Install XP on a Vista laptop?

[JMF]

I bought XP Pro for my desktop.

Now I'm in the market for a new laptop. The new laptops seem only to have
Vista on them.

I'm curious about removing the OEM Vista and replacing it with my XP Pro
that I bought.

That raises two questions:

- am I allowed to take the XP Pro that I bought and also install it on my
laptop?

- what kind of trouble am I asking for (and I'm sure there is trouble,
ranging from "some" to "plenty") by replacing the original OEM Vista with XP
Pro?

Thanks for any inputs/opinions/facts.

John

 

[Xandros]

The word "also" implies that you already have the version of XP installed
somewhere else. If that is true then you can not legally have XP installed
on more that one system at a time. So it will need to be removed from any
other system(s) it may be on before you can install it on the new system.

I bought a cheap Acer laptop recently. Dumped the OEM Vista on it and
installed XP Pro. It runs fine. The main problem is finding XP drivers. It
can be a bit challenging to find XP drivers for some systems. What is the
make and model of the laptop?

 

[PD43]

I bought XP Pro for my desktop.

Now I'm in the market for a new laptop. The new laptops seem only to have
Vista on them.

I'm curious about removing the OEM Vista and replacing it with my XP Pro
that I bought.

That raises two questions:

- am I allowed to take the XP Pro that I bought and also install it on my
laptop?

No. Never. Period.

- what kind of trouble am I asking for (and I'm sure there is trouble,
ranging from "some" to "plenty") by replacing the original OEM Vista with XP
Pro?

Check the laptop manufacturer's website to see if they provide XP
drivers for your laptop. You will definitely need them.

 

[Malke]

I bought XP Pro for my desktop.

Now I'm in the market for a new laptop. The new laptops seem only to have
Vista on them.

I'm curious about removing the OEM Vista and replacing it with my XP Pro
that I bought.

That raises two questions:

- am I allowed to take the XP Pro that I bought and also install it on my
laptop?

- what kind of trouble am I asking for (and I'm sure there is trouble,
ranging from "some" to "plenty") by replacing the original OEM Vista with
XP Pro?

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.

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

Malke

 

[JMF]

The word "also" implies that you already have the version of XP installed
somewhere else. If that is true then you can not legally have XP installed
on more that one system at a time. So it will need to be removed from any
other system(s) it may be on before you can install it on the new system.

Then that probably kills the idea right there: I did indeed mean "install it
on BOTH the desktop and laptop." I'm probably not willing to buy a second
XP.

I bought a cheap Acer laptop recently. Dumped the OEM Vista on it and
installed XP Pro. It runs fine. The main problem is finding XP drivers. It
can be a bit challenging to find XP drivers for some systems. What is the
make and model of the laptop?

Nothing yet -- just looking around so far and wanted to know what my options
were. Thanks for the feedback!

John

 

[JMF]

No. Never. Period.


Check the laptop manufacturer's website to see if they provide XP
drivers for your laptop. You will definitely need them.

Thanks - that exactly answers my two questions.

John

 

[JMF]

Great info, thanks very much!

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.

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

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I bought XP Pro for my desktop.

Now I'm in the market for a new laptop. The new laptops seem only to have
Vista on them.

This is not exclusively the case. It's certainly not the case for laptops
designed for the business market. There, you can usually get XP Pro as an
option.,

Note that Business and Ultimate versions of Vista qualify for XP Pro
downgrades - this does not apply to any version with the word HOME in the
name.

Before you start you must absolutely be sure that the laptop manufacturer
has all the XP drivers you need for that system, available for download.

If these are not available, do NOT proceed.

I'm curious about removing the OEM Vista and replacing it with my XP Pro
that I bought.

That raises two questions:

- am I allowed to take the XP Pro that I bought and also install it on my
laptop?

If it's a retail version and not installed elsewhere, yes. If it's
installed elsewhere or is an already-installed OEM version, no.

- what kind of trouble am I asking for (and I'm sure there is trouble,
ranging from "some" to "plenty") by replacing the original OEM Vista with
XP Pro?

The best thing to do is to get a system with the OS you actually need, in
the first place. This will enable all the warranties and support plans.

The next easiest thing to do is remove the original hard disk, set it aside,
and do the XP install to a new drive.

The worst thing to do is to remove Vista from the system, and then install
XP to a system that has no available XP drivers. You are most likely to
disable key components.

Get the *right* laptop in the first place.

HTH
-pk

 

[JMF]

Patrick,

Many thanks - I didn't know nearly everything you said, in particular the
option to "downgrade". And your point about just getting the laptop you need
in the first place is well taken.

John

 

[Daave]

I bought a cheap Acer laptop recently. Dumped the OEM Vista on it and
installed XP Pro. It runs fine. The main problem is finding XP
drivers.

Perhaps you can share with me any snags you may have hit. My
sister-in-law has an Acer Aspire 5100-3357 that came with Vista Home
Premium. She hates Vista. I would like to install XP as part of a dual
boot. The Acer site seems to have all the necessary XP drivers for this
laptop. Do you have any advice for me before I undertake this project?

 

[JMF]

in


Just to clarify: you have 2 Windows licenses. One will be used by your
desktop (Windows XP). The other license is the Vista license (which you
can use to downgrade to Windows XP). So you are allowed to use the
Windows XP installation media on the laptop but you are NOT using its
license there. Instead you are converting your Vista license via
downgrade rights to a Windows XP license.

Be aware that some laptop manufacturers don't provide Windows XP drivers
for their hardware. They may have designed their laptop to be usable
with Windows Vista and they only supply Windows Vista drivers. This can
result in losing hardware usability or some of its functionality when
you downgrade to Windows XP. You need to check if the laptop's hardware
has Windows XP drivers for it all.

Thanks, VanguardLH. Now I think I recognize what you're referring to from
the Dell Computer site, where they seem to talk about the "XP Downgrade."
Now I see how the licensing system works. I'm sure (well, not sure, but it
would be pretty bad if it wasn't true ...) that if a manufacturer offers the
downgrade then they must offer the drivers.

Thanks again,

John

 

[JMF]

Faith springs eternal.
Reality bites.

:-D

How true, how true!!