Re-Install XP After Installing Vista

[Guest]

A user upgraded his machine to Vista when the machine really was not robust
enough to handle it. I am trying to re-install XP by booting off of the CD
that came with his hardware (Compaq). I can't get it to boot from that CD.

I'm not concerned about losing any of the user's files or installed
programs, just want to get him back to a clean base system. Any ideas from
anyone out there?

 

[DL]

Check bios settings - boot from cd?

 

[HeyBub]

A user upgraded his machine to Vista when the machine really was not
robust enough to handle it. I am trying to re-install XP by booting
off of the CD that came with his hardware (Compaq). I can't get it to
boot from that CD.

I'm not concerned about losing any of the user's files or installed
programs, just want to get him back to a clean base system. Any ideas
from anyone out there?

Does he still have the restore partition in place?

 

[Patrick Keenan]

A user upgraded his machine to Vista when the machine really was not robust
enough to handle it. I am trying to re-install XP by booting off of the CD
that came with his hardware (Compaq). I can't get it to boot from that CD.

I'm not concerned about losing any of the user's files or installed
programs, just want to get him back to a clean base system. Any ideas from
anyone out there?

Is the CD actually bootable? Not all are. Check the BIOS settings.

Try it in another system that you know can boot from CD. Or, disconnect
the hard disk, which will force the system to seek the next boot device.
This won't help with the install, other than verifying that the disk *is*
bootable.

Some systems use recovery partitions instead.

HTH
-pk