don't want Vista anymore

[Guest]

I bought my wife a laptop for her birthday from Amazon.

Toshiba Qosmio F45-AV410 15.4" Notebook PC (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
T5450, 2 GB RAM, 200 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium)

My wife is not happy with Vista... and we would like to get XP going on this
laptop instead.
I looked on Amazon about getting a copy of Windows XP... but dear lord the
cheapest prices is almost $200.
Can I get a trade in for XP somehow?
I really don't want to pay $200 to get a copy of the previous Windows
operating system.

Kind Regards,
Andy Abreu

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

Contact Toshiba about getting a downgrade to XP or check auction sites such
ebay or buy an OEM copy of XP from sites such new egg or even amazon.com.

Could you describe the problems your wife is experiencing on Vista? We might
be able to give you help in that area too.

 

[HeyBub]

I bought my wife a laptop for her birthday from Amazon.

Toshiba Qosmio F45-AV410 15.4" Notebook PC (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
T5450, 2 GB RAM, 200 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium)

My wife is not happy with Vista... and we would like to get XP going
on this laptop instead.
I looked on Amazon about getting a copy of Windows XP... but dear
lord the cheapest prices is almost $200.
Can I get a trade in for XP somehow?
I really don't want to pay $200 to get a copy of the previous Windows
operating system.

Several responses:

1. The laptop may not be able to run XP if it has hardware devices that have
drivers only for Vista. This means that XP, Win98, Win2K, etc., may not run
at all on this laptop.
2. Vista is hooked to the laptop's environment. Vista cannot be extracted
and sold separately.

Vista on a modern laptop is similar to the keyboard - you just can't
substitute a DVORAK keyboard for the one on the laptop. You can make the
existing keyboard emulate a different layout and you can make Vista simulate
(in many respects) XP.

Bottom line: It may be easier to get a different wife.

 

[Joseph Conway [MSFT]]

There isnt any sort of trade in program for Vista but you might want to
contact Toshiba and see if they offer a discounted rate for your PC.

Joseph W. Conway, MCSE
Windows Server Group

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Adam Albright]

I bought my wife a laptop for her birthday from Amazon.

Toshiba Qosmio F45-AV410 15.4" Notebook PC (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
T5450, 2 GB RAM, 200 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium)

My wife is not happy with Vista... and we would like to get XP going on this
laptop instead.
I looked on Amazon about getting a copy of Windows XP... but dear lord the
cheapest prices is almost $200.
Can I get a trade in for XP somehow?
I really don't want to pay $200 to get a copy of the previous Windows
operating system.

Kind Regards,
Andy Abreu

You need to shop around a little. First decide if your want the full
retail version or some OEM version. You should be able to find a
version for about $100 or less depending on vendor and the version you
want. Some come with Service Pack 2 already part of deal.

http://www.nextag.com/Microsoft-Windows-XP-Home-65020292/prices-html

A big downside is you'll need to start from scratch. All your
installed software will be lost and you'll need to reinstall it.

Chances are much if not all the software that came preinstalled on
your laptop doesn't have CD/DVD's for you to reinstall from. So in
effect you would also be throwing all that away too.

Something else to consider, will your laptop's hardware work with XP?
Maybe, maybe not. Generally not a good idea to do what you want.
Better to keep Vista and everybody knows how I feel about it. Still
rolling back isn't a good choice for most people either.

What EXACTLY doesn't your wife like about Vista?

 

[Guest]

Well... first of all... thanks for all the quick replies.

Wife not happy... so i'm not happy.

Specifically... quirky things keep happening every day...

1.) internet explorer keeps seizing. Happens every day. This happened
twice in very bad places. Once while she was trying to modify her website
online.. another when she was designing a pamphlet on a web based designer.
Both times she lost several hours worth of work.

2.) Internet stopping: Today the internet simply stopped working. I'm at
work so I don't know what the error message was... she rebooted and it did
not repair the issue. Both the other toshiba and the Macbook we have are not
having issues getting on the wireless network. She says a wizard came up to
guide her through the problem but an error came up saying she didn't have
access. I gave her the Key and she still can't get it working.

I can probably get internet up an running again when I get back home.

Never had any problems with XP.

