Ideal Pad Y510

[cthioaus]

I am interested in installing Windows XP into Y510. I am not trying to downgrade from Vista to XP but I want to install both OS in separate HD so that when I start my computer, I will be given the choice of a dual boot.

In the support page of Ideal Pad Y510, I have downloaded all the drivers for WIN XP, there is also this on that support page:

1. Power on and press F2 to enter in BIOS stetup Utility.
2. Choose "Advanced", and change the "SATA Controller working mode" from "AHCI" to "Compatibility".
3. Saved the change.
4. Restart and install XP Operating System.

My question is, how do I instal the WIN XP into the HD of my Y510? How do I partition the HD of my Y510? I presume it is best to install WIN XP into the d drive. So, I would need to partition the d drive, some that I would use it for WIN XP. I have got the CD for WIN XP with SP2 (full version).

Naturally, I would want to maintain my Vista and all its features on this computer.

Can anyone help? I would really appreciate it.

[skripatch]

Turning on "Compability" mode can affect your boot options of Vista - it may Crash. Try turning Compability and booting Vista. If it crashes, the only option for you - to integrate chipset drivers in your XP CD. Changing partitions size of C is not recommended since it affects NOVA recovery function. Resize D and also create another disk you can with Partedmagic.
Read the Y510+FAQ topic first.
HTH.

[ArtieJ]

One other option is to use a USB floppy and put the SATA drivers on a floppy disk.  I bought a USB floppy drive just for this purpose and considered it a good investment.

I'm not sure you would have to partition anything, just install XP on the existing D partition.  Make sure to backup any files you may have stored there, and also be sure you install XP on the correct partition (Check the size).

[cthioaus]

Hi, thanks. I think if I were to install WIN XP in d drive, I would still need to format that drive. That should not affect the c drive which I do not intend to alter in any way. My intention is to install XP before I do too much work on Vista itself (in the c drive). Those XP drivers that Lenovo has put up in their Y510 support page, I can always store them in usb thumb drive as they would surely be required to be installed into XP once WIN XP has been successfully installed. But, I am confused as to why would the computer crash because the boot order has been changed to first read the optical drive at start up. How did you install XP without having the CD in the optical drive? Thanks.

[cthioaus]

Hi, thanks for a quick response. I am confused as to why would the computer crash because the order of boot in the BIOS has been changed to first read the optical drive where I intend to place the WIN XP disc? In Y510+FAQ, it does not seem to mention about this problem??? Would appreciate your clarification.

I do not intend to change the partition of C, Vista should remain there as in the factory default settings. But, when I install XP in the d drive, I think (although am not sure), I may have to format the d partition. So, basically, all my data and application software for Vista would reside in c drive and all my XP data and application software would reside in d drive. That's what I intend to do but without being able to successfully install XP in drive d, there is nothing much I can do.

I suppose if I really have big problems, the last resort would be to do a complete recovery, that should put my Y510 in the original factory setting with only Vista installed.

[skripatch]

There is no need to format D drive at all. You just may want to resize it to have one partition for Vista, another for Xp and the third for all data - music/films etc.

What kind of crash in boot order do you mean? You're the first with such thing known to me.
Try pressing F12 during BIOS post and choose your CD to boot from.

[cthioaus]

Hi, thanks once again. When I mentioned about "crash", I was a bit confused too because in your earlier post to me, you mentioned about the possibility of a crash.

[skripatch]

If you install XP you'll not be able to boot Vista - that i called a "crash". "Crash of Vista". It could be fixed by vistabootpro or easybcd.

[cthioaus]

Hi again,  forgotten to ask. How do I allocate the partition? Say, the d drive has for argument sake total of 100GB  free space, how do I allocate out of the 100 GB,  say, X GB for WIN XP, Y GB for Vista and Z GB for data? Is there any special software I need to use to do the allocation? Thanks.

[cthioaus]

Hi, OK thanks. So I would need to follow the Y510 FAQ on the site to make a dual boot after WIN XP has been installed.

On a similar topic, I have a Sony laptop (SZ series) which was pre-installed with WIN XP, when Vista was shipped, Sony gave me the drivers for Vista for that particular notebook, So, I inserted a Vista update DVD and I chose the option of installing Vista on d drive (the c drive was untouched where XP resided). After Vista was installed, I obviously installed all the drivers. When all done, on re-booting, I have a screen which gave me the option of running XP or Vista (a dual boot screen). I actually used all d drive for Vista and c drive remained running XP. I did not bother to allocate some of the space on d drive for XP and/or data.

I did not use any other software to create this dual boot ? How come in the case of Lenovo Y510, I would need to fix using easybcd??