? removing vista from new HP laptop

[Niteowl]

Hi all,

I am going to remove Vista from a new laptop and install XP Pro, the new HP
laptop has a partition with a recovery image. If I leave that alone for
now, and then when MS finally gets most of the bugs out of Vista, then run
the recovery to basically reinstall Vista, apply the then current patches,
to have a working Vista unit in about 18 months or so.. will that work?? ,
or should I just make the recovery DVD's and wipe the entire drive before
installing XP?

thanks,
niteowl

 

[Kerry Brown]

Make the recovery DVDs no matter what you decide to do. What happens if the
hard drive fails? My recommendation would be to make the DVDs. Make a copy
of them so you have two sets. Do a test restore from the copy to ensure they
work. Wipe out the hard drive including the restore partition and install
your OS of choice.

 

[Niteowl]

Kerry,

I actually had already made the DVD's, but I didn't test it.. I'll do that
before I wipe the drive,

thanks again,
niteowl

 

[John Barnett MVP]

I agree with Kerry, Nitwowl. While i have an acronis backup of my dual boot
system on a seperate hard drive on my system i also make sure that I also
have DVD copies of the backup - just in case!

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows - Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Hugh Wyn Griffith]

Just make sure you can get all the machine specific files from HP that
you need for the earlier version of Windows. Video, Audio, Shortcut
keys, ACPI and so on.

Many manufacturers are not supplying XP files for machines delivered
with VISTA .....

 

[...winston]

To add and not sure since the HP model number was not posted.

It might be appropriate to not the type and size of the recovery partition if necessary to be recreated.

Some HP/Compaq laptops may also store the setup program to the bios in a hidden partition(i.e. look before wiping<g> and maybe a visit to the HP site to see if any softpaqs are available to recreate either if needed later.

....w

: Make the recovery DVDs no matter what you decide to do. What happens if the
: hard drive fails? My recommendation would be to make the DVDs. Make a copy
: of them so you have two sets. Do a test restore from the copy to ensure they
: work. Wipe out the hard drive including the restore partition and install
: your OS of choice.
:
: --
: Kerry Brown
: Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
: http://www.vistahelp.ca
:
:
: : > Hi all,
: >
: > I am going to remove Vista from a new laptop and install XP Pro, the new
: > HP laptop has a partition with a recovery image. If I leave that alone
: > for now, and then when MS finally gets most of the bugs out of Vista, then
: > run the recovery to basically reinstall Vista, apply the then current
: > patches, to have a working Vista unit in about 18 months or so.. will that
: > work?? , or should I just make the recovery DVD's and wipe the entire
: > drive before installing XP?
: >
: > thanks,
: > niteowl
: >
:

 

[Guest]

What about getting a retail version of XP? Would an XP w/SP2 run on any PC
and have the necessary drivers for disk drives, display, etc.? I bought an HP
fesktop with LCD monitor with built in speakers. I have three XP machines on
wireless network. Got them to talk to each other only to discover that Vista
can not read files from Word and Excel creted on XP machines.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Go to support.hp.com, and check to see if HP has listed XP drivers
for your particular Vista computer. The newer the computer, the less
chance that XP drivers are readily available.

Gary VanderMolen

 

[D. Spencer Hines]

Smart Move.

18-Month Wait should be about right.

DSH

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Whether that really is a "Smart Move" remains to be seen.
I think the OP will be frustrated by the lack of XP drivers for
that laptop.

Gary VanderMolen

 

[Niteowl]

Just to let you all know, I did make a set of recovery DVD's from inside
Vista, I also made a drive image using Acronis, saved to a portable hard
drive. (and btw this is a Pavilion dv6000 series laptop, specifically a
dv6205us notebook.)

I then removed the recovery partition (6G's) following HP instructions found
on their site. Not sure I needed to do this, thinking I should have been
able to remove it during XP setup, but I went ahead anyway, only took a
minute.

When I inserted the XP CD, it went through it's checking system and copying
files, etc. but when I hit Enter to install Windows, it gave me an error
saying it couldn't find any hard drives...

A chat with HP revealed a setting in the bios for "Native SATA" drive that
had to be disabled. After that all went normally. The tech also gave me
links to all the motherboard drivers I would need, and I am in the midst of
installing those drivers now...

Thanks for all your help, just thought I'd pass along what I learned in the
process.

niteowl

 

[Kerry Brown]

Thanks for the update. I've done similar a few times but in my case I was
going the other way. The notebook came with XP and I was switching to Vista.
The procedure is basically the same.

 

[Hugh Wyn Griffith]

Would an XP w/SP2 run on any PC 
and have the necessary drivers for disk drives, display, etc.?

Can't tell you. Do as Gary suggests and check the HP website.

only to discover that Vista 
can not read files from Word and Excel creted on XP machines.

Can you clarify this? I have no problem reading WORD files or Excel
files created with WORD 2000, WORD XP/2002 or with Excel of the Office
2000 generation.

What version of OFFICE/WORD/EXCEL are you using on the VISTA machine?

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

The procedure may be similar, but the end result won't be.
Vista 'knows' about all the latest hardware and will probably supply
the correct drivers. XP is getting old, and because of that, it won't
supply drivers for the newer hardware.

Gary VanderMolen

 

[Kerry Brown]

Actually it's harder to find the Vista drivers than the XP drivers for most
hardware right now. That will change over time but it the case currently.
The hardware didn't change overnight when Vista came out. the notebook
manufacturers changed the disk image they were deploying for the most part.
I bought a notebook in November. It came with XP MCE. The same notebook now
comes with Vista Home premium and a different model number. The hardware is
identical.

 

[damien.young]

When I inserted theXPCD, it went through it's checking system and copying

files, etc. but when I hit Enter toinstallWindows, it gave me an error
saying it couldn't find any hard drives...

A chat with HP revealed a setting in the bios for "Native SATA" drive that
had to be disabled. After that all went normally.

Thanks Niteowl & goodbye Vista!!