[porkchop]

I bought a Linux Mini 12 and currently have Ubuntu Netbook Remix installed. I initially bought it when my Mac Powerbook died. I didn't have enough cash to replace it with another Mac, so went with this Dell. I'm a web developer who just wanted a small, light and cheap notebook to take to meetings with clients so that I can show them various websites. I've been using the Mini for about 4mos and it's fine when I'm at home on my wifi network, but anytime I take it out, to coffee shops, etc... I have a very difficult time getting it to see and/or connect to their wifi. I don't have the time to screw around with it when meeting prospective clients, and it makes me look unprofessional. I need to be able to walk into an office / bar / coffee shop etc..., open the thing and be online. So... I'm thinking that I should switch it to XP. I despise all things M$, but at least I know my way around XP, and I'm willing to take whatever performance hit comes with it.

I only have the Ubuntu CD that shipped with the Mini. I have a Win XP Pro Volume Licensed Install CD (that can only be used on Dell equipment) which I got when I was a Dell reseller at my last job. I'm wondering whether or not that Dell OEM XP disc will work on this Mini, and whether or not I will need any specific drivers to get everything working. Basically... how much of a PITA is it going to be for me to switch this thing over to XP?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

TIA,

Bill

[notladstyle]

It will work great, I installed xp on my mini 12 the first day I got it usind a dell restore disc. the performance is amazing compared to ubuntu and vista.

you can get the drivers you need from the dell support site.


do you have a usb cdrom drive for the install?

[ksoze]

Originally Posted by notladstyle

you can get the drivers you need from the dell support site.

Watch out for the chipset drivers - for some reason the download is incorrectly described - its described as Intel Mobile Chipset - in reality its PowerDVD 8.0 SE. I ended up using the driver disc included with my Mini 12.

Originally Posted by notladstyle

do you have a usb cdrom drive for the install?

I installed XP Pro using a USB thumb drive. The install process is VERY FAST at least for the text based portion of the install. Much faster than using a CDROM. I used the tool provided here: How to install from USB- WinSetupFromUSB with GUI - MSFN Forums
This is the first GUI based tool that I have found that works. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully (Documentation is provided by the setup file) and use an empty thumb drive or flash based device - formatting your usb device is required.
Note: You'll need to boot from your USB device twice during the install - just like the CDROM method, but for the second part of the install you'll be required to choose a different boot menu selection in Grub4Dos - which is slightly different from the CDROM version since that is all done automatically.
I highly recommend that you slipstream SP2 or SP3 into the ISO or at least download the network install version of SP2 (SP3 will NOT install without SP1a or higher) as many of the drivers will not install properly without DotNet2.0 or higher.

[sowhatvn]

Thx man, i tried to make boot xp from thumbdrive, it's very easy

[strongbad]

Since XP is a supported OS on the Mini 12, all drivers are available direct from Dell. USB thumb drive is simple, the guide ksoze posted should work a treat, when I did it I just searched install XP from USB drive and found the Asus eee forums which had a ripper guide also.