Go from Vista to XP Pro...?

[jtpryan]

I have a client that ordered a PC for his business and was told by HP
business that he could only get it with Vista. Before calling me he
went ahead and ordered it and then bought a copy of XP Pro to put on
when it arrives. The problem is he ordered it with Office
preinstalled.

So, now can I "upgrade" to XP Pro and preserve office or do I have to
wipe the drive, install XP and then find a way to reinstall Office
from the disks? I assume when I walk in there tonight I'm going to be
confronted with a box that has Vista (business?) on it and a bunch of
recovery disks.

What the hell is with HP anyway, telling customers they can't get XP
anymore?

-Jim

 

[Alias]

I have a client that ordered a PC for his business and was told by HP
business that he could only get it with Vista. Before calling me he
went ahead and ordered it and then bought a copy of XP Pro to put on
when it arrives. The problem is he ordered it with Office
preinstalled.

So, now can I "upgrade" to XP Pro and preserve office or do I have to
wipe the drive, install XP and then find a way to reinstall Office
from the disks? I assume when I walk in there tonight I'm going to be
confronted with a box that has Vista (business?) on it and a bunch of
recovery disks.

What the hell is with HP anyway, telling customers they can't get XP
anymore?

-Jim

If you install XP, the warranty from HP will be null and void. I would
tell your friend to take it back and insist on XP or demand a full
refund. Being as he's already bought XP, he should get a local shop to
build him a PC without all the crap HP loads with Windows.

Alias

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

You'll need to perform a "clean install" of Windows XP.
As far as the preinstalled version of Microsoft Office, it
is likely a 60-day trial version only.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Client

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

|I have a client that ordered a PC for his business and was told by HP
| business that he could only get it with Vista. Before calling me he
| went ahead and ordered it and then bought a copy of XP Pro to put on
| when it arrives. The problem is he ordered it with Office
| preinstalled.
|
| So, now can I "upgrade" to XP Pro and preserve office or do I have to
| wipe the drive, install XP and then find a way to reinstall Office
| from the disks? I assume when I walk in there tonight I'm going to be
| confronted with a box that has Vista (business?) on it and a bunch of
| recovery disks.
|
| What the hell is with HP anyway, telling customers they can't get XP
| anymore?
|
| -Jim

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

Essentially, going from Vista to XP is called a downgrade. This process
requires a clean installation. I assume HP would include Office on recovery
disk that came with the PC. Search the boxes that your computer came with.
As for providing Vista only, sounds like an OEM decision to boost sales.
Microsoft is still selling XP for another year, so you should still be able
to get it easy through either retail or OEM. If you don't have Office on a
disk, its probably on a System Restore partition, you might have to contact
HP support about accessing it.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a client that ordered a PC for his business and was told by
HP business that he could only get it with Vista. Before calling
me he went ahead and ordered it and then bought a copy of XP Pro to
put on when it arrives. The problem is he ordered it with Office
preinstalled.

So, now can I "upgrade" to XP Pro and preserve office or do I have
to wipe the drive, install XP and then find a way to reinstall
Office from the disks? I assume when I walk in there tonight I'm
going to be confronted with a box that has Vista (business?) on it
and a bunch of recovery disks.

What the hell is with HP anyway, telling customers they can't get XP
anymore?

HP can choose how and to whom they wish to sell their products. It may hurt
their business and it may not - and I lean towards the latter if your friend
decided to go with them anyway when told they could not sell him Windows XP
with a new computer. If everyone does that then there is no victims - as
the people knew what they were getting and did it anyway.

There is no 'upgrade' from Vista to XP. The term doesn't fit in any
fashion. The only way to go from Windows Vista to Windows XP is a clean
install - wipe everything and install anew - *poof* gone.

Your friend has a few options...

1) Return the computer to HP and demand a full refund. When asked the
reason - state clearly that it is because they would not sell it with the OS
the customer wanted, they do not send actual installation media with their
new computers (only restoration/recovery CD/DVDs) and just all-around poor
customer service when it is all taken as a whole. Complete and utter
disatisfaction with the product.

2) Purchase disk imaging software. Make an image of the machine as it is
now and store it in a safe place. Contact HP and demand installation media
for Office. Do not tell them why - it is none of their concern. If they do
not grant the media - return to suggestion 1. If they do send the media -
you can wipe the machine and install Windows XP and Office. Once the
machine is fully loaded (but not in a domain, etc) - make an image of the
machine as it is then and store that alongside the other disk image. Now
you can easily restore the machie to the state you generally want it. If
later there is trouble with the machine and maintenance is necessary - image
the machine as it is and then, after you make sure the image you just made
is complete, apply the original image (as it came from HP) and call them.
Although - unless it is a hardware issue - you probably just fixed your
problem and if it isn't a hardware issue - they wouldn't likely be of much
help anyway.

