Have to give up.

[DianaH]

Ok ... I can't stand it any more. I like some of what I have with Vista
9Beta 2, build 5384), but admittedly can't stand the slowness and constantly
appearing incessant, long lasting "windows installer" screens that cripple
any production or fun. I don't usually give up but enough is enough. 'Not'
being able to install RC1 to see if these problems would disappear has lead
me to this decision.

Having said that, here's my question. Can I install XP Pro over Vista? I
don't want to reinstall everything right now. I'd rather wait for a clean
install for when Vista is released to us little people in January.

Should I be afraid to install XP Pro over Vista?
Thanks for your insights.
Diana

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Boot with the cd, delete the Vista partition, create a new one and then
install XP.

 

[Chris Holmes [Chris123NT]]

The only way to install XP over Vista is to format the partition. So
re-installing all of the apps would be a must at this point. I really do
have to give you credit for dealing with beta 2 for this long though, that
build was horrible lol.

Chris

 

[DianaH]

Colin,
Are you suggesting Vista created its own partition. I have the main
partition, my c:\drive
and other partitions, but I don't see a designated "vista" partition.

I'm not really "ready" to delete that partition because it has a lot of
files on it that I need. Moving files within the vista environment is ever
so painfully slow. While I've been typing this vista is still trying to
list the files in my c:\drive. It will take days to get everything moved
and I'm not prepared to wait that long before I can get this sytem working
more efficiently. Creating an email takes forever as well. The computer
doesn't always keep up with the typing and like I mentioned before, when I
click something ... the windows installer screen pops up ...and this happens
when I click a folder to either delete or move. I've come to the
realization that my system probably wasn't ready although MS's analyser said
it was. It probably needed a clean install, but it would take a week to
reinstall everything and I wasn't prepared to do that right now. l will do
that for installing the retail version.

Thanks for your response ... if you have other ideas ... I'm listening.
Diana

Boot with the cd, delete the Vista partition, create a new one and then
install XP.

 

[DianaH]

Well, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who's thinkin' it wasn't pretty.
The behaviour of Windows is especially frustrating and some of my software
and peripherals don't work.

I really wish I could have installed the RC1, but I get errors, as have been
reported throughout the installation newsgroup. Strength in numbers I
suppose. It's no lack of trying to make it work.

Are you sure I can't over install XP Pro over Vista.

To move the files I need to keep will take forever. Just moving a handful
of files, while I watch for responses to this post has taken an hour. It
takes soooo long for the drive to display when I way to copy file over. I'm
not happy with that behaviour at all. I wish I had the XP Windows Explorer
to work with for this task.

Thanks. Diana





message The only way to install XP over Vista is to format the partition. So
re-installing all of the apps would be a must at this point. I really do
have to give you credit for dealing with beta 2 for this long though, that
build was horrible lol.

Chris

 

[Mr. Vista]

DianaH,
You should back up your user files asap. You will have to wipe the Vista
installation, then re-install XP and the Applications.

 

[Richard G. Harper]

No, you can't install Windows XP over the top of Vista. You will need to
back up files you want to save, wipe the drive clean, install XP, then
restore your files.

And yes, I'm sure. ;-)

 

[Chris Holmes [Chris123NT]]

Yeah unfortunately it's the only way. My reccomendation for the future
would be to create 2 partitions on the drive, one as your OS partition and
another for your apps and data so in the event you have this problem again,
you can format the OS and re-install and not have to worry about losing your
data .

And as for Vista, wait untill you can get RTM, it's a LOT nicer than Beta 2
or any of the RC's for that matter.

Chris

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

I meant whatever partition Vista is installed to. If it is the C: drive
then deleting the partition will also remove the Boot Configuration Data
store and that is what you want to do. If you only have one drive with one
partition then treat the computer like a brand new machine without any OS
and just do a normal XP set up.

 

[Steve Urbach]

Does your computer have room for a second HD?
200G drives are going cheap at US$ 60.
If it does have room, mount it in the Primary position (move the old
drive to secondary/slave position) and do a fresh install of XP (or
Vista) on the new drive. your data old files should still be intact
(programs will still need to be reinstalled).

 

[Bill]

i know what you mean Diane, i have rc1 5600, and have 1 and a half gig of
ram, vista states it needs 512, have 640 of ram in other pc and was very
slow (couldn't stand it so vista was out of it), but my pc is not fast as it
should be (just how much ram do i need for it to be a fast as windows xp
was?.

as said before, first save all what you want saved to cd's or usb flashes,
etc, then start your pc with the xp cd in, what i always do is delete the
hard drive, then format it (which it has to) and carry on.

you can't put win xp in over vista no.

 

[Bill]

i know what you mean Diane, i have rc1 5600, and have 1 and a half gig of
ram, vista states it needs 512, have 640 of ram in other pc and was very
slow (couldn't stand it so vista was out of it), but my pc is not fast as it
should be (just how much ram do i need for it to be a fast as windows xp
was?.

as said before, first save all what you want saved to cd's or usb flashes,
etc, then start your pc with the xp cd in, what i always do is delete the
hard drive, then format it (which it has to) and carry on.

you can't put win xp in over vista no.

 

[DianaH]

Thank you all. Good information.
And thanks for being "sure" that I can't install back over vista. You read
my mind!!! lol.

Safe mode is a good idea for moving the files ... with things as they are,
safe mode will probably save me days of work. It would prob. take about 30
min. on a good working system (including the time to make sure I moved
everything).

I found an older 20 gig drive kicking around, so I'm gonna put what data
files I do have on the main drive, onto it. The bulk of my files are on
other partitions and another physical drive.

The suggestions of installing software to another partition is worthy of
consideration, however, if you reformat the system drive and reinstall the
op sys, how does your system know that the apps are install elsewhere.

Thanks again folks ... always a good source of help here.
Diana


Have you tried starting in safe mode? See if it isnt faster. then back
up your files.

 

[Steve Urbach]

The suggestions of installing software to another partition is worthy of
consideration, however, if you reformat the system drive and reinstall the
op sys, how does your system know that the apps are install elsewhere.

It doe not. You need to re-install the App's. Restore your address
book (if you use WAB) and your "favorites" if you use IE.
You also tend to lose all those little customizations power users tend
to make during use :0 .

 

[Guest]

Ok ... thanks for clarifying ... it's what I originally thought.

For a moment, I was dreaming ... thinking you meant it was actually possible
to bypass that step by putting the O.S. and apps on a different drive. What
was I thinking??!! Diana