Replacing Vista with XP Pro

[Dennis]

Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS website where
I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any assist on a contact would
be appreciated. I am contemplating the purchase of a new PC. The one I am
interested in comes with Vista Home Premium; However, I need XP Pro. I wish
to know: if I can replace Vista Home Premium with XP Pro, can I do so by
simply purchasing a new copy of XP Pro and installing it over Vista. Will MS
register the XP Pro OS on my new computer. If not, it looks like I will be
limited to purchasing a used machine with XP Pro pre-installed on eBay.

 

[GreenieLeBrun]

Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS
website where I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any
assist on a contact would be appreciated. I am contemplating the
purchase of a new PC. The one I am interested in comes with Vista
Home Premium; However, I need XP Pro. I wish to know: if I can
replace Vista Home Premium with XP Pro, can I do so by simply
purchasing a new copy of XP Pro and installing it over Vista. Will
MS register the XP Pro OS on my new computer. If not, it looks like
I will be limited to purchasing a used machine with XP Pro
pre-installed on eBay.

Make sure you can get XP drivers for all the hardware..

Some manufacturers still provide XP on some machines, others can provide
"downgrade" CDs at a price so you will need to shop around..

 

[Jerry]

Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS website
where
I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any assist on a contact
would
be appreciated. I am contemplating the purchase of a new PC. The one I
am
interested in comes with Vista Home Premium; However, I need XP Pro. I
wish
to know: if I can replace Vista Home Premium with XP Pro, can I do so by
simply purchasing a new copy of XP Pro and installing it over Vista. Will
MS
register the XP Pro OS on my new computer. If not, it looks like I will
be
limited to purchasing a used machine with XP Pro pre-installed on eBay.

You can purchase a brand new Dell with XP Pro pre-installed. See link
below:
http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/winxp_inspndt?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

 

[DL]

And certain versions of Vista have downgrade writes to WinXp.
If purchasing a Vista PC, you would also need to determine whether that PC
has WinXp drivers avilable, particularly if buying from a large OEM, eg HP -
not all new PC's have winxp drivers avilable, it may also impact on any PC
warranty or support.
BTW Whay do you need winxp pro?

 

[HeyBub]

Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS
website where I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any
assist on a contact would be appreciated. I am contemplating the
purchase of a new PC. The one I am interested in comes with Vista
Home Premium; However, I need XP Pro. I wish to know: if I can
replace Vista Home Premium with XP Pro, can I do so by simply
purchasing a new copy of XP Pro and installing it over Vista. Will
MS register the XP Pro OS on my new computer. If not, it looks like
I will be limited to purchasing a used machine with XP Pro
pre-installed on eBay.

Allow me to re-phrase what others have said. Some Vista computers will not
run XP and cannot be made to do so.

Inasmuch as this is a hardware restriction, you will not find the answer on
a Microsoft site.

New machines ARE available that will run XP or come with XP installed. Just
like there are machines on which XP cannot be installed.

Get some sort of assurance from the seller.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS website where
I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any assist on a contact would
be appreciated. I am contemplating the purchase of a new PC. The one I am
interested in comes with Vista Home Premium; However, I need XP Pro.

Why do you need XP Pro? Are you sure that you need it? It's very rare
that a program will run under XP Pro, but not under Vista Home
Premium, but if you are reading older documentation about the program,
it might say that because Vista didn't yet exist when it was written.

I wish
to know: if I can replace Vista Home Premium with XP Pro, can I do so by
simply purchasing a new copy of XP Pro and installing it over Vista.

No, you can never install XP *over* Vista. Your only option would be
to format and install XP cleanly, not *over* Vista. Or run both in a
dual-boot scenario.

Also note that you may need XP hardware drivers, instead of Vista
drivers, especially if you are buying a laptop. Many newer computers
don't have them available, and that means that XP won't run on that
computer. You should check regarding availability with the computer's
manufacturer.

Will MS
register the XP Pro OS on my new computer.

Registration is *always* completely optional. The important issue is
*activation*, not registration. Yes, if you buy and install a
legitimate copy of XP Pro, you can activate it.

If not, it looks like I will be
limited to purchasing a used machine with XP Pro pre-installed on eBay.

No, not at all. You have other choices. There are probably more, but
here's three:

1. Buy an XP computer from a manufacturer like Dell, who offers XP on
some models as an alternative

2. Either build a computer yourself and install XP on it, or have a
local small computer shop build a computer to your specifications.

3. