Windows XP on Ivybridge... Possible? Practical?

[kewlguy239]

I am an IT administrator, and am stuck using Windows XP SP3 for the business's operating system. I can't upgrade my OS because we use DOS programs, and the sheer cost of upgrading 70 workstations to Windows 7 would be very costly.

The price of parts for systems that are still Windows XP certified (older parts and systems)is on the rise, and I'm wondering if the Ivybridge platform will work with windows XP.

Has anyone installed XP on an Ivybridge platform with success? Were there compatable drivers for the Chipset, Graphics, Networking, and Audio? What drivers/features were unable to load? Is it stable?

If anyone has tested Windows XP on Ivybridge, any information you could provide would be of great help.

 

[rgd1101]

Could try win 7 professional with xpmode virtual machine.

 

[deadlockedworld]

Not to say that there aren't experts here, but you might get a more useful response over at TechRepublic or a more IT administrator focused site.

You need to be a little more risk adverse in your decision-making than most of the tech people here.

 

[aicom]

The LAN driver is going to be motherboard specific, so I can't really comment there. The storage controller could be an issue, but if the motherboard supports legacy IDE mode (which all I've seen do), you should be fine. You probably lose USB 3.0 functionality but it doesn't look like that matters to you. Chipset drivers may or may not be available but they don't generally affect the performance of the platform. Audio may be an issue, since all the recent motherboards use the new Intel HD Audio standard which is not natively supported by XP. There is a KB update to add support for that but I don't think it adds the generic driver that Vista and higher ship with, so that may be an issue depending on what audio codec is on the board you buy. I think Intel ships an XP graphics driver for the new Intel HD graphics chips so that shouldn't be an issue. Worst case, you might need to buy your own USB sound card and GPU, but I don't think you'll have a major issue. Needless to say, I wouldn't recommend running XP on this hardware except in these circumstances.

 

[ss202sl]

Why not use a terminal server with XP sessions on the server for those dos/xp applications, with Windows 7 on the desktop.

 

[kewlguy239]

I am an IT administrator, and am stuck using Windows XP SP3 for the business's operating system. I can't upgrade my OS because we use DOS programs, and the sheer cost of upgrading 70 workstations to Windows 7 would be very costly.

The price of parts for systems that are still Windows XP certified (older parts and systems)is on the rise, and I'm wondering if the Ivybridge platform will work with windows XP.

Has anyone installed XP on an Ivybridge platform with success? Were there compatable drivers for the Chipset, Graphics, Networking, and Audio? What drivers/features were unable to load? Is it stable?

If anyone has tested Windows XP on Ivybridge, any information you could provide would be of great help.

After just biting the bullet and trying it I made a few discoveries:

Ivybridge H77 and Z77 motherboards will support windows XP under a few conditions.
First, you must download the XP specific drivers from the manufacturer's website for your hardware. The included driver disk (at least for the INTEL brand motherboards I used) fails most of the installs for Windows XP, or installs the driver but severely reduces system stability/performance. Once you download the XP specific driver for the Chipset, Graphics (HD 4000), Audio, and LAN you are in business. XP does not support USB 3.0, nor does it natively support AHCI. I haven't attempted an AHCI driver install with the operating system, and instead chose to run in IDE mode on the SATA II controllers.

Bios update was a little weird. Attempted to manually load new bios on boot from a flashdrive, but could not install, being prompted "the bios version you are attempting to upgrade to is an older version" even though it was a new version. When i put a windows 7 hard drive in the machine, the bios update was no problem. Did NOT check to see if the XP drive worked after that point, so it would be interesting to see if the updated bios caused any or resolved any issues with windows xp. Maybe next rig I build for a client I'll give that a shot.

Performance is about as fast as XP can get. The real drawback is losing key features of Ivybridge, including CPU power management, USB 3.0, PCI-E 3.0, and higher memory bandwidth. Windows XP doesn't seem to appreciate memory running higher than 1600mhz. Kind of a waste when the 3770k and 3570k can operate 2400mhz ram with windows 7 or higher. XP seems to get unstable and sluggish upwards of 1600mhz.

So the short answer: Yes, Ivybridge will work with XP.

 

[jaguarskx]

As long as there are Win XP drivers for the specific motherboard you are going to buy, then you should not have any issues.

Win XP is still a great OS. I still have my Win XP install discs. Never know when I need to go back to the "Stone Age".

