Gigabyte H87 HD3 MB and Drivers Quandry

[Mantrid-Drone]

After a very long gestation involving a lot of changes I've just completed a new clean build desktop using a Gigabyte H87 HD3 MB. My idea was to install Win7 as the prime OS but do an isolated install of WinXP ie. on a separate HDD rather than dual boot or VM.

What was not clear from the retail specs description at the time the MB (it is only mentioned once in the manual) is that the install disc only supports Win 7/8.

Here's the problem. Win7 was installed and activated OK but when I successfully installed WinXP I found that the MB disc refused to run because it "does not support this OS". Why is this a problem? Well when I tried to get online to at least be able to activate WinXP I was told no network had been found.

I'm very new to this installing an OS stuff but I eventually realised it was likely a driver issue so I went to Device Manager and, yes, a whole slew of things had a "?" against them including the Realtek ethernet controller and audio devices.

So without the right driver I can't get online which means I can't update/find suitable drivers or even register WinXP.

How or what can I do to fix this?

I have a Gigabyte Z77 DS3H MB driver disc which does support WinXP and includes a Realtek ethernet driver amongst other things. Could I use this or is there some other solution I should try?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Seriously? Using another computer, go to the mobo mfg's web site, and download the appropriate drivers to a USB flash drive. Bring the USB flash drive to the XP machine after installing the OS, plug it in, and then copy over the drivers and install them, one-by-one, rebooting between each one.

I suggest:
01) Chipset
02) LAN
03) Video
04) USB3.0 (if there are such things for XP???)
05) RealTek audio
06) Wifi
etc.

Edit: You may have difficulty sourcing drives for XP for an H87 board. I think official XP support ended at Ivy Bridge (Z77).

As far as the Realtek ethernet driver on the Z77 driver disc, you could try that, it probably wouldn't hurt.

 

[Bubbaleone]

XP is no longer supported by MS, and very few hardware developers are still writing drivers for it. The security risks posed by exposing XP to the internet dictate that XP should only be run in a VM where it can be played with safely. The order of installation in a conventional XP/7 dual-boot scenario was to install XP first then install 7. The Windows 7 boot manager understands XP's earlier boot loader and writes that info into it's BCD to give a true dual-boot boot selection menu. XP's installer has no such capability and simply overwrites the Windows 7 boot data which is why you no longer see the Windows 7 installation.

.

 

[daveybrat]

Yup, like Larry said, you won't be running WinXP on that motherboard. There are NO drivers on the manufacturer's website.

You MIGHT be able to search and find some drivers that would work, but it'll be a mess.

 

[Mantrid-Drone]

Thanks for the replies.

The second poster seems to have misunderstood the problem. Win7 64 bit installed and working OK, albeit with a few issues I will ask about here later if necessary. What I am trying to do and indeed have done is to do is install WinXP 32 bit on a separate HDD so I can select that via the BIOS boot options for when I need WinXP for some programs and hardware I have that works best or only with WinXP.

The problem is getting it online so I can register/activate it. I doubt very much I'll be using it online any more for the very reasons stated.

Without a working ethernet controller driver no network is being seen by the system and same applies to the audio - no drivers = no audio.

As said I'm completely new to installing an OS (and using Win7) and have never had to deal with drivers before so please bear that in mind.

If I can download what may be suitable drivers and then copy them to the WinXP installation where, exactly, should they be put or will they self-install when I open them?

Should I not be able to find suitable drivers would I be into the same driver problems if I tried to install WinXP on the Win7 system as a VM instead?

 

[JeffMD]

Download the drivers online, copy them to a USB stick, or if usb drivers are an issue and XP's built in ones don't work (usb 2.0 wasn't around when XP came out) than burn a DVDR with the drivers. If you plan to keep XP around then it will be good to keep a disc of drivers with it.

not rocket science.

 

[Mantrid-Drone]

Thanks but after they're downloaded where do I actually put the drivers in the WinXP installation or are they self-installing on opening?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Depends on how the driver is packaged.

They may come in a .ZIP, .RAR, or .EXE.

