 or $200 to get a brand new drive and do a clean, clean install.
I had no problem with the residuals of Media Direct or any other problems from a clean install. Besides, by keeping the old drive around with Vista on it, you can always plug it back in and get something done in a crunch.
Buy an USB external casing for about $10 for the discarded drive and it becomes a backup drive.
Using the USB floppy is a means I did not explore because I didn’t have one. Using the drive in ATA mode instead means you don’t have to do this.
***** The key is, whatever method you choose, whether USB Floppy or slipstream with nlite, you MUST choose the correct ICH8 driver — do not use the ones listed for RAID, etc. use the one listed first.*******
If I had to do a second machine with a USB floppy or my slipstreamed disk, my standard time would be about 3 hours.
Not bad, when just setting up the pre-installed Vista takes about an hour.
April 25th, 2008 14:29
OK, I just did another reinstall and have a couple of corrections.
1) First, to correct some confusing stuff I wrote from my previous late-night, sleep-deprived (I have a one-week-old son!) post. Regarding Media Direct, what I meant to say is that you really must install it, and install it FIRST, before loading XP. It repartitions your hard drive so you can’t do it after the XP install. If you do not install it, I read some reports that it will screw up your system. What happens is that if you press the little house button when the computer is off, it turns on an trys to find the Media Direct partition. If it doesn’t find it, reportedly, it will mess things up. So for the 3GB it costs you, and some decent utility, I recommend installing it.
2) It is indeed F6 you press when using a USB floppy with XP cd. The you specify your hardware and as D said above, you MUST select the ICH8 non-RAID driver.
3) Regarding D’s post, just to be clear, I am certainly doing a clean install. The Media Direct disc repartitions your HD, completely destroying the Dell restore partition. Yes, it takes 3GB away from you, but the ability to access certain files without booting windows, and preventing boot code corruption seems like a good trade-off.
4) In addition to my recommendation about using the Intel Graphics drivers, I also recommend using the Intel Chipset drivers instead of anything provided by Dell.
5) You will still need to extract the Dell Inspiron 1520 graphics drivers, search for R173064 on Dell’s support site, to get the HDMI drivers.
6) Not sure about others, but I’m using Dell file number R165804 for the Alps trackpad. I seem to remember having problems on my first attempt at the downgrade with the file recommend in the original post. If you have problems getting the trackpad speacial features to work, use R165804.
After using Vista Home Premium for a about a week, I really can’t say enough bad things about it. It is slower than XP, uses about 3x the RAM, has less networking functionality than XP Pro (will not remember network passwords after reboot!), doesn’t allow for modifying security policies so you must hack the registry, and is just an overall pain in the butt. I’ll reconsider when SP2 is released, but for now, I’m back to XP and much happier.
Overall, this really is an easy process if you know a little bit about installing an OS. If anyone needs help, feel free to email me: xpdowngrade[at] dgnetworks [dot] com. I’ll do my best to help you out. Enjoy XP!
April 25th, 2008 20:47
@Dan
I’ve changed it
April 26th, 2008 01:28
admin,
You now have quit an installed base of people who have improved on the original post.
Is it time to rewrite the post incorporating the best ideas here?
April 26th, 2008 06:04
I followed through on all steps in original post and a few of the comment suggestions. I have everything working now except for one pesky USB device (properties shows it as USB\VID_413c&pid_8145…….etc). Any ideas as to what this darn device is?? Many thanks in advance!
April 27th, 2008 02:30
UncD, is it your integrated webcam? Do you see that in the device manager under Imaging Devices? If not, that would be my guess.
April 28th, 2008 12:41
Hi
Thanx a lot man… It really worked…
Gates is desperatly trying to sell his super failure…Vista. It is such a paper wrap…
April 28th, 2008 15:37
Best Buy has the Inspiron 1525-100B this week for $499.
