Acer Aspire 6930 Windows XP Installation Guide
11 February 2009 at 1:19 am | In Guides, Laptop, Windows | 24 CommentsTags: 6930, Acer Aspire 6930, Guide, howto, install, installation, Microsoft, Windows XP
For those that prefer the speed and stability that Windows XP offers, this guide will help you get it running on the Acer Aspire 6930 laptop. Beware that there are a couple limitations. Firstly, you will only be able to use 3GB of RAM if you use the 32-bit version of Windows XP. Secondly, some features may not work or function the same as they do in Windows Vista. Keep in mind that this laptop was designed to run Windows Vista, and so Acer probably won’t support you if you run Windows XP. With that said, let’s get down to business.
Step 1: Recovery Discs
You should make recovery discs if you haven’t already. In case you change your mind or something goes wrong, you should make sure you have these discs. That way you can at least go back to a working system. Also, it’s a good idea to backup your data now because installing Windows XP will wipe out whatever is on the computer.
Step 2: BIOS Settings
By default the Aspire 6930 uses AHCI mode to access the hard disk. Unfortunately, Windows XP doesn’t have the right drivers to use this mode. The easiest way to get around this is to change the access mode to IDE. Turn the laptop on, and start pressing F2 right away. The BIOS setup screen will appear. Use the arrow keys to go to the “Main” tab, then go down to select SATA Mode, and press Enter. Then select IDE Mode and press Enter. Finally, press F10 to save and exit, and choose Yes and press Enter to confirm.
Technically, using IDE Mode will reduce the performance slightly (although I haven’t noticed the difference). For full performance, you would need to slipstream the AHCI drivers with the Windows XP CD and then proceed with the installation without changing the BIOS settings. There are plenty of guides on the Internet on slipstreaming, like this one, if you’d like to give it a try.
Step 3: Install Windows XP
If you haven’t every installed Windows XP on a computer before, it’s not that hard. Go ahead and turn the laptop on, or reboot it if it’s already on. When you see the black screen with the Acer logo on it, start pressing F12 until the boot menu appears. Then put the Windows XP CD in the CD drive. Choose the CD drive in the boot menu, and press Enter. After a second, you should see some text saying “Press any key to boot from CD…”. Make sure you press a key!
After a couple of minutes the Windows XP installer will be loaded. Just follow the instructions on the screen to go through the rest of the Windows installation. If you’re really unsure of anything, try looking at Microsoft’s guide to installing Windows XP. It’s easy, trust me.
Step 4: Installing Drivers
Now the crucial step to get everything working, installing all the right drivers. Since the laptop was designed for Windows Vista, it can be hard to find all the right drivers for XP. Thankfully, some folks (like myself) have already done all the hard work and collected together the location of most of the drivers.
Here’s what I needed to get everything working:
Video: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator drivers from Intel’s website. If you have NVIDIA graphics, you’ll need NVIDIA drivers instead.
Audio: Realtek HD Audio drivers. The XP driver links are right under the Vista Driver links.
Wireless: Intel WiFi Link 5100/5300 drivers. Some models are equipped with a different wireless card, see the section below.
LAN: Atheros L1 Gigabit Ethernet drivers.
Webcam: Windows XP supported it without any special drivers.
Card reader: Windows XP supported it without any special drivers.
Media keys: Volume, play/pause, and Wireless on/off keys worked without any special drivers. For better support, including on-screen feedback when you press the keys, download the Dritek Launch Manager software.
Touchpad: Synaptics touchpad drivers. Required if you want to use the scroll area!
Bluetooth, modem, etc.: untested. You can try the drivers at the links listed in “Other Driver Sources” below.
Other Driver Sources
For the devices that I didn’t test or that my laptop wasn’t equipped with, you may have some luck looking at this page, which has links to a bunch of different drivers. You may also have luck trying Acer’s drivers for Vista, because some will work in XP as well. And finally, you can always try the different manufacturer’s pages, although it can be difficult to figure out which components are made by which company.
