hp p2-1334

[NoverHishead]

Hey guys I work in a small call center, we recently told the owner we needed time to work on the computers for hardware repair. Being the great owners they are, went out and bought the p2-1334 with win 8 already installed. problem solved right! nope our software only runs on xp.

I have for 3 days been trying to crack into the boot process.. I have changed the boot menu to boot the cd/dvd first. I bring up the boot menu and it says to select the device and press enter. the only device it allows enter to work on is windows..

what gives? any thoughts or suggestions?

below is the link for the MB
BIOS Settings for the Cork and Cork2 Motherboards | HP® Support

 

[KSoD]

With Windows 8, OEM's are not required to have Secure Boot or UEFI included. Something that is not compatible with previous versions of Windows.

On top of that, there is no longer XP Drivers for these devices, so the chances you will be able to install XP and have it operational is almost nil.

So tell the owners that they are outta luck. Either they update the support software to a version that supports Windows 8, or tell them that they are going to have to find a lot of old pre-owned machines that will still be able to handle XP. No new machines will have support.

Last option, spend more cash on machines that can handle running XP in virtual mode. Using HyperV, VMware or VitrualBox. That will be the only way you will be able to get XP on these new machines and have it operate.

 

[NoverHishead]

what about imaging the hard drive? will the MB reject it? just looking at thoughts... and we have old computers.. lol that was what I tried to explain.. they just didn't want to pay the time for somebody to sit down and test them out and make a complete machine out of the parts....

 

[KSoD]

Yes the image would be rejected. The reason being is that Windows, when installed, uses a hardware profile. If that profile does not match, Windows will not boot. Add into that the fact that Windows will install the necessary drivers for that machine as it stands at that time. So in addition to Windows not booting, it will not have the proper drivers to operate the hardware within the machine.

Since XP has already reached its end of life support by Microsoft and is only in extended support now, only critical updates are being pushed to the OS. Add into that the fact that manufacturer's are not releasing drivers for newer systems for XP only adds to the issue.

Sadly what I stated above is going to hold true. Their options are only those listed. There is not going to be a way to force XP to install and operate on the machines. If you can get XP installed, it will be limited hardware support and not all devices in the machine will operate only hampering what you can do even more. The best option will be for them to find updated software since XP is phased out now. If they don't want to spend the money on updated software, they have in essence bought themselves some nice expensive paperweights.