April 29th, 2008 20:39
i have all the drivers required now, they are as follows:
dell notebook system software
intel mobile chipset
ricoh r5c833
marvell 88e80xx ethernet controller
sigmatel stac 92xx cmajor hd audio
Intel_GM965-Express-Chipset-_A05_R173064
broadcom bd accelerator solution
dell wireless 355 bluetooth module patch
dell wireless 355 bluetooth module
conexant d330,hda,mdc,v92 modem
creative labs laptop integrated webcam
dell bios
dell quickset
dell touchpad
dell wireless 400 wireless usb minicard
dell wireless 1390 wlan minicard
dell wireless mobile broadband minicard
Intel wireless wifi link 4965agn
can somebody please tell me in which order should i install these drivers. thank you
April 30th, 2008 14:44
Suggested Order:
Dell Quickplay if you want it to work.
That partitions your drive, etc. and if you change the partition in future, it may kludge it up.
Then:
SATA drivers if you activate AHCI need to be installed at same time as OS. Alternative is to use drive in ATA compatibility mode.
Install Windows, follow with:
Intel Chipset — citical
Then GM drivers
Wifi — if you do this, the rest can be done via wifi download — save time.
Sigmatel sound, microsoft HDA, Modem driver
Everything else.
May 1st, 2008 11:00
thanks D, much appreciated.
May 2nd, 2008 13:58
Great respect. man. A lot of great respect.
May 4th, 2008 12:55
A LOT OF THANKS FOR HELP ME IAM VERY VERY HAPPY
THANKS
May 4th, 2008 13:59
Install Order post above says Quickplay.
It should read MEDIADIRECT.
Sorry.
May 4th, 2008 15:17
What do you think guys, is it possible to integrate all of this drivers to a windows xp install disk with Nlite ? Any idea, or experience ??
May 5th, 2008 05:22
It is probably possible, but here are your hurdles:
a) machine configurations are different.
So the integrated disk MIGHT be specific to one machine unless you have some sort of a way for the install program to not install, eg the Intel Wireless for the Dell Wireless cards.
b) there has to be no conflicting drivers
i.e. the right AHCI driver, etc.
May 5th, 2008 06:15
D
I want to make my own install disk for my inspiron 1525.So i have all the drivers,and want to integrate them into the setup disk.
May 5th, 2008 11:58
you are great…. i really appreciating u…and seeking further helps….
well done man…. iam stilll having problems with wireless lan… o i willl be make it sooon…and thnks a lot..
May 5th, 2008 16:02
This was awesome - I’d thought I’d collected the right ones from Dell but had troubles with the wireless and audio - thanks to you I’ve now got my 1525 ready to go. Excellent job!
May 5th, 2008 23:14
Worked great for me! Thanks!!
May 6th, 2008 05:31
thnx so much for the topic its very usefull
and all drivers here installed but the bluetooth not
i need the driver bcm2045 for xp
thnx in advance
May 7th, 2008 02:44
I was also having problems with the Intel 965 Chipset and being blurry. I did a lot of searching and found that it was a bug in the most recent driver from intel:
http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/isn/Community/en-US/forums/thread/30244215.aspx
Apparently you need to change the Intel properties from Full Screen to Center Desktop. It is under the Intel Icon in the control panel. Click on Aspect Ration Options.
May 7th, 2008 06:09
After installing Windows XP and installing all of the drivers, I have a yellow Exclamation mark next to Conexant Setup API. Does anyone know how to fix this? The Conexant HDA modem seems to be working fine. Also, I cannot put the laptop to standby or hibernate. Does anyone know where I can obtain the power management driver?
May 7th, 2008 11:44
i was tried to install windows xp in my dell inspiron 1525.but when setup get started it cant found any storage device please help me i hate window vista
May 7th, 2008 15:23
shardy !
There are to ways to solve this problem !
1: is to setup in the bios your hard drive to ATA mode there are to options AHCI and ATA, and u need the ata
2:(recomended!) get the Nlite,and the SATA driver, and integrate it in a setup disk.
You can find how to do it here : http://news.softpedia.com/news/Install-Windows-XP-On-SATA-Without-a-Floppy-F6-47807.shtml
i hope it was helpful !
