Thanks to those who have helped so far.

Say I get a laptop with pre-installed Win 7 Pro.

I understand that removing 7 completely and clean-installing XP Pro
will require the installation of XP drivers for all the hardware.

I'll number the other questions that are still puzzling me.

1) If I "downgrade" to XP "mode" using the "virtual" version inside
Win 7, do I need to install XP drivers or will the 7 drivers continue
to function?

2) Or is it that any machine sold with "Win 7 Pro downgradable to XP
Pro" should be able to run all its hardware with XP drivers anyway?

3) I always like to have an actual OEM disc, rather than the
"recovery" facility. Basically all I want to do is to run XP, run all
my existing programs including security, DVD-copying (DVD Shrink) (all
totally lawfully I might add), office apps, email client, web browser,
and various speed-needing number-crunching maths apps. I also want to
have a proper XP disc to stick into the DVD drive to change or mend
things from if need be. Also I need a lot of connectivity. So the
question is: if I do get a high-end laptop with pre-installed 7,
should I buy the 7 OEM (with downgrade rights) or the XP OEM?

Thanks!
Michael

On 10/21/2010 07:47 PM, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> if I do get a high-end laptop with pre-installed 7,
> should I buy the 7 OEM (with downgrade rights) or the XP OEM?

Look at the laptop's web site to see which laptops have XP drivers. If
what you want is XP only, contact them about the OEM CD before buying.
If you want both, get 7 Pro or Ult.

--
Alias

On Oct 21, 7:28*pm, Alias <a...@maskedandanonymous.com.invalids>
wrote:
> On 10/21/2010 07:47 PM, hanrahan...@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
>
> > if I do get a high-end laptop with pre-installed 7,
> > should I buy the 7 OEM (with downgrade rights) or the XP OEM?
>
> Look at the laptop's web site to see which laptops have XP drivers. If
> what you want is XP only, contact them about the OEM CD before buying.
> If you want both, get 7 Pro or Ult.

If I get 7 Pro and run in "XP mode", will I need 7 drivers or XP ones?

BTW Microsoft have told me that "all Windows XP installers are now
unavailable in the market", which is simply untrue.

Michael

On 10/22/2010 02:18 PM, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> On Oct 21, 7:28 pm, Alias<a...@maskedandanonymous.com.invalids>
> wrote:
>> On 10/21/2010 07:47 PM, hanrahan...@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
>>
>>> if I do get a high-end laptop with pre-installed 7,
>>> should I buy the 7 OEM (with downgrade rights) or the XP OEM?
>>
>> Look at the laptop's web site to see which laptops have XP drivers. If
>> what you want is XP only, contact them about the OEM CD before buying.
>> If you want both, get 7 Pro or Ult.
>
> If I get 7 Pro and run in "XP mode", will I need 7 drivers or XP ones?

I don't know, sorry.

>
> BTW Microsoft have told me that "all Windows XP installers are now
> unavailable in the market", which is simply untrue.
>
> Michael

Their propensity to lie is well documented. My favorite was when they
rated WGA-N as a "critical" update.

--
Alias

(E-Mail Removed) écrivait news:44750d26-a308-451e-9ecf-
(E-Mail Removed):

> Thanks to those who have helped so far.
>
> Say I get a laptop with pre-installed Win 7 Pro.
>
> I understand that removing 7 completely and clean-installing XP Pro
> will require the installation of XP drivers for all the hardware.
>
> I'll number the other questions that are still puzzling me.
>
> 1) If I "downgrade" to XP "mode" using the "virtual" version inside
> Win 7, do I need to install XP drivers or will the 7 drivers continue
> to function?
>
> 2) Or is it that any machine sold with "Win 7 Pro downgradable to XP
> Pro" should be able to run all its hardware with XP drivers anyway?
>
> 3) I always like to have an actual OEM disc, rather than the
> "recovery" facility. Basically all I want to do is to run XP, run all
> my existing programs including security, DVD-copying (DVD Shrink) (all
> totally lawfully I might add), office apps, email client, web browser,
> and various speed-needing number-crunching maths apps. I also want to
> have a proper XP disc to stick into the DVD drive to change or mend
> things from if need be. Also I need a lot of connectivity. So the
> question is: if I do get a high-end laptop with pre-installed 7,
> should I buy the 7 OEM (with downgrade rights) or the XP OEM?
>
> Thanks!
> Michael

Before "downgrading", you might want to try your programs under Win7, lots
of programs do work.