 

[Guest]

I recently bought asus P8Z77 m pro and i5-3570k and here is list of software that came with MOBO on CD


File List for the included support software for Motherboard
==============================================================
File Name Description
--------------------------------------------------------------
-Drivers
-Audio - Realtek Audio Driver V5.10.0.6699 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit.(WHQL)
- Realtek Audio Driver V6.0.1.6699 for Windows Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.(WHQL)

-Chipset - Intel Chipset Driver V9.3.0.1021 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.(WHQL)

-LAN
-Windows7 - Realtek LAN Driver V7.61.612.2012 for Windows Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit.(WHQL)
-Windows8 - Realtek LAN Driver V8.3.730.2012 for Windows Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.(WHQL)
-Xp - Realtek LAN Driver V5.796.503.2012 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit.(WHQL)

-MEI - Management Engine Interface V8.1.0.1263 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.(WHQL)

-RAID
-Asmedia
-Install - Asmedia SATA Controller Driver V1.3.4.0 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit.(WHQL)
-Win8 - Asmedia SATA Controller Driver V1.3.4.0 for Windows Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.(WHQL)
-IRST
-Driver - Intel AHCI/RAID Driver Disk for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit.
-Install - Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver software V11.1.0.1006 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit.(WHQL)
-IRST_Win8
-Driver - Intel AHCI/RAID Driver Disk for Windows Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-Install - Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver software V11.5.0.1207 for Windows Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.(WHQL)

-USB3
-Asmedia - Asmedia USB 3.0 Driver V1.14.3.0 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit.(WHQL)
-Intel - Intel USB 3.0 Driver V1.0.5.235 for Windows Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit.(WHQL)

-VGA
-Vista_Win7 - Intel Graphics Accelerator Driver V8.15.10.2712 for Windows Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit.(WHQL)
-Win8 - Intel Graphics Accelerator Driver V9.17.10.2828 for Windows Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.(WHQL)
-XP - Intel Graphics Accelerator Driver V6.14.10.5398 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit.(WHQL)


-LinuxDrivers - Support Linux Drivers.


-Manual
-ASUS_Utility - ASUS Motherboard Utility Guide.

-Audio - Realtek HD Audio User's Manual.

-Disk_Unlocker - Disk Unlocker User's Manual.

-LucidLogix_Virtu_MVP - LucidLogix Virtu MVP User's Manual.

-MB_Guide - ASUS Motherboard Installation Guide.

-NIS2012_Guide - Norton Internet Security User Guide.

-WebStorage_Guide - ASUS WebStorage User's Manual.

-Intel_Technology - Intel 2012 Desktop Responsiveness Technologies User's Manual.


-Software
-AISuite_II - ASUS AI Suite II V2.01.01 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-Ai Charger+ - Ai Charger+ V2.00.00 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-AsusUpdate - ASUS Update V2.00.09(EZ Update V1.00.09) for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-DIGI+ VRM - DIGI+ VRM V1.01.19 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-EPU - EPU V1.03.20 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-FanXpertPlus - FAN Xpert+ V1.01.11 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-GPU Boost - GPU Boost V1.01.05 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-MyLogo - MyLogo V1.03.06 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-Network iControl - Network iControl V1.03.10 for Windows Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-Probe_II - Probe II V1.00.51 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-System Information - System Information V1.02.15 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-TurboV EVO - TurboV EVO V1.01.43 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-USB 3.0 Boost - USB 3.0 Boost V1.02.15 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit.
-USB 3.0 Boost_Win8 - USB 3.0 Boost V1.04.03 for Windows Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-USB BIOS Flashback - USB BIOS Flashback V1.00.06 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.

-Adobe - Adobe Reader X for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.

-AntiVirus
-Norton - Norton Internet Security Solution for Windows XP 32bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.

-APRP - APRP Utility V1.0.014 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.

-BUPDATER
-BUPDATER.txt - Information on how to use the AMI FLASH DOS Utility.
-BUPDATER.exe - Flash BIOS tool under DOS.

-DAEMONToolsPro - DAEMON Tools Pro V4.40.0312.0221 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit.

-DirectX - Microsoft DirectX 9.0c for Windows XP 32bit.

-DiskUnlocker - Disk Unlocker V2.1.3 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit.
- Disk Unlocker V2.1.3 for Windows Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.

-BootSetting - ASUS Boot Setting V1.00.09 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.

-Google
-ChromeBrowser - Google Chrome Browser V17.0.963.79 for Windows Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.
-Toolbar - Google Toolbar V7.0.1710.2246 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.

-IRSS - Intel Rapid Start Technology Software V2.1.0.1002 for Windows Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.

-ISCT - Intel Smart Connect Technology Software V3.0.41.1571 for Windows Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.

-LOGO - Default Logo Bitmaps.

-LucidWizard - LucidLogix Virtu MVP Wizard V1.00.14 for Windows Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit.

-Lucid_Virtu - LucidLogix Virtu MVP Software V2.1.114.22585 for Windows Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit.

-PC_Diagnostics - ASUS PC Diagnostics V1.2.6 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.

-RealPlayer - RealPlayer V15.0.5.109 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.

-WebStorage - ASUS WebStorage V3.0.139.290 for Windows XP 32bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit.

-WinZip - WinZip V16.5.10095 for Windows XP 32bit & XP 64bit & Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit & Win8 32bit & Win8 64bit.