May 7th, 2008 15:26
shwing : u need to setup manually.So u need to show the windows,where is the driver.if i remember well, the modem driver is above this posts !
the power management driver is in the chipset, but u can setup the standby and hibernante somewhere else ! I think it is in the control panel/power management setup, and there should be an option to enable hibernate
May 8th, 2008 07:25
Firedaddy: Thanks, I installed the Video chipset driver and it resolved the power managment issue. However, I still have that yellow exclamation mark next to “Conexant setup api” under system devices. Does anyone have this problem? I don’t even know what it is for. I’m assuming that it has something to do with the modem.
May 8th, 2008 07:57
For High Definition Audio Bus Drivers to get go to C:\DELL\drivers - Locate the VGA Driver Extracted folder and prompt for the HDMA driver file. Installation completed it will work perfect !!!!
Thank you friends. Have a great day !
Firoz
May 8th, 2008 12:04
If all else fails, try deleting the offending device, reboot, and see if it solves the problem.
May 8th, 2008 15:40
Has anyone sucessfully installed XP as a second OS? I’m trying to decide whether to downgrade a 1525 to XP or configure a dual boot.
May 8th, 2008 23:44
Cameron Young I love you!!
I installed XP on a co worker’s laptop. He is going back to his country and bringing this laptop to his mother. Vista does not work there. I got everything to work but the wireless. I tried and tried until I foung your post and walla it works!! I cannot thank you enough for that link you provided!!
May 9th, 2008 05:35
Gileon,
I went the route of a brand new hard drive (so as not to kludge up the Media Direct partition as well as to have a safe backup.
Hard drives are so cheap you can do that, and use the old drive as a portable backup by buying a casing.
I think this is a far more conservative strategy — and ensure you have some sort of a working machine that, without a doubt, is fully warranted by Dell if you need to send it in.
Dual boots with Vista / XP are possible and the instructions are here:
http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_stepbystep_guide.htm
Good luck, let us know how it works out.
May 9th, 2008 06:39
why is it good ? the dual OS ? it is sux I think ! V
May 9th, 2008 10:04
Thanks for all the help guys. I have one problem though, I am not getting the driver for “Audio Device on High Definition Audio Bus” could someone help me to find this driver for Inspiron 1525 XP OS. Thanks.
May 9th, 2008 13:11
i bought inspiron 1525 windows vista home edition and downgraded to xp SP2 Professional. I down loaded drivers mentioned in the website and works fine.
when i looked in computer management
Other devices has Exclaimation mark, It has two things inside, those are also have exclaimation marks.
audio device on high definition audio bus
sm bus controller
Any help greatly appreciated
thanks in advance
Jay
May 9th, 2008 17:34
Franklyn B and Jay Polam !
If u are too lazy to read all posts, here is teh solution !
The High Definition Audio Bus driver located in the Video Card Drivers Directory !
So u have to setup manually the driver, and show te windows xp where is the driver !
Good Luck !
May 9th, 2008 17:37
correction ! read my number 61 post ! the driver can located in thge modem driver directory
May 9th, 2008 19:55
Thanks D
Laptop won’t be here for a week or two, I’ll probably try the dual boot just to see how it works. I’ll let everyone know how it works.
May 9th, 2008 21:34
@felks - Linux
There is no problem installing it if you do a clean install on a clean drive — I did mine on a drive with XP on it (a test install) and it also worked fine.
Just get yourself a boot disk image, and go.
May 10th, 2008 11:58
Hi I installed XP Sp2 on my ispiron 1525, I Installed all drivers except Wireless…i tried all wireless drivers mentioned here…but i cannot…i check the device manager, there driver for network controller installed……..plz help me.
May 10th, 2008 16:50
Hi, thx for drivers. i bought inspiron 1525 3 weeks ago and works fine. in romania cost aprox. 650E.
[==]=====>
May 11th, 2008 02:54
Depending on version, 1525s should cost somewhere between USD$500 to $1,000
650E is steep even for a high end version….
Remember to remind me to stay away from that place for computers…
May 11th, 2008 11:18
Hey thanks for the tips here. I was about 2 hours away from returning my new Dell Inspiron 1525 back to best buy. I gave Windows Vista a test drive for several hours and did not like it at all. My computer was running really sluggish and I was really starting to second guess my purchase.
