Installing Windows XP on a Compaq Presario C700 Laptop / Notebook

The main problem. If you install without the sata ahci drivers windows will either blue screen as soon as it loads or during install it announces:- Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer. You can get around this by disabling sata native mode in the BIOS but then you won’t be using all those nice fast power saving options that Comaq & Intel wanted your Notebook to have.

Driver Downloads.

Before “downgrading” to XP take a copy of the hidden c:\SwSetup\Drivers directory, referred to later as SwSetup. Check which wireless adaptor you have, this one was Atheros.

Download the two items for the gm965 Express chipset… This file infinst_autol.exe does the chipset, this one winxp_14374.exe does the graphics. – V6.14.10.5218 – updated September 2013.

Atheros wireless network driver is here.

Sound drivers here (July 2014) follow the instructions below.

Download sp38171 from the Hp site here and sp37005 from here run it, this will create a floppy disc with the sata ahci drivers on.

Running infinst_autol.exe will create the drivers needed in the hidden directory Local Settings\Temp\IPMx2\All copy them before clicking next or Ok.

Download nlite and follow the instructions here to create an Xp install disc with the sata ahci drivers on, in the add drivers stage you need to add the drivers iaahci or ich8ide created above. Another way is to enter the BIOS with F10 at startup and disable SATA Native Support in System Configuration. This can be enabled later once the proper drivers have been loaded.

Installing XP

Boot the Compaq Presario C700 laptop from the cd created, If it’s an SP3 version then the screen may go blank for quite a time (which prevents the more usual “F6” method of loading new drivers) while the first bit of the install loads. SP2 install cd’s don’t do this but you are better off with an SP3 one. Reboot after every step below.

From control panel / advanced, turn off system restore.Device Manager Hp G7000 Xp Installation

Run infinst_autol.exe to install the chipset drivers.

Run win2k_xp14363.exe to install the graphics drivers.

Optional:- Running regedit.exe & going to HKLM\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Run and removing Igfxtray & Igfxpers prevents the un-necessary graphics programs from running at startup.

Activate XP.

Atheros wireless…

In Device Manager use the AR5007_XP\WMIA-167G_Windows_Driver_5.3.0.45\ndis5x drivers folder to install the wireless drivers. Using regedit.exe search the registry for the 2nd occurance of “Atheros” and add the entries gpioFunc0ActHi with a value of 0 and gpioPinFunc0 with a value of 3. This will make the blue wireless light / led work next time you reboot.

SwSetup\Drivers\Modem\Setup.exe gets the internal dial-up modem going.

sp38171 is not essential but will activate the quick launch buttons.

sp31075.exe is not essential but will make the touchpad left/right up/down scroll facility work.

Compaq C700 Sound Drivers

Sound drivers are here.

Once all is well turn System Restore back on, windows startup takes less than 30 seconds.

Having done this several times we can now provide a complete DIY kit including an installation CD. The process is then much simpler than the instructions above, with the easy step by step instructions provided, you will have XP fully installed on your C700 in less than 35 minutes. A Windows Professional product key (not supplied) will be required.

Just £9.95 including postage worldwide.




Please select the item below if you’d like to install XP Home instead of Professional, as above, a valid XP Home product key (not supplied) will be required.




Click to show CD Installation guide.

Microtext XP Installation CD guide for the G7000 / C700

Insert the CD. At startup press F10. Right cursor key to System Configuration to check that SATA Native Support says

(the laptop will be slightly faster if this is set to enable). If it is not set to Enable then cursor down to it and press enter, cursor up to Enable and press enter. Right cursor to Exit, press return twice.

At the restart press F9, make sure DVD drive is the first item press enter. The laptop should now show the message “Press any key to boot from the CD….” Press one, quick !

The screen will go blue for about 3 minutes. Select drive c: for the install, delete the existing partition then format using NTFS (Quick). After around 10 minutes the computer will reboot, leave the CD in the drive and don’t press anything when it says “To boot from CD…”

Enter a username and click next. Enter your Windows XP Professional product key and click next. Set the computer name to G7000 or C700, leave the password field blank and click next. The computer will reboot once more.

At the welcome screen click next / Help protect / next / Skip / No, Remind me / next / No then enter a user name and click next / Finish then click on your username. The XP screen will appear and all of the drivers will have been installed, simple !

To make the Blue wireless LED function correctly from Start / My Computer double click on the G7000 CD icon, double click Extras then double click the Atheros Blue Wireless LED icon, click yes then OK. The Blue Wireless Light will now function correctly after the next boot.

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