Install Windows XP on an Asus M51Sn

I've seen a few tutorials online about installing Windows XP on a Asus M51Sn, but none totally left me satisfied because I couldn't really understand where those drivers were found, and then how to find newer updated versions of those drivers. So I've written myself a tutorial, not adding much to the ones existing, only explaining how to obtain the drivers yourself so you can find the most recent versions. This tutorial is for the Asus M51Sn, but based on it, you can surely find the drivers for your particular model. Just follow the idea behind what I did, and you can find the drivers for your model. It took me a while to figure it out, and to find everything.

Please feel free to correct and or improve anything in the following tutorial. I based myself on these tutorials, and I thank the authors for the precious help provided:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=222056&page=11
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=210431
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&id=20071105092213942&board_id=3&model=F3Sc&page=1&count=28
http://asusg1s.wikidot.com/installing-windows-xp

So on with the tutorial.

On the Asus website you can find a detailed list of the components of the Asus M51Sn (or your notebook), this is where I started:
http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=5&l2=23&l3=523&l4=34&model=2026&modelmenu=2
Use this information to find exactly what hardware components you have on your notebook.

For some components I also used the System Information for Windows (SIW), you can find it here:
http://www.gtopala.com/
Another alternative is PC Wizard from CPUID, but I prefer SIW. These programs list every hardware component, model, etc you have. For example I needed to use SIW to know exactly what Ethernet card I have on my M51Sn.

As you can see in the referred tutorials above, the one from a user on the official Asus forum, recommends that the drivers from the F3Sc should be the ones to use on an Asus M51Sn (and some other laptops). This is because they have the same chipset. So if you are trying to find drivers for your notebook, first you have to find another older notebook, that still has Windows XP drivers available. I barely had to use any drivers from the F3Sc for my M51Sn, as you'll see.

First, go into bios at startup and change the IDE setting from enhanced to compatible, you can also update the XP CD with the SATA drivers, but there's no need to do so. After all this installation process and after updating Windows XP, I changed the IDE setting back to enhanced and it was fine. Then install Windows XP as you normally would. If you need any more help, this tutorial seems very good: http://www.petri.co.il/install_windows_xp_pro.htm

Then install the drivers! Here is where to find them:

# ATK stuff (ATK 0100, ATK Hotkey, ATK OSD, ATK Media)
- From Asus Site or the CD, M51Sn normal drivers will work

# Chipset
- Go to Intel website, press play, then click Support
- Paste in the search box: "chipset"
- Click the first result: "Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility"
- In the "Software & drivers" section click "Get the latest utility"
- From the drop down list select "Windows XP Professional"
- Click the Download link of "INF Update Utility - Primarily for Intel® 3, 900 Series Chipsets"
- Link: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/confirm.aspx?httpDown=http://downloadmirror.intel.com/14528/a08/infinst_autol.exe&agr=N&ProductID=816&DwnldId=14528&strOSs=All&OSFullName=All%20Operating%20Systems&lang=eng
- The driver from the CD will work from what I've read. I used this one from the Intel site, because I like to have the more updated versions (there is no new version on the Asus site).

# Graphics card:
- go to: http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/
- search 160 and up for drivers for one supporting 9500M GS for Win XP 32 bits. Then download the driver and modified INF
- check quick starter guide for further installations instructions
- Most current version of driver supporting 9500M GS at the time of this tutorial: ForceWare X 174.93 for Windows XP2K 32bit
- Link: http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=18338

# Audio:
- go to Realtek website then click the following options
- Downloads > Computer Peripheral ICs > PC Audio Codecs > High Definition Audio Codecs > Software > Select Windows XP driver (zip or exe)
- Version at the time of this tutorial: R1.92
- Link: ftp://202.65.194.211/pc/audio/WDM_R192.exe
- For XP with SP3 it's required to download KB835221 hotfix otherwise the Audio will not work: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/835221

# Wireless
- Go to Intel website, press play, then click Support
- Paste in the search box: 4965AGN, click the very first result: "Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN":
- In the "Software & drivers" section click "Download Center"
- From the drop down list select "Windows XP Professional"
- Click "Wireless Drivers-Only for Windows* XP/2000", then click Download
- Version at the time of this tutorial: 11.5.1.2
- Link: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=N&Inst=Yes&ProductID=2753&DwnldID=15800&strOSs=44&OSFullName=Windows*%20XP%20Professional&lang=eng

