Downgrade to XP?

[Mike]

The wife bought a new laptop with Vista Home (wanted XP, but everything came
with Vista!).
Unfortunately, all her desktop publishing programs aren't Vista compatible &
we don't want to buy the latest versions of everything.
I've heard that I could load XP, activate by phone & using my Vista product
key M$ would activate it.
Any truth to that?
Thanks-

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

No. You would need your own Windows XP product key.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Mike

You cannot use a Vista Product Key to activate XP. If your previous version
of XP was a retail version that you bought (Not pre-installed when you
bought the computer or a purchased OEM version) then you could use that disk
as long as it was removed from the previous computer.

 

[John Barnes]

Make sure you can find drivers for XP. Many laptops designed for Vista do
not have all the XP drivers available. Check with your mfg before you make
the change.

 

[Mike]

I am waiting on a reply from Fujitsu...

Make sure you can find drivers for XP. Many laptops designed for Vista do
not have all the XP drivers available. Check with your mfg before you
make the change.

 

[Guest]

Mike, have you tried installing the programs in XP compatiblility mode in
Vista?

Right-click on the .exe of the Xp compatible programs that you want to
install, select properties, then compatibility.
You have a few choices there.

Hope it helps; saves money, that is!

 

[David A. Spicer]

And who is selling these amazing laptops with new technology that did not
exist before Vista/this year?
--------------------
If the enemy is in range, so are you.

Make sure you can find drivers for XP. Many laptops designed for Vista do
not have all the XP drivers available. Check with your mfg before you
make the change.

 

[Malke]

And who is selling these amazing laptops with new technology that did
not exist before Vista/this year?

Lots of companies. We've seen this on various HP and Toshiba models so
far and not just on laptops. Hardware in laptops is all proprietary,
made specifically for the OEMs. Because laptops have everything vital on
the motherboard, that makes the proprietary factor even more important.
If the OEM hasn't written drivers for this proprietary hardware, then
none exist anywhere else.


Malke

 

[Len Cuff]

The wife bought a new laptop with Vista Home (wanted XP, but everything came
with Vista!).
Unfortunately, all her desktop publishing programs aren't Vista compatible &
we don't want to buy the latest versions of everything.
I've heard that I could load XP, activate by phone & using my Vista product
key M$ would activate it.
Any truth to that?
Thanks-

I had the same problem after upgrading to Vista, scanner not supported
and Ulead PictureShow not working. My answer was to download a
brilliant piece of software called Innotek VirtualBox - free! I've
installed my old XP into this virtual computer and everything works
fine. Supports USB from the host and also networking from the
host.Might be worth a try as it costs nothing but the download.



cheers,
Len