Final Thoughts
The Aspire 6930 worked well in Windows XP, and provided a lot better performance compared to in Windows Vista. I also found that the battery life was improved, the hard drive was accessed less, and things just generally worked faster and better. I didn’t have any issues, and all the hardware that I use was supported without any problems. On a cautionary note, though, keep in mind that Windows XP is already 7 years old and will become more and more obsolete as time goes on. So I’d suggest that if you don’t like Vista, but still want a modern operating system, try Ubuntu. It works great on this laptop, offers very good features and performance, and doesn’t cost anything. Its worth a try, regardless of your views on Microsoft Windows.
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[...] written up a guide to installing Windows XP on the Acer Aspire 6930 for those that are interested. Possibly related posts: (automatically [...]
Pingback by Acer Aspire 6930 Laptop In Depth Review « Actual Reality — 11 February 2009 #
That’s some quality work there .. Well done. I’m binning vista tonight in favour of XP.. can’t stand Vista..
thanks again.
S.
Comment by stuart bennett — 11 February 2009 #
Well binned Vista and got XP on.
Could not get the audio drivers from where you said so posted a link here. The sooner the better for the Intel chipset drivers also (link below).. All good though, thanks.
audio drivers.
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/ExpressFTPSite.aspx?DownTypeID=3&DownID=11&PFid=24&Conn=3
Get the other drivers from here (same link as you posted) :
http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/notebook/as_6930.html
chipset_inte_v9.0.0.1009
modem_Foxconn_v7.73.0.52
fingerprint_upek_v1.9.2.111
Comment by Stuart Bennett — 14 February 2009 #
Thanks, Stuart! I’ll update the article to reflect those links.
Comment by Jesse — 14 February 2009 #
[...] [...]
Pingback by STEROWNIKI DO ACeR Aspire 6930G POD XP D: - Precyl.pl — 22 February 2009 #
Thank you very much!!!
Comment by Ifikratis — 24 February 2009 #
XP loaded just perfect with your instructions.
However, none of the links for ethernet controller and sm bus controller worked. Going nuts with this ACER 6930. I have to use my desktop to do all the downloading and transferring the files with a thumb drive. Any help for those drivers needed !!!
Comment by Leland Yee — 12 March 2009 #
Leland,
I have got the 6930 fully XP’d up with all drivers and posted some supplemental links in this thread to complement Jesse’s superb initial guide.
have you put the chipset driver INF files on ? What I can say is that the 6930 will run XP with all devices recognised so it can be done.. I’ve actually split the hard disk and got ubuntu on the 2nd partition with a grub loader upon boot up.. All good.
Drop me an email on stuart.bennett@gmail.com, we can sort it out
S.
Comment by Stuart bennett — 12 March 2009 #
oke i did all you said, and installed xp on my aspire 6930.
i installed xp on my data: E disc, and vista is still on my C disc.
but i can’t load it back in vista!! need some help plz!
Comment by D'Co — 15 March 2009 #
Hi,
Hi am using Acer 6930 and installed XP on it. I have installed the audio driver(Realtek HD Audio driver) but the sound quality is not as like Dolby. Please suggest me what to do to get good sound quality (Dolby Surround Sound).
Comment by Swapnil — 26 March 2009 #
THANKS 4 ALL
Comment by DARO — 20 April 2009 #
Hi all,
I have purchased a acer 6930 with limpus linux pre-installed. tried to load xp and failed. It does not even recoginze the hard disk.
Then tried to install vista. But it stops at “Completing Installation” step. Tried it for five times and given up.
With your instructions if i load xp now will it be possible to revert back to vist in future??
please help
sarkar
Comment by suku — 11 May 2009 #
You shouldn’t have any problem installing Windows Vista later on if you are able to install Windows XP. Since your laptop came with Linux, you might need to create a new partition table before you can install XP. If you have a Linux Live CD, this is as simple as booting up, opening a command line, and using fdisk to write a new partition table on the drive.
Comment by Jesse — 11 May 2009 #
Thank you so much for your hard work!!! This is awesome I was able to get rid of Vista and have XP ran smoothly on my Acer.
Comment by Winhwah — 16 May 2009 #
Just for those interested:
There’s a forum in Europe called Retestrak which presents modified versions of XP/Vista for those interested in an optimized OS (with all the unnecessary stuff removed). I’ve tried many “lite” XPs in the past and I’ve found these guys have the better ones -no unexplained problems, etc. The forum itself does not contain direct links to these versions, but you can google for them.
