Downgrade from Vista to XP

[cmgfusa]

Had a virus on my computer. Friend of mine was able to wipe out my hardrive
and start over, and reinstalled Vista, but my pc is not able to run vista
properly. When I try to reinstall XP, it gives me an error message saying I
already have a higher windows version installed. How do I get Vista off my
PC?

 

[propman]

Had a virus on my computer. Friend of mine was able to wipe out my hardrive
and start over, and reinstalled Vista, but my pc is not able to run vista
properly. When I try to reinstall XP, it gives me an error message saying I
already have a higher windows version installed. How do I get Vista off my
PC?

Use a bootup disk (ie floppy or CD or whatever) which includes a
harddisk formatting program ( ie MS format.exe), then format the drive.
Install XP.


Check the following site for more info on boot disks:

< http://bootdisk.com/ >

 

[Malke]

Had a virus on my computer. Friend of mine was able to wipe out my
hardrive and start over, and reinstalled Vista, but my pc is not able to
run vista
properly. When I try to reinstall XP, it gives me an error message saying
I
already have a higher windows version installed. How do I get Vista off
my PC?

You are trying to install XP from within Vista and that won't work. You do
not need a boot floppy as suggested by the other poster. You simply need to
make sure your boot priority is set to boot from your CD/DVD drive first
and then boot from your XP install CD. See below for general information
about replacing Vista with XP.

A. On an OEM (HP, Sony, etc.) computer:

1. Go to the OEM's website and look for XP drivers for your specific model
computer. If there are no XP drivers, then you can't install XP. End of
story. If there are drivers, download them and store on a CD-R or USB
thumbdrive; you'll need them after you install XP.

2. Check with the OEM - either from their tech support website or by calling
them - to see if you will void your warranty if you do this. If you will
void the warranty, you make the decision.

3. If the OEM does support XP on the machine, call them and see if you can
have downgrade rights and have them send you an XP restore disk. This will
be far the easiest and best way of getting XP on the machine.

4. If XP is supported on the machine but the OEM doesn't have an XP restore
disk for you, understand that you'll need to purchase a retail copy of XP
from your favorite online or brick/mortar store.

5. Also understand that you will need to do a clean install of XP so if you
have any data you want, back it up first.

6. If none of the above is applicable to you because you can't run XP on
that machine (see Item #1 above), return the computer and purchase one
running XP instead.

B. On a generic/home-built computer (from non-OEM company) - You will need
drivers for all your hardware. See the second link below for more details:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What
you will need on-hand

Malke

 

[propman]

You are trying to install XP from within Vista and that won't work. You do
not need a boot floppy as suggested by the other poster.

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To

Find it kinda ironic you would post these rascals at the same time! <grin>


FWIW....I posted one method of obtaining what the OP was asking and to
my mind, the best method. YMMV

 

[Antonio dos Reis Feitosa Neto]

Boot from an MS-DOS disk and run FDISK /MBR on the boot drive, or use a
livecd from linux and erase the Master Boot Record (the first 512 bytes of
the disk) and the XP setup will run ok

Antonio

 

[David B.]

How is booting from floppy better than booting directly from the XP
installation CD? That actually adds time and unneeded steps.

 

[propman]

How is booting from floppy better than booting directly from the XP
installation CD? That actually adds time and unneeded steps.

Floppy was only one of the alternatives....I recommended a boot disk.
Personally I prefer to start with a clean slate and that means to me
reformatting the harddrive so that no remains of the original files are
left on it.....old school, maybe, but a routine I've used over the 20+
years I've been involved with computers. To me that's a "clean
install"...YMMV.

 

[Malke]

Floppy was only one of the alternatives....I recommended a boot disk.
Personally I prefer to start with a clean slate and that means to me
reformatting the harddrive so that no remains of the original files are
left on it.....old school, maybe, but a routine I've used over the 20+
years I've been involved with computers. To me that's a "clean
install"...YMMV.

There is no need to use a boot disk, floppy or CD. The XP install CD has
everything you need to delete the partition(s), format, clean install. It
may be a comfortable routine for you to use a boot disk but it has not been
necessary to do this when installing Windows operating systems since Win2k.

Malke

 

[Mick Murphy]

You've not learnt anything in those "supposedly" 20 years involvement with
computers!
People like you will should be barred from here!

 

[propman]

There is no need to use a boot disk, floppy or CD. The XP install CD has
everything you need to delete the partition(s), format, clean install. It
may be a comfortable routine for you to use a boot disk but it has not been
necessary to do this when installing Windows operating systems since Win2k.

Malke

Quite aware of this fact........<sigh>

 

[propman]

You've not learnt anything in those "supposedly" 20 years involvement with
computers!
People like you will should be barred from here!

Oh look another little moron has emerged from his slimepit.....run along
and get your diaper changed, there's a good little rascal.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Oh look another little moron has emerged from his slimepit.....run along
and get your diaper changed, there's a good little rascal.

Its difficult to see why one would use DOS format on a drive and then have
to reformat NTFS prior to installing XP. There is also the problem that DOS
does not partition large drives too well..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

 

[propman]

Its difficult to see why one would use DOS format on a drive and then
have to reformat NTFS prior to installing XP. There is also the problem
that DOS does not partition large drives too well..

What ****ing ever...sheesh.....do people have nothing better to do
around here than nitpick. I said a BOOT DISK and gave a generalize
example.......I gave the OP a url where a person could pick up
practically ANY flavour of a BOOT DISK on whatever medium that might be
applicable to their situation and therefore they could make the choice
of which one to use.

I am currently downloading a BOOT DISK ****** take note you and the
other nitpickers plus the moron which you have quoted above ******* a
BOOT DISK.....in fact, a CD BOOT DISK that I deem will be of applicable
use at some time. NON Windows specific, as a matter of fact.....but can
be utilized for fixing Windows problems......

.........now do any of you nitpickers want to bitch about me using a NON
specific to Windows related BOOT DISK to potentially fix Windows related
issues? Go ahead....harp on amongst yourselves but I won't be
listening. <shrug>

EOT

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Had a virus on my computer. Friend of mine was able to wipe out my hardrive
and start over, and reinstalled Vista, but my pc is not able to run vista
properly. When I try to reinstall XP, it gives me an error message saying I
already have a higher windows version installed. How do I get Vista off my
PC?

If you upgraded to Vista from WinXP, and retained the Windows.Old
folder:

How to go back to Windows XP after you have upgraded a Windows XP-based
computer to Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933170/en-us

How to restore a computer to a previous Windows installation after you
install Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933168/en-us

Otherwise:

After backing up any data you wish to transfer to the new OS
installation, simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be
offered the opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part
of the installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of
boot devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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