Once I saw this site, and got Windows XP loaded up, I am very happy now. The new laptop is running like a champ, and my hate for Vista grows even more now.
May 11th, 2008 12:28
hi, tried to download Marvell Yukon 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller drivers from the link but it gives me error 404. I really need those drivers. Any one to help me, I thank you very much in advance. any alternative way of geting Marvell Yukon 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller drivers for Inspiron 1525.
May 11th, 2008 13:31
@julius.. the driver address is still working (Marvell Yukon 88E8040 )
May 13th, 2008 18:11
Hello
I cant install the sound card.
It tells me “the system does not support the driver you are attempting to install”
in device manager I have at Other Devices:
Network controller
PCI Device
can someone please help me ?
thanks.
May 13th, 2008 23:17
Thanks for Your great work! Very helpfull and usefull!
May 14th, 2008 13:09
Wow, this is a great post. I stumbled across it when searching for how to install Windows XP on Dell Inspiron 1525.
I know this is going to sound dumb but is there anybody who can explain in clear step by step way excatly how to go about the installation. I’m getting a very confused and distorted picture from all the posts.
This is what I understand:
STEP ONE:
First you have to install Cybermedia DirectMedia (how do you install this before installing the OS? Additionally, I was not supplied with any Cybermedia installation disc - so where can I download it?)
STEP TWO:
(credit: http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/01/03/40345.aspx )
Use the SATA drive in “compatibility” mode by switching it via BIOS.
1.Go into BIOS by holding down F2 immediately after turning the power on.
2. Scroll down to Onboard Devices, expand it, select SATA Drive
3. Change the SATA setting from what it is (AHCI to ATA), exit to BIOS main menu
4. Go to Boot Order and make sure CD-ROM is specified as a boot device
5. Esc, save BIOS settings.
STEP THREE
Put Windows XP disk in CD ROM. Restart and hit key when it ask you to boot from CD-ROM
Install Windows XP
STEP FOUR
Install drivers in very specific order as per “magic”s directons.
Intel Chipset — citical
Then GM drivers
Wifi — if you do this, the rest can be done via wifi download — save time.
Sigmatel sound, microsoft HDA, Modem driver
Everything else.
May 14th, 2008 13:59
Hi, Thanks for the drivers… but the Audio driver is not working and found it 0KB in size. Could you please update the Audio driver… Everything else is fine..
May 14th, 2008 14:00
Please give me an update on Audio driver as soon as possible.
May 14th, 2008 15:28
Read the posts and then read them again. This site and this one on slipstreaming is all I used to get XP on my dell with Vista still installed.
May 14th, 2008 15:34
Read the posts and then read them again. This site and this one on slipstreaming are all I used.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Install-Windows-XP-On-SATA-Without-a-Floppy-F6-47807.shtml
Now have dual boot with Vista (installed first) and all the drivers installed.
Priceless. Had to use this site first to get the right SATA drivers to slipstream.
May 14th, 2008 21:07
I cannot find driver for network (wifi) adapter. Please help me !
May 14th, 2008 21:12
Sorry for my previous post. I found the drivers. They are on http://thepiratebay.org/tor/4165892/XP_Drivers_for_Dell_Inspiron_1525
May 14th, 2008 21:28
Hi Guys!
I am going to purchase new 1525 tommorow and downgrade to XP as per drivers at the top of this website.
Can anybody explain exactly what is the issue with this “house button”, which does not work if XP was downgraded? What is exactly going on about this 3GB partition as per posts above?
I found somewhere above, that DELL MEDIADIRECT thing solves this house button, but where to download it from and how to install it?
Many thanks for answers!
May 15th, 2008 09:28
To all who contributed here.
Well done in a big way. You saved me and many others.
Seriously…the net brings us all together……some serious intellignece from you all.
Always contribute….you just dont know what joy and ease you are bringing to peoples lives.
Phil
May 15th, 2008 18:51
I am purchasing a Dell Inspiron 1525 and will creae a dual-boot: XP and Apple Leapord. Let you know.
