R61: Erasing Vista and installing XP... do I need drivers?

[violagirl23]

I mostly use Linux but occasionally boot into Vista to play MapleStory (yeah, that's pretty much about it... I can do most things I can't do on Linux in VMware... but games, even MapleStory, just take up too much CPU to make that possible). Well it is taking up the full amount of disk space I gave it (I allotted 30 gigs and thought that was generous.. seeing as I only needed to install MapleStory and Firefox and IE on there and that was it) but I'm almost all out of space. I find this ridiculous. Plus it's really buggy and such, and it always gives me issues. The other day it wouldn't even let me log in and the mouse cursor was just frozen on the screen. So I've finally just given up and I'm going to install XP over it. YES I have a legal copy. I have the corporate license and can install it on multiple computers, so that's fine. I can have it on both VMware and actually installed. And I called Lenovo and they said installing XP over Vista would not void my warranty, so I'm going to go ahead and do it.
So is this what I should do? Erase the 6 gig recovery partition and then erase the 30 gig Vista partition and then install XP? Is it okay to erase that 6 gig recovery partition since I will no longer be using Vista?
My main concern is that the consensus seems to be that to install XP on newer systems you need drivers. Well I have my XP CD but for the R61 what drivers do I need and how would I make them available to XP during the install? I'm not very familiar with Windows, because I do not use it very often. So I just thought I'd ask.
Thanks!
~Megan M~

[ZaZ]

I would personally make the recovery discs, which will put the machine back to it's factory state, if only at some point you want to sell the machine, so you can have the recovery discs and the OS installed. I usually wipe the recovery partition myself, but I use True Image for recovery purposes.

[violagirl23]

Okay, so I should make a backup first. That's a good idea, thanks.
The most pressing issue is whether or not I will need drivers. I guess I really don't get how the driver thing would work for installing XP on a newer machine, so I'm kind of worried. Any advice?
Oh, can I even MAKE a recovery disk that will return it to its factory state, considering it's not in it now? :p I have a 30 gig windows vista partition, and then a 25 gig linux partition, 4.5 gig linux swap partition, and 80 gig free space partition, so it's been changed considerably from its original setup (took me FOREVER to defrag enough to shrink the Vista partition down to 30 GB!)

[Cunha]

New thinkpads have a hidden recovery partition which most people find quite valuable to burn to CD's or DVD's to back up the original thinkpad preload.

Then nuke the HD.

You will need the drivers most of which are on lenovo.com but its best to install them in the right order.

There is a nice "clean XP instal guide" on notebookreview.com and you can use that guide as it applies to you.

[ZaZ]

You will need drivers. XP is unlikely to have a lot of them for the R61. You can install XP, then network drivers and system update, which will download all the updates for your machine. It will take a while.

If you make the recovery discs they will restore it to it's factory state, including the recovery partition, but you need to do it in Vista before you wipe the partition.

If you don't want to mess with all this, you may wish to consider dumping System Restore, and disabling auto backup in Rescue and Recovery, which may the offenders taking up a lot of the space on your Vista partition. You can also delete the backups you've already made.

[Cunha]

It is best to manually install the drivers rather than hope that thinkvantage or other automatic installers will do the job right.

[violagirl23]

Okay... I don't think I can preserve Vista, seeing as I can't boot into it. No matter how hard I try, it just boots into the login screen with the cursor locked in place on the screen and nothing happening when I type (Fn-F4 works to put it to sleep though). I have to shut it down improperly every time. Which leads me to my problem... I'm having trouble determining my chipset. I have an R61 I bought in July, and I know my choices are...

Mobile Intel® 4 Series Express Chipset Family
Mobile Intel® 965 Express Chipset Family
Mobile Intel® 945 Express Chipset Family
Mobile Intel® 915GM/GMS/PM and 910GML Express Chipsets
Intel® 852/855 Chipset Family

I'm trying to determine which chipset I have, but only have Linux functional right now. I tried an lspci and was wondering if anyone here knew if this means my chipset is the 965 Express:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub (rev 0c)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 PCI Express Root Port (rev 0c)

I've gotten all the drivers in the entire install guide except for the "Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility." Clicking on the 965 Express link (http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/CS-025753.htm) leads to three different links for the Utility, for the Mobile Intel® GL960 Express Chipset, the Mobile Intel® GM965 Express Chipset, and the Mobile Intel® PM965 Express Chipset. How can I determine which one I have? Other than that I seem to have gotten all the drivers saved and ready.....

[ZaZ]

I don't think which chipset it is matters all that much. If you truly want to install XP you can either set the hard drive to compatibility mode in the BIOS because XP doesn't have the necessary SATA drivers or you can slipstream XP service pack 3 into your XP disc using nLite, which will give you the SATA drivers as well. Once you have XP on your machine, install the network drivers and system update, which will download everything you need. It will take awhile.