german WinME Laptop, US WinXP install possible?

[timeline04]

I have a Laptop that was manufactured in Germany; therefore it has a German keyboard...

ItÂ’s a Compaq Presario 850Mhz, with a Bay Swap for my DVD drive and floppy. IÂ’m currently running WinME but itÂ’s too unstable, and the OS is also in german.

Can I install Windows XP on that laptop or will I run into problems? I would obviously need the drivers for the DVD-Floppy swap and for the Synapse Touch pad, is there anything else?

The HD would have to be re-formatted into NTFS, will the WinXP install do that or do I have to do it manually?

Thanks for the help,

Victor

 

[JQG]

You can install XP onto a laptop. You should have no problem with the drivers, unless the hardware is newer than the driver database on XP, therefore you'll need the drivers.

When you install XP, it gives you the option of partitioning and formatting manually in easy steps, and you can format the HD to FAT32 OR NTFS, whichever you want, it's easy peasy!

 

[aye29]

I don't think the language of XP would prevent you from installing it on a german made laptop.

 

[maverick_teck]

What cds do u plan to use for XP installation. Most branded computers use a utility called "tattooing".
When tattooing a computer, a code is written into the BIOS on the motherboard. The CD checks for this code. If it cannot find it, it will display an error message on screen. When you replace a motherboard, you must also re-tattoo it.
If that is the case with ur computer, u might face problems.

 

[timeline04]

I bought a brand new version of XP Home Edition over the internet (ebay).

The LapTop came with WinME pre-installed, but it designed for Win2K and ME, therefore I saw no problem with the hardware, except the drivers.