i had windows vista on a compaq i hate vista didnt realize downloading windows xp onto it would cause such a driver issue..nothing is compatable..i swear microsoft just for fun. If anyone can help me on how to reinstall some free drivers to get my audio to work and my wireless internet working again i would really appreciate. Thanks

Hi Jack and welcome. I have edited your post to remove the inappropriate language. The tech forums are to be family friendly. I would appreciate your cooperation on that.

If anyone can help me on how to reinstall some free drivers to get my audio to work and my wireless internet working again i would really appreciate.

It is the responsibility of the hardware maker to make compatible drivers for the operating system you choose, whether XP, Vista, or Linux. Therefore, you need to go out to HP/Compaq's Support/Downloads page find your model number, then download XP drivers for that laptop. We can't help you there because only you know the model number!

But to you criticisms, this is not Microsoft's or Bill Gates fault. I'm all in favor bashing them when due, if done appropriately, but if your drivers don't work now, that's a hardware problem or the driver maker's fault, or your fault for not verifying you had the correct drivers on-hand for that operating system (OS) before starting. Vista and XP use different drivers. XP SP2 required many new drivers. Problems resulting out of installing the aged XP OS over Vista can hardly be blamed on Vista, Microsoft, or Bill Gates. Windows does work perfectly fine on nearly 1 Billion computers, after all. You probably should have reformatted, then installed XP from fresh with the proper drivers on-hand, but actually, if all you lost was audio and wireless, you fared pretty well. Do make sure both devices are enabled in the BIOS, and there are no errors in Device Manager.

Keep us posted.