May 16th, 2008 15:39
Hi, i was wondering if for the win xp sp2 installer it is need to use an old fashioned 3 1/2″ floppy disk drive or if it is possible to use a USB thumb drive? So far I’ve try that and a CD Multisession with only the requiered files?
May 17th, 2008 07:24
Hi guys. Great job. I couldnt have done it with out your help. But i have a few hickups.. i was wondering if any1 can help.
Everytime i try installing the webcam drivers, it says i need DirectX9 or higher, but i already installed 9c. what do i do? I also still have a uninstalled driver. I dunno what is left!!!
May 17th, 2008 09:47
Hi everyone!
Even managed to install sata drivers (using n-lite) and dell mediadirect - DVD was attached in the box. Everyone who is affraid to go for XP - don’t worry, it takes few hours but it’s easy. I had ofcourse some issues. Not every link with the drivers from the top of this website was working for my case, but all the issues are solved in the posts above. I had few issues:
Just purchased latest inspiron 1525 with Penryn 2.10ghz, 250GB HDD, 2GB RAM, Wi-FI, Bluetooth, Webcam etc… for 499.00 pounds from dell.co.uk
Thank to this website I decided to downgrade to XP and I made it with 100% success
1. Wireless problem - download the one from http://www.intel.com website (make sure you pick the right model of your wireless card).
2. Webcam problem - go to the post 32 or 49. (In my case, webcam was working without any drivers, however I could not play with the screen properties untill I installed drivers from post 49.)
3. Touchpad problem - go to post 49.
4. Marvell Yukon Ethernet Controller - remebmer to unzip it before you force windows to install the driver.
ALL THE PROBLEMS ARE SOLVED ON THIS WEBSITE SO NO NEED TO LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE
Still don’t understand why dell does not support XP on this model. My inspiron runs much faster on XP and everybody knows that Vista+Laptop=crap…
Thanks a lot for this website. Well done!
Rafalddd
May 20th, 2008 13:33
Hi All,
Recently i bought Dell Inspron 1525 laptop with OS Vista . But despretly i have to installed XP.
i have an XP OS(DELL LATITUDE D620). So can it support Inspron 1525??
any suggestions really appriciate
Cheers
Babu
May 20th, 2008 15:08
hi ! I have installed all the drivers,and it seems works perfectly.But !
When I use the wireless on,the sound play is like shit.Is there any solution how to fix it ? if the wifi is off,the sound is crystal clear, and when i switch on the wifi, the sound going to bad quality
May 21st, 2008 11:14
i wold like driver web cam for Dell Inspiron 1525 for windows XP
yhank you
May 22nd, 2008 06:10
mattar ! Just do not be so so lazy,and read the posts above U ! And U will find it !
Work for your notebook
Any solution for my wifi problem ? Coz I resetup all the windows,and if I use the wifi for internet,and in the same time i listen music, the sound card is starting to crack.
And if i switch off the wifi, it is crystal clear !
May 22nd, 2008 07:36
Hi,
Last week I purchased my Dell inspiron 1525. Yesterday I formatted it to have Xp prof on it instead of Vista (Vista is a Crap).
Once I have installed Xp and tried to install drivers from Dell driver/utility CD I was surprised to see — All drivers are for VISTA only.
I checked the Vista drivers and installed the Web cam and the Lan driver form there. It’s working perfectly for me. I tried using the Audio and Bluetooth driver available for Vista on Xp, but unfortunately it didn’t work out.
I will try the drivers suggested here for rest of the devices tonight.
Diptanjan
May 22nd, 2008 20:59
Thanks a lot!!! Very very informative! I have spent a couple nights but with this article completly finished transfering to XP.
May 23rd, 2008 11:36
@diptanjan
So u mean,teh wireless and chipset for vista works perfectly with xp ?
May 24th, 2008 13:50
I installed the drivers for my 1525 from dell’s 1520 driver site. Except for the ethernet controller, everything works fine. At least the wireless works great.
