# Dell Inspiron 560 XP Drivers [moved from XP]



## Matt1234 (Aug 9, 2008)

Is it possible to get XP drivers for the Dell Inspiron 560? I can't find the drivers on the Dell site. Is there another way?


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## OldGrayGary (Jun 29, 2006)

*Re: Dell Inspiron 560 XP Drivers*

Hi Matt1234


Dell doesn't provide any XP drivers for your model. If your 560 shipped with Windows 7, it's a good operating system: I wouldn't recommend trying to downgrade to XP as the main operating system. If you have a program that doesn't run on Windows 7, you can install Windows XP into a virtual environment and run it in that manner. Microsoft provides VirtualPC at no cost, and has a special version for Windows 7 (rather oddly named "XP Mode"). VMWare is a good choice, too.

Then again, if you want to find native-XP drivers for your hardware:
1) Go to the dell.com support website --- http://support.dell.com/support/index.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs --- and enter the Service Tag for your system. 
2) Click on "System Configuration" (on the left-hand side menus)
3) Copy down, or print, the important specs - especially motherboard, chipset, audio, video, and network components. 
4) Search at the manufacturer's websites (the component manufacturers, not Dell) for XP drivers.

Another alternative for finding the specs: if you have the manual for your model, it will likely list detailed specifications in the Appendix (and you can download the manual from a menu on that same webpage linked above ... click on the "Manuals" link on the left-hand side menus).

Best of luck
. . . Gary


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## Matt1234 (Aug 9, 2008)

*Re: Dell Inspiron 560 XP Drivers*

Thanks Gary.

My understanding of XP mode is that you need to have higher version of W7 than the Home Edittions and you need a processor that's capable of running Virtualisation to use it.

If I did decide to downgrade, will I be able to find drivers for everything ot do you think I'll have trouble? If I struggle to find a driver for something, can I get help here?

I'll look into VMWare too.

Thanks


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

*Re: Dell Inspiron 560 XP Drivers*

Yeah, you need Windows 7 Professional or higher to be able to install and use XP mode. 

Why do you want to downgrade ? As Gary said Seven is a good OS, it's not slower than XP (unlike Vista). If you need to use older programs try to run them under XP SP3 compatibilty mode in the program's properties. If it's because of older hardware (scanner, printer, ...) then make sure they didn't release updated drivers for Windows 7. If you want to tweak 7 to remove the eye candy so that it looks more like XP it can also be done.



> If I did decide to downgrade, will I be able to find drivers for everything ot do you think I'll have trouble? If I struggle to find a driver for something, can I get help here?


You'll find the chipset and video drivers easily (always install the chipset drivers first), but depending on the manufacturer you may have a hard time finding the wireless, sound and media card reader drivers. Note that if your hard drive is SATA you'll need either to enter the BIOS and revert it to IDE/ATA mode (or to disable AHCI), either to slipstream the SATA drivers on the XP install CD or it won't detect your hard drive during the installation of Windows XP. Make sure you create the Windows 7 recovery CD with the preinstalled software if you didn't get a recovery CD with the computer.

There are several different configurations for the Inspiron 560, give us your exact model ID, service tag or complete system specs if you need help. These programs can help you : 
System spec
]Unknown device identifier

Here's a link to your thread on Dell's support forum so we can follow your progress there as well : http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19314339.aspx

I'll move your thread to the drivers support section.


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## Matt1234 (Aug 9, 2008)

I've never tried Windows 7 before but I really didn't like Vista so it might be ok. If I don't get Windows 7 Professional or higher, could I install XP in something like VMWare or VirtualBox and use XP like it was the main OS? That would be easier Driverwise too wouldn't it?

Does XP Mode run 64 bit XP if W7 is 64 bit or is it 32 bit XP on 64 bit W7?

Also do most processors support Virtualisation as I think that was another requirement of XP Mode. Do VMWare and VirtualBox also need Virtualisation capability in the processor or will they work fine without it?


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

Here's a list of CPU's that support Virtualization : 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_vi...alization_Technology_for_x86_.28Intel_VT-x.29

Seems XP Mode runs in 32bit even on W7 64bit :
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/922-63-windows-mode

VMWare and VirtualBox make use of hardware assisted virtualization when it's available. If the CPU doesn't support it it'll still work but i'll use up more CPU ressources (edit : but according to this and this you'll need hardware VT to run a 64bit guest system). In all cases you'll need a valid XP licence (except XP mode on Windows Seven which comes with a free licence).