Once unzipped to a directory, they may either have a SETUP.EXE file to run, or they may be "bare drivers", in which case, there's one or more .SYS, .CAT., .INF, etc. files. Those types need to be installed directly through Device Manager.

 

[VirtualLarry]

(usb 2.0 wasn't around when XP came out)

I think you meant to say USB 3.0. USB 2.0 has been around since before XP.

 

[JeffMD]

No, 2.0 support came out in the SP1 erra.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/329632

It was kind of a dark age thing too, back then 2.0 hardware didn't have 1.0 fallback built in. my AMD XP2800 motherboard had 4 ports that wouldn't work until I installed the drivers for the chip used on the mobo.

And the drivers are installed like you would normally install drivers. After windows is installed, open up file explorer, goto the dvdrom, click setup.exe for the respective driver package.

 

[Iron Woode]

Download the drivers online, copy them to a USB stick, or if usb drivers are an issue and XP's built in ones don't work (usb 2.0 wasn't around when XP came out) than burn a DVDR with the drivers. If you plan to keep XP around then it will be good to keep a disc of drivers with it.

not rocket science.

Gigabyte does not have drivers for WinXP for that board.

some drivers might be found individually like maybe intel chipset drivers but others may not exist.

for this board winxp is dead.

 

[VirtualLarry]

No, 2.0 support came out in the SP1 erra.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/329632

It was kind of a dark age thing too, back then 2.0 hardware didn't have 1.0 fallback built in. my AMD XP2800 motherboard had 4 ports that wouldn't work until I installed the drivers for the chip used on the mobo.

And the drivers are installed like you would normally install drivers. After windows is installed, open up file explorer, goto the dvdrom, click setup.exe for the respective driver package.

For that matter, who in their right mind (that still wants to install XP) uses an install disc that doesn't at least have SP2 integrated? Remember, modern mobos with PCI-E won't work with pre-SP2 discs, the PCI.SYS will give a blue-screen upon install too.

 

[Ketchup]

Mantrid-Drone, Bubbaleone has actually given you the best advice here. From within Windows7, download VMWare Workstation Player and create a virtual machine using your Windows XP disk (you can even have it installed on your other hard drive). Install the software that isn't working with 7 onto your new Virtual Machine.

So now, whenever you need to run those programs, instead of having to reboot the computer and change settings in the BIOS, all you have to do is start your VM.

http://filehippo.com/download_vmware_player/

 

[Mantrid-Drone]

Thanks again for all replies.

Of course, as I indicated earlier I had considered using WinXP 32 bit (SP3 just to make that clear too) on a VM but would that actually resolve the issues surrounding the drivers?

I have no audio drivers and the main trouble is not being able to get online to search because there is apparently no officially supported ethernet controller driver for this MB/OS combo.

Surely however I've installed it is irrelevant. The method I've used is a recognised alternative to a standard dual boot WinXP/W7 set up. Using a VM instead is just another alternative not a solution to the problems described.

I'd still need to activate my WinXP install even when using it on a VM. So unless that piggy backs the main W7 OS and bypasses the driver problems how do I do that if, when using WinXP, I can't even connect to internet?

 

[Ketchup]

Vmware uses virtual hardware, and has drivers that work perfectly fine with Windows XP.

 

[Mantrid-Drone]

So using WinXP on a VM could be a solution to the problems described. That is a great help so thanks very much for the info.

Does that apply to all VM software or just specifically VMWare which a quick search shows is one of a number of VM software providers?

 

[Ketchup]

So using WinXP on a VM could be a solution to the problems described. That is a great help so thanks very much for the info.

Does that apply to all VM software or just specifically VMWare which a quick search shows is one of a number of VM software providers?

Sure, there are others. Microsoft even offers one without the need for a separate XP license:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/install-and-use-windows-xp-mode-in-windows-7

I like VMware for its hardware support (for example, it will recognize your CPU for what it is) and it's easy of use (if you point the installer do the CD drive with Windows XP, it will recognize your OS and select a number of settings for you).

 

[Mantrid-Drone]

Thanks again.