The link: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=WW1&osl=EN&catid=-1&impid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=INS_PNT_PM_1520&hidos=WLH&hidlang=en
May 25th, 2008 09:33
I got the solution,if somebody has the same problem with cracking soundcard if wifi is on :
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=cc_faq&thread.id=364
May 26th, 2008 20:19
thanks for all the help everyone! 100% for all my stuff on my 1525 as of 5 minutes ago
May 27th, 2008 23:06
“For those who still had trouble creating the patched windows CD”
As a summary, the reason to create this CD is that it will include the drivers Windows XP doesn’t currently have to admit your Hard Drive when you install Windows XP.
First of all, download the necessary drivers and extract them into a new folder: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R166200&SystemID=INS_PNT_PM_1525&servicetag=&os=WLH&osl=en&deviceid=11530&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=1&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=41&fileid=224400
Then, Just follow this link http://news.softpedia.com/news/Install-Windows-XP-On-SATA-Without-a-Floppy-F6-47807.shtml and do everything as that page indicates.
When you get to the point, using nlite, where you have to pick the drivers (After Integrate/Drivers –> Next –> Insert) select “Multiple driver folder”. Look for the folder you extracted before containing the drivers and accept the first window that shows up clicking previously on the folder path shown above. Then you will see a long list of drivers. Be sure the option “Textmode driver” is selected. Then click on “Intel (R) 82801HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller (Mobile ICH8M-E/M)”
Then go “Next” and continue with the explanation of the website.
(I’m no expert, just a dude that tried and it worked. I’m sorry if this doesn’t work out for everybody) Ohh and the guys from this site rule!!! Thanks for all your help!
May 28th, 2008 14:17
I need help. I downgraded my 1525 system using windows xp professional (version: 2002).
I am having trouble with my audio. I can play my dvd but no sound.
I tried installing the audio driver (1525 SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD ) from dell 1520 xp driver list and I got the following message:
ExitError:Error=THis system does not support the driver you are attempting to install.
Any suggestions or leads would be greatly appreciated.
May 28th, 2008 17:37
Thanks for your useful post. i used “Black XP professionl with SP2 ” installation dvd.
Don’t have to do tricks. SATA driver and all the driver include and it works fine. Too much difference in speed now. super fast xp.. i really hate vista. For the black xp version 5, you can find easily on torrent sites.
May 29th, 2008 06:33
BIG PROBLEM. My wireless network card is in conflict with my sound card, everytime i disable and enable my wireless card the sound interrupts for 1 secound, and if i let it enable every minute the sound interrups for a half of secound, please if you know what to do help me. I’ve tried vista allso and now i have xp professional sp2. Big Thanks.
May 29th, 2008 06:43
the same problem i have with the sound and wireless device. when wireless device is on the sound is like shit, when wireless off sounds cristal. my email adress is ghtcostin@yahoo.com i allso use instant messenger yahoo, id: ghtcostin. Thx for all the Help.
May 29th, 2008 14:54
hello dueds
pls assist me for installation for sound driver on dell inspiron 1525 in winxp
May 29th, 2008 16:10
i do not know why are the people so lazy. !
Costin romania !!
Your solution is mentioned 1 post above you !
there you go :
solution for sound card if sound is cracking or choppy:
If Disabling your wireless card - Using Fn+F2 or the wireless switch, improves audio playback, then try disabling wireless band “a”. See below:
1. Start –> Control Panel –> Device Manager.
2. Expand “Network Adapters”.
3. Right-click on your wireless adapter and select “Properties”.
4. Go to the “Advanced” tab.
5. Select “Disable Bands”.
6. Pull down “Disable 802.11a”.
7. Click “Apply”.
**Your settings may be different on the advanced tab. You may need to select “Wireless Mode” under property and then set the value to 802.1b/g.
I hope it was helpful !
Firedaddy from hungary
May 30th, 2008 09:03
Thnx a lot man !!! i don`t like vista so this is a excelent job
May 30th, 2008 15:29
why somebody always delete my posts about solving wireless porblem ?? is it some illegal in it or what ?
May 31st, 2008 19:26
Hey all,
Thanks for the great tips, it was very helpful!!
about the HDMI port: I want to connect my laptop to a TV with hdmi cable, but my TV does not show anything when i connect it. do i need driver for it?
how can i get my tv work as a screen with this hdmi port?