More on virtual machines with or without hardware VT : 
http://serverfault.com/questions/17...ks-for-virtual-machines-with-and-without-vt-x
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/263


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## OldGrayGary (Jun 29, 2006)

Hi again all


A big thanks to justpassingby for providing a bounty of good answers and lots of research materials! 

Matt - if you are a college student (or have a college student in your family), you might qualify for Microsoft's $30 student-price for Windows 7. The low price does make the decision easier! ---Also, if your 560 shipped with Vista within the six months or so, see if you qualify for the free upgrade to Windows 7 that some of the systems offered.

And I've found that most of the XP programs that I tried on Vista and on Windows 7 ran OK if they were installed using the "Compatibility Mode" feature (you right-click on the installer, and select the version of Windows that the program was designed for). I was even able to run an Office 2000 installation on a few Vista computers ... the only feature I had to live without was the Office Assistant (no loss there). Once I uninstalled the Assistant feature, Office ran without any problems at all. 

So you might not have to fuss with a virtual environment if your programs install and run in "Compatibility Mode". 

The virtual environments really come in handy when emulating older versions of Windows (like Win95 or Win98), for which native hardware drivers just don't exist for todays components. 

Best of luck!
. . . Gary

P.S. .... another good reason to go with a more-recent version of Windows is that you'll enjoy more support from Microsoft over a longer period of time (looking forward). Microsoft has been making noises about stopping its active-support phase for Windows XP for some time now. Once that phase ends, MS doesn't provide Security patches and the like in the same timely manner.


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## Matt1234 (Aug 9, 2008)

Hi,
Just so you know, this is a computer I'm thinking of buying but I like to try and be prepared for everything.

I've had a look at the VMWare and VirtualBox. Managed to part install VirtualBox but towards the end of the installation, it warned me that setting up the network connections would reset my current network settings or something like that so I cancelled the installation.

Got VMWare installed but couldn't work out how to install anything on it.

Would either of those run on Windows 7 64 bit even if I don't have virtualisation? Is it just installing a 64 bit OS to it that needs virtualisation capabilities?

One thing about Windows 7 that I'm not sure about is I have seen some stories of peoples external hard drives becoming corrupted while using Windows 7. It might just be coincidence but I'm not sure whether I want to trust Windows 7 with my data or not after reading some of those.


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

Matt1234 said:


> Would either of those run on Windows 7 64 bit even if I don't have virtualisation? Is it just installing a 64 bit OS to it that needs virtualisation capabilities?


From what I understood yes.

You could give this one a try : 
VMLite XP Mode 
Register to be able to download it. The details are in the howto guide.


> The limitations of Windows XP Mode are significant. According to Microsoft website, “Windows XP Mode will only run on Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate editions”. It also “requires a CPU with the Intel® Virtualization Technology or AMD-V™ feature turned on.” The latter requirement creates 2 major drawbacks for PC users: first, most PC chips in the market including majority of Core 2 Duo CPUs do not support this feature, and second, this feature is disabled by default on most supporting CPUs, which means a trip into the BIOS to enable hardware virtualization is needed. As conclusion, users want to benefit from Windows XP Mode will have to buy new hardware, even though this solution may not work.
> 
> VMLite is releasing VMLite XP Mode to do the same things as Windows XP Mode does. VMLite XP Mode supports Intel® Virtualization Technology or AMD-V™ feature, but it does not require such feature. VMLite XP Mode, as a XP Mode for every PC, could ease consumers on the transition from legacy Windows OSs to Windows 7.





Matt1234 said:


> One thing about Windows 7 that I'm not sure about is I have seen some stories of peoples external hard drives becoming corrupted while using Windows 7. It might just be coincidence but I'm not sure whether I want to trust Windows 7 with my data or not after reading some of those.


Haven't had any problem with my external drive till now, what stories did you hear, do you have a link ?


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## OldGrayGary (Jun 29, 2006)

Hi all

I haven't yet heard of problems with external drives and Windows 7 either. I do recall that "Home Server 2008" had a bug early on (just after it's release, I think) - but that was fixed with an update not long afterwards.

I've run Win7 on a tester PC for a little over a year now (beta & final) -- all the externals have been OK.

Curious to hear how things turn out!
. . . Gary


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