I’ve installed the Tiny XP Christmas 2008 version in my new Acer 6930 and it does literally fly!. Aside the fact that the initial installation it only occupes 400Mb in RAM. Most importantly, I’ve encountered no problem so far (>3 months!) and I don’t miss anything “essential” in my day to day chores with my laptop.
http://forum.retestrak.nl/viewtopic.php?f=153&t=31007&p=250942&hilit=+There+have+been+many+versions+of+TinyXP+in+the+past+#p250942
Cheers.
Comment by Cokie69 — 19 May 2009 #
Thanks for this great guide! What a find. I’m going to try and load XP out on my laptop over the next few days. I’ll keep you posted on my progress. Hopefully all will go well.
Comment by thatchicagoguy — 23 May 2009 #
Hello! I’d love to give an update but everytime I enter one I get a blank white screen with the word “discarded” in the top left corner. Anyone know why that happens???
Comment by thatchicagoguy — 24 May 2009 #
Acer Aspire 6930-6455 ZK2
Windows XP Install Notes – May 24, 2009
Some are the same links as above and some are updated for newer versions or 64-bit versions. Some of the websites are unwieldy. I use Firefox but I did use Internet Explorer as well. I have found that, and I know this will come as a huge surprise, finding and downloading things from the Interwebs is more of an art than a science. You may need to poke around to find exactly the right software or drivers. The links provided point to the mentioned software as of late May 2009 and will hopefully give a good starting point if nothing else.
Video: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator drivers from Intel’s website. These drivers are for the Express Chipsets and the Mobile Intel GM45 of the 6930. I used the Drivers dated 3/31/2009 for Windows XP 64. The link in the text is for Windows 2K Drivers.
Audio: Realtek High Definition Audio Codecs and Drivers. The XP Driver links are right under the Vista Driver links. Also download the README PDF file. The versions I found were R2.24 dated 5/18/2009.
Wireless: Intel WiFi Link 5100/5300 drivers. I wasn’t sure which model of wireless I had but I made a best guess of the Intel WiFi Link 5300 and Intel WiFi Link 5100 products since it most closely matched what I found in the Acer Device Manager under Vista. I downloaded the Windows XP 64 versions. The Intel® PRO/Wireless and WiFi Link Drivers were version 12.4.0.0 dated 4/10/2009. I also used the Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi Connection Utility for Windows XP 64-Bit version 12.4.0.0 dated 4/9/2009.
LAN: I choose the Atheros AR81Family Windows Driver x86/x64(Vista, XP, Server 2003) from the Atheros website since it most closely matched what I found in the Acer Device Manager under Vista. The Device Manager said that the network is an Atheros AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 PCI-E Ethernet. From the models it looked like the AR81 Family may work.
Touchpad: Synaptics touchpad drivers. Required if you want to use the scroll area! Again I choose the Windows XP 64 version of the drivers.
I have successfully installed Windows XP Pro X64 on my Aspire 6930. I have completed the above steps and everything is running fine so far. I have not done anything for the Media Keys, Webcam, or Card reader yet.
I’ll let you know how those go and how the transition from Vista to XP is coming. This is great!!
Comment by thatchicagoguy — 24 May 2009 #
I found out I had too many URLs in my update so it was rejected. I tried to put the links into XHTML but the results are not what I wanted. But I did get the update into the comments here. If anyone knows how to format URLs correctly please let me know. Thanks.
Comment by thatchicagoguy — 24 May 2009 #
Thanks for sharing those links! I checked the Intel GMA link that I have in the article, and it is for Windows XP Pro, not 2000… And I know what you mean about finding the right software and drivers! It seems like sometimes the manufacturers intentionally make them hard to find!
Comment by Jesse — 27 May 2009 #
I have just come across this blog and have found it informative and interesting, I hope to come back and visit this site again, and learn something new again.:)
Comment by Janet | Web Design — 8 July 2009 #
Thanks for the guide.
Comment by NIKOMCK — 15 July 2009 #
Working like a charm.
Good job!
Comment by JMorris — 29 July 2009 #
Hey, i’ve followed every instruction but i have one question, How can i get the intergrated mic to work on windows XP it was working fine with preloaded vista 64 bit
Comment by Marlon — 8 September 2009 #