If suggestion (1) is utilized - get another computer from someplace that
will sell you what is desired. If they won't - move on to the next place.
Computers are so prevalent that loyalty to one brand is not necessary.
Sometimes it works - but it is not necessary. heh

 

[jtpryan]

If you install XP, the warranty from HP will be null and void. I would
tell your friend to take it back and insist on XP or demand a full
refund. Being as he's already bought XP, he should get a local shop to
build him a PC without all the crap HP loads with Windows.

Alias

I should have been clearer. HP told him he was welcome to install XP
when he got it, so the warranty is fine. He has a new employee and
need this guy working tomorrow. I agree with all of the comments
here. If I had my way he would go to the local shop and have the
machine built by them with what he wants. But he did this, and now
here we are. Also, I know it is a downgrade, I was being facetious
(ergo the quotes).

So, given this, I have one night to get this thing running in the most
efficient way possible.

-Jim

 

[Bill Yanaire]

No.... Actually when someone goes from Vista to XP, we consider it an
"Upgrade"

 

[Bill Yanaire]

Going from Vista to anything else would also be considered an "Upgrade" -
DOS 3.1, Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Linux, Unix, Punched Cards,
etc...

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

You forgot to say "Hi, my name is Bill, welcome to my world."

 

[Alias]

I should have been clearer. HP told him he was welcome to install XP
when he got it, so the warranty is fine.

I wouldn't believe HP for a New York second unless they put in writing
and notarize it. I bought an HP desk top with 98 loaded on it and it
came with a coupon to upgrade to Me. I upgraded. When I called support,
they told me that by installing Me, I had violated my warranty and
refused to help without being paid. Now, this was a coupon from HP, mind
you.

He has a new employee and

need this guy working tomorrow. I agree with all of the comments
here. If I had my way he would go to the local shop and have the
machine built by them with what he wants. But he did this, and now
here we are. Also, I know it is a downgrade, I was being facetious
(ergo the quotes).

So, given this, I have one night to get this thing running in the most
efficient way possible.

-Jim

Seems like you're between a rock and a hard place if you don't have the
time to take the machine back and demand XP.

Alias

 

[Bill Yanaire]

Hi, my name is Bill, welcome to the United States, a wholly owned subsidiary
of Microsoft!

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

The warranty will be fine.
But the computer shipped with Vista and your customer may need to
install Vista at own time and expense before HP will proceed with any
support.
Keeping the original hard drive intact can help if necessary.
Use another hard drive with Windows XP for work and if there are
warranty issues, swap the drives and verify you still have the issue
and proceed accordingly.

Since there is no downgrade path from Vista to XP, a Clean Install of
Windows XP will be necessary.

You will have to look at the media to see what is available for Office
installation.
I suspect Office is either a trial in which case the customer may need
to purchase or it is the full version but no media is included.
If the later, media can be purchased for a small price.

You should investigate the specifics of exactly what your customer
received to help you better use your time.
Otherwise I suspect this job may stretch over a few days as you get
the rest in order.

 

[Dan]

And when people change the topic in the middle of a thread we call them an
idiot....


Dan

 

[Bill Yanaire]

so Dan, what you are saying if I read your post well, you are an Idiot?

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

I don't remember Bill Gates being crowned Emperor?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have a client that ordered a PC for his business and was told by HP
business that he could only get it with Vista. Before calling me he
went ahead and ordered it and then bought a copy of XP Pro to put on
when it arrives. The problem is he ordered it with Office
preinstalled.

So, now can I "upgrade" to XP Pro and preserve office

No. It's a downgrade, not an upgrade, and downgrades aren't supported. He
will have to do a clean installation of Windows XP, which means wiping
everything on the drive.

or do I have to
wipe the drive, install XP

Yes, but it's a single process, not a two-step one. Just boot from the
Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if necessary to accomplish this)
and follow the prompts for a clean installation (delete the existing
partition by pressing "D" when prompted, then create a new one).

You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

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

and then find a way to reinstall Office
from the disks?

If the computer comes with an Office installation CD, yes, that's not a
problem. If it doesn't, contact HP and ask them how to proceed.

 

[Adam Albright]

I don't remember Bill Gates being crowned Emperor?

Nope, but George Bush made himself king.

 

[Dan]

Changing the thread from "Go from Vista to XP Pro..?" to "Upgrad to XP !"
disrupts the thread and makes the conversation hard to follow. So yes, I am
calling you an idiot.

Dan

 

[Bill Yanaire]

If more people changed the Subject to indicate what their message says, it
would help people to decide whether to read the post or not, but you
certainly don't have the brains to figure something like that out. Now go
ask your Mommy if you can go outside and play in the sandbox.

And yes, you are not just an IDIOT, your are also a DOUCHE BAG.

 

[Bill Yanaire]

See, if the subject changes you can see that you are actually an IDIOT and
will gravitate to the message right away.