I'm going to try manually installing some drivers and getting it to work as it is now first. But if I have no luck with that it looks like, with this MB/WinXP combo, I will have to use WinXP via a VM if I want it fully functional on this PC set up.

What is a bit weird about the H87-HD3 MB is that only in the manual specs list is the Win7/8 only disc driver support mentioned but under other sub-categories settings for use with WinXP are covered.

I guess at some point WinXP support was removed from the MB but the manual not competently edited to makes this clear. I would not have chosen this particular MB at the time if had been.

 

[Ketchup]

You are going to have to look around to find these drivers. This isn't Gigabyte's fault. The people that make these chips are dropping XP support (and for good reason, as Microsoft has dropped support as well).

Here is one that might work: this site seems to have an XP driver for your network card:
http://realtek-download.com/realtek-pcie-gbe-family-controller/
"Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller LAN Driver 5826_09232014 for WinXP and Server 2003"

 

[Atreus21]

Sure, there are others. Microsoft even offers one without the need for a separate XP license:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/install-and-use-windows-xp-mode-in-windows-7

I like VMware for its hardware support (for example, it will recognize your CPU for what it is) and it's easy of use (if you point the installer do the CD drive with Windows XP, it will recognize your OS and select a number of settings for you).

I'm chiming in for one reason:

VirtualBox, by Oracle. My favorite.

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

Used it for years. Well supported, easy to use.

 

[Mantrid-Drone]

Thanks again for all the replies.

A lot of food for thought. I have the new Win7 install working pretty well now so I guess I'm going to have to take the bull by the horns and proceed with these WinXP install matters rather than just researching and thinking about it.

I'll post if/when I need any more help on this.

 

[Mantrid-Drone]

Much to my amazement I appear to have Windows XP 32 bit installed and working as I originally intended on this new PC ie. as completely separate OS install from the prime Win7 OS on another HDD. No VM needed.

The initial hurdle was getting the machine online when using WinXP to be able to search for appropriate drivers. Big thanks to Ketchup for providing that earlier Realtek link. After I'd installed an appropriate driver from there it worked and I got online at last, activated WinXP and began searched for other suitable drivers.

Windows Drivers update/reinstall search proved useless in all but one case.

In the end I installed IOBit Driver Booster and that did a lot of the work for me. It is a program you have to be careful when using as it includes its 'Pro' version trial and some bundled PUPs made very easy to install accidentally. However they are optional so as it is a free program which works well doing what it is supposed to do I'm not complaining.

But whilst it sorted out the 20 missing or old drivers it apparently couldn't do anything about the two missing Realtek HD audio drivers which seemed to be preventing me getting any sound out of the machine.

I was resigned after all the other apparent success to having to ditch everything I'd done and try the VM route others here recommended instead. But I thought why not give it one last go and load up the Gigabyte H87 HD3 MB install disc, which doesn't support WinXP, and use Device Manager > Windows Driver update/reinstall, to search the disc contents just in case there was some 32 bit driver there that would be acceptable.

To my surprise something was installed and the Realtek HD Audio device now showed as having a working driver. I tried the same thing on the second, final, driverless entry shown, another Realtek HD Audio device and.......no joy.

I exchanged the MB disc for the Gigabyte Z77 DS3H driver disc I also have (which supports XP but not the same chipset obviously) and tried doing the same with that. No joy either.

So I was left with one driverless audio device and I expected that to mean no audio. But after rebooting, amazingly, the headphone jack on the front of the PC and the output (green) use for headphones at the back both were now working.

That was what I wanted. So now I have WinXP 32 bit up and working as a secondary OS all using a MB not intended to be used with with it.

The only question left is whether and if so how to install a AHCI SATA controller driver to WinXP. Advice on that would be helpful.

As it is at the moment it seems to me that would really make very little difference to the practicalities of selecting WinXP on this set up.

Rather than just use F12 in the BIOS to chose the boot device I simply load the 'WinXP' BIOS profile I've saved. This is set up to change the SATA Controller support to IDE and boots first from the second HDD instead ie. the one with WinXP installed on it.