# Power 4 Gear:
- First I just googled it: http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/Other-DRIVERS-TOOLS/Others/Asus-Power4-Gear-Utility-117.shtml
- But then I noticed that on the F3Sc download page of the Asus Website the Power4 Gear version is: V1.18. So I used the F3Sc version instead. Anyone know where to download the more updated version of Power4 Gear? Is V.18 the more recent?
- Link: http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/Apps/P4G/P4G_V1.18_ASUS/P4G_XP_ASUS.zip

# Asus Probe:
- From Asus Site or the CD, M51Sn normal drivers will work

# Touchpad
- Go to synaptics site, click Driver Downloads > Drivers and then download the Windows XP Driver
- Version at the time of this tutorial: v10.1.8
- Link: http://drivers.synaptics.com/Synaptics_Driver_v10_1_8_XP32.exe

# LAN
- From Asus Site or the CD, M51Sn normal drivers will work
- But I've read that some models don't work. Just google it. For example: my model has the Atheros L1 Gigabit Ethernet Controller, you can see what your model has in the SIW (System Information for Windows).
- Link: http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/NETWORK-CARD/OTHER-NETWORK-CARDS/Asus-P5KPL-VM-Atheros-L1-Gigabit-Ethernet-Driver-2-4-6000-4.shtml

# Modem
- From Asus Site or the CD, M51Sn normal drivers will work

# Bluetooth
- Different tutorials choose drivers from different Asus notebooks. My best choice is the driver from F3Sc, because it seems to be independent from that notebook. Go to F3Sc downloads on the Asus site and download the Bluetooth driver for Windows XP.
- Link: http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/Drivers/Bluetooth/XP/V5.10.14.6/Bluetooth_XP_071130.zip
- As you can see from the link, apparently it's not associated with any notebook. I would thank anyone that knows where to find the correct driver for Bluetooth (but this driver seems to work anyway).

# Ricoh
- From Asus Site or the CD, M51Sn normal drivers will work

# Fingerprint
- From Asus Site or the CD, M51Sn normal drivers will work

# Turbo memory
- In the Device Manager, You should have a "PCI Memory Controller" with a yellow question mark on the Device Manager, it is the turbo memory, windows Xp doesn't support it. Link: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=187289
- I confirmed it is the turbo memory by googling the "Device Instance Id". It can be found by going to the Properties of the "PCI Memory Controller" on the device manager, and then opening the Details tab. Google that, and confirm it's the turbo memory. I just disabled it on the Device Manager. You can however try to disable it on the bios, so that not even Windows knows that it is there. I don't know the advantages or disadvantages of this.

This is it. You should have a clean install of Windows XP on your Asus M51Sn. The only questions remaining are the following:

- What are all those "hot fixes" about, in the tutorial that's on the Asus F3Sc official forum (link in the beginning of this tutorial)? Do we need them for Asus M51Sn? How can we tell that we need for each different laptop?
- How to get the most updated and correct Power4 Gear and Bluetooth driver?
- Should I install anything else besides what's listed on this tutorial so that the notebook is truly optimized? What I mean is, after using this tutorial are there any Microsoft Windows Drivers being used that undermine the performance of the notebook?
- I haven't tested the eSATA port. Should it be working with Microsoft Drivers?
- What is the "KB_filter Driver" that's on the Asus site?
- Is the "Intel Matrix Storage Driver Manager" needed? I've found a driver on Intel's website but it doesn't work too: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=N&ProductID=2101&DwnldID=14848&strOSs=44&OSFullName=Windows*%20XP%20Professional&lang=eng

As a footnote I would like to add that I ran 3dMark06 in my notebook, first with the default Windows Vista installation, and then with this tutorial's Windows XP installation. Both times I just installed 3dMark06, opened the program and then clicked "Run 3dMark", with all the default settings (are they the same or could the settings have adapted from Vista to XP??). The results where, vista: 3886; XP: 4186.

Please I would really appreciate any feedback on this tutorial. If you find any error or have any doubt please email me or write a comment. I hope it's useful to someone. Tune in again in the next semester (around September) for a total update of this tutorial, it's when I format my PC's.

Allen Hobby
allen.hobby AT gmail