Need to revert to XP from Win 10

[Neilt]

I recently bought a stand-by Asrock Ion 330HT Nettop PC Atom 330 4GB Ram 320 GB HDD with Win 10 operating system which I believe is 64-bit.
I need to revert to Win XP, the only operating system I can run my accounts package on and what I believe the machine was designed for.
I would appreciate any advice on whether I can do this and how: many thanks, Neilt.

[phillpower2]

Do you have a Windows XP 64-bit installation disk.

[xrobwx71]

I would not feel comfortable helping anyone do this. Someone else might.

[MEDIA=youtube]6uSVVCmOH5w[/MEDIA]

[Neilt]

Do you have a Windows XP 64-bit installation disk.

Thanks for the quick response. I do have Win XP Home Edition. Probably 32-bit which is ok for me. I do not need to connect to the internet.

[Neilt]

I would not feel comfortable helping anyone do this. Someone else might.

[MEDIA=youtube]6uSVVCmOH5w[/MEDIA]

It’s not critical as it’s only a backup machine for my other identical Asrock running Win XP which is the only OS that I can run Quicken 2002 on. There will be no internet connection. Nevertheless, it’d be great to be able to revert it to XP as it should be. But if it all goes wrong there’d be no worries. Any help appreciated

[Malnutrition]

Reverting from Windows 10 to Windows XP on your Asrock Ion 330HT Nettop PC is technically possible, but there are several important considerations and steps involved in the process. Below, I will outline these steps in detail.

System Compatibility:

[ul]
[li]The Asrock Ion 330HT is equipped with an Intel Atom 330 processor, which is a dual-core CPU that was designed for low power consumption and basic computing tasks. It supports both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.[/li][li]Windows XP is a 32-bit operating system by default, although there was a Professional version that supported 64-bit. Since you mentioned needing to run an accounts package that only works on XP, it’s likely that the standard version will suffice.[/li][/ul]

Obtain a Valid Copy of Windows XP:

[ul]
[li]You will need a legitimate copy of Windows XP installation media (CD/DVD or USB). Ensure that you have the product key available for activation.[/li][li]If you do not have the original installation media, you may need to source it from reputable vendors or online marketplaces that offer legacy software.[/li][/ul]
Prepare Installation Media:

[ul]
[li]If you have a CD/DVD version of Windows XP, ensure that your optical drive is functional.[/li][li]For USB installations, use tools like Rufus or the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool to create bootable installation media from an ISO file of Windows XP.[/li][/ul]
Change BIOS Settings:

[ul]
[li]Restart your Nettop PC and enter the BIOS setup (usually by pressing F2 or DEL during boot).[/li][li]Set the boot order so that your computer boots from the CD/DVD drive or USB drive first.[/li][/ul]
Install Windows XP:

[ul]
[li]Insert the installation media into your PC and restart it.[/li][li]Follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows XP. During this process, you will be prompted to format your hard drive; this step will erase all existing data including Windows 10.[/li][li]Choose the appropriate partition where you want to install XP (usually C:, format it as NTFS if prompted, and continue with the installation.[/li][/ul]

[Malnutrition]

https://www.asrock.com/Nettop/NVIDIA/ION%20330HTW7HP/index.asp#Download

Drivers are here.

[PeterOz]

I would run Virtual box and install xp as a VM

[PeterOz]

Download from here.

https://www.virtualbox.org/

The other option you might think about if you have a windows 7 Pro iso.
You could run win7 and use the inbuilt XP mode

[Bruce]

+1 with Peter, exactly what I was thinking.

Install XP within a Virtual Machine using free software such as Oracle’s VirtualBox (as suggested already), Microsoft’s HyperV (if you have Pro), or VMware Workstation Player.

I’ve used them all and found them easy to setup.

[Pyro]

VMWare Workstation Pro is free for personal use as well now, the best VM software I have used personally.

[Neilt]

Well, that’s fantastic, thanks guys for all of your help. I’ll report back on how I get on. Cheers Neilt

[Bruce]

@Neilt - any luck?

[Neilt]

Not yet, Bruce. I’ve just spent a happy 2 hours trying to stop Win 10 from resuming hibernation mode. It kept going around in circles no matter what I tried; F2, F8, Delete et al. In the meantime, Windows stopped recognising my mouse and 2 others I knew were working. So the machine is now in the process of resetting and I’m going to bed. No worries 'cause I love learning this stuff. I’ll resume tomorrow and report back

[Neilt]

Update; I thought I might go for Malnutrician’s suggestion first as the machine was running painfully slow so it made sense to format and start again. That took many hours, but now I have the required Win XP operating system installed. Great! BUT not great, still no mouse!
I’ve purloined another mouse from my wife’s machine; it’s an MS one and the Asrock sees it, but as with the previous generic mouse it says there’s a fault.
I’ve re-booted and tried different USB ports and even loaded service pack 2 but to no avail.
I guess it’s missing an Asrock DLL, driver or has a corrupted BIOS. I may have to download, on my internet-connected machine, and then save it to a USB stick for transfer or make a bigger effort to get the faulty machine on the net
Would anyone hazard a guess as to what I should be searching for on the Asrock site?
BTW, the mouse stopped working whilst running on Win 10 so it’s nothing to do with XP. It stopped when I rearranged the boot order and it started going around in circles