Kind Regards,
Andy

 

[Adam Albright]

Well... first of all... thanks for all the quick replies.

Wife not happy... so i'm not happy.

Specifically... quirky things keep happening every day...

1.) internet explorer keeps seizing. Happens every day. This happened
twice in very bad places. Once while she was trying to modify her website
online.. another when she was designing a pamphlet on a web based designer.
Both times she lost several hours worth of work.

Perhaps a different browser would work better. Firefox and Opera are
both faster than IE7 and don't have a lot of the unnecessary overhead.
The good news is you can keep your cake and eat it too. You can have
as browsers installed as you wish and just switch back and forth.

She should get in the habit of saving her work every ten minutes or
so, that way you never lose more than a small bit of what you've done.

2.) Internet stopping: Today the internet simply stopped working. I'm at
work so I don't know what the error message was... she rebooted and it did
not repair the issue.

Usually the ISP is to blame or surely is suspect. Another good reason
to have multiple browsers. If things seem to have come to stop in one
visit a always busy and fast site like Google and see the second
browser gets through. It if does probably the other browser. If not
then next likely the ISP or your hardware that connects you to the
Internet. Look at event logs which are much better in Vista then they
were in XP and what if anything is listed in the way of any errors.

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

I would suggest you try resetting your Internet Explorer settings. Click
Start > type 'Internet Options' > open it > go to the 'Advanced' (tab) >
under 'Reset Internet Explorer settings' > click the 'Reset' button

 

[Guest]

Just a suggestion, I would check a few things before assuming it is Vista. It
may be, but before you spend money on XP, be aware that at my firm we use a
LOT of toshibas and they have had a lot of issues, especially with Vista. I
would contact them to verify you have the latest bios/drivers. I would also
try a different internet browser. Perhaps mozilla. Is this your first
machine with IE7 on it? your settings might be having conflicts with the
sites you are trying to work with. Maybe its vista, but look at other
possible fixes before you shell out cash for a new os.

Good luck.

 

[ray]

Several responses:

1. The laptop may not be able to run XP if it has hardware devices that have
drivers only for Vista. This means that XP, Win98, Win2K, etc., may not run
at all on this laptop.
2. Vista is hooked to the laptop's environment. Vista cannot be extracted
and sold separately.

Easiest way in the world to find out to be to boot a Linux Live CD - if
that boots, then xp should work. On the other hand, once you've booted the
Linux CD that may wind up being all you need.

 

[kevpan815]

I bought my wife a laptop for her birthday from Amazon.

Toshiba Qosmio F45-AV410 15.4" Notebook PC (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
T5450, 2 GB RAM, 200 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium)

My wife is not happy with Vista... and we would like to get XP going on this
laptop instead.
I looked on Amazon about getting a copy of Windows XP... but dear lord the
cheapest prices is almost $200.
Can I get a trade in for XP somehow?
I really don't want to pay $200 to get a copy of the previous Windows
operating system.

Kind Regards,
Andy Abreu

Then Re-Format Your Computer And Install Open Source Linux Ubuntu 7.10
RTW, Just FYI.

 

[Charlie Wilkes]

Well... first of all... thanks for all the quick replies.

Wife not happy... so i'm not happy.

Specifically... quirky things keep happening every day...

1.) internet explorer keeps seizing. Happens every day. This happened
twice in very bad places. Once while she was trying to modify her
website online.. another when she was designing a pamphlet on a web
based designer. Both times she lost several hours worth of work.

2.) Internet stopping: Today the internet simply stopped working. I'm
at work so I don't know what the error message was... she rebooted and
it did not repair the issue. Both the other toshiba and the Macbook we
have are not having issues getting on the wireless network. She says a
wizard came up to guide her through the problem but an error came up
saying she didn't have access. I gave her the Key and she still can't
get it working.

I can probably get internet up an running again when I get back home.

Never had any problems with XP.

Kind Regards,
Andy

Good lord. My advice would be to return the computer to the vendor and
try to get a refund.

I never thought I'd reach this point, but I think the the new Mac laptops
are the best deal out there nowadays. I have tested one out. The
interface is easy to figure out and everything works.

I'm almost thinking about getting one myself, although I'm doing alright
with Linux. No way am I going to use Vista and give Microsoft permanent
control of my system.

Charlie

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Charlie Wilkes <[email protected]> Whilst having a
limited moment of clarity in an otherwise cloudy existence the drunkard
typed

Good lord. My advice would be to return the computer to the vendor
and try to get a refund.

I never thought I'd reach this point, but I think the the new Mac
laptops are the best deal out there nowadays. I have tested one out.
The interface is easy to figure out and everything works.

I'm almost thinking about getting one myself, although I'm doing
alright with Linux. No way am I going to use Vista and give Microsoft
permanent control of my system.

Charlie

At least this **** doesn't top post.

 

[Guest]

Well, I went home and my wife is not crazy. Crazy to trust me to pick her
B-day present...

The first thing I tried was Vista's built in diagnostic tool.... and as my
wife says... it don't work.
Specifically.... it told me to open the Service Control Manager and manually
start this tool called Diagnostic Policy Service... ... it says
Error 1114: A dynamic link library(DLL) initialization routine failed.
So forget diagnostic wizard.

Next... I dig around and I discover that the wireless is enable with good
signal and it sees the router... but the IPv4 connectivity in the connection
status window is showing not connected... I roll up my sleaves and spend the
next 4 hours last night trying to get the thing to connect.

It's strange, my mac connects and the other computers here connect... but
somehow I think there's an issue with the new Toshiba and the wireless
router.
Is it Vista? I don't know. and I don't know why it worked for a few weeks
and just now decided it doesn't like the router.

I'm off to buy a new router ... one that has a Vista sticker on it.

Thanks everyone.
Andy

 

[Guest]

HeyBub, I really, really loved your answare. it just made my day. i want you
to be my advisor for life. "Bottom line: It may be easier to get a different
wife." (LOL)

 

[NoStop]

I bought my wife a laptop for her birthday from Amazon.

Toshiba Qosmio F45-AV410 15.4" Notebook PC (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
T5450, 2 GB RAM, 200 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium)

My wife is not happy with Vista... and we would like to get XP going on
this laptop instead.
I looked on Amazon about getting a copy of Windows XP... but dear lord the
cheapest prices is almost $200.
Can I get a trade in for XP somehow?
I really don't want to pay $200 to get a copy of the previous Windows
operating system.

Kind Regards,
Andy Abreu

Don't blame you. Microsoft has already made enough money off of you. Try a
FREE and better operating system ...

http://www.ubuntu.com

Cheers.

 

[dannyderailed]

I bought my wife a laptop for her birthday from Amazon.

Toshiba Qosmio F45-AV410 15.4" Notebook PC (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
T5450, 2 GB RAM, 200 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium)

My wife is not happy with Vista... and we would like to get XP going on this
laptop instead.
I looked on Amazon about getting a copy of Windows XP... but dear lord the
cheapest prices is almost $200.
Can I get a trade in for XP somehow?
I really don't want to pay $200 to get a copy of the previous Windows
operating system.

Kind Regards,
Andy Abreu

Seriously, I don't know what kind of upgrade Vista is it seems like
they were shooting for a home run, but the bat never connected with
the ball, I just bought a new Vista enabled Toshiba myself, and I had
trouble right away, So if you figure out how to get XP instead let me
know, I especially hate the constant prompts, its a waste of time and
is quite annoying.

I hope it works out,
Dan

 

[William Kronert]

the ball, I just bought a new Vista enabled Toshiba myself, and I had
trouble right away, So if you figure out how to get XP instead let me
know, I especially hate the constant prompts, its a waste of time and
is quite annoying.

Boy you got that right. I don't plan on changing my XP system till they
something about improving vista. The constanst prompts in vista is the
worst thing about vista but there are other problems too.

Bill

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Dan;
Are you referring to UAC?
If so they will diminish drastically one have the computer set up.
Depending on your use, that can take a few hours to a few weeks.
If they don't, look at the particular programs causing them and you
will probably find an older or poorly written program.

You can also disable UAC, but it is not advisable.
I rarely see the UAC prompts anymore.

Toshiba is one of the major OEMs selling computers with Windows XP.
Dell is another.
Return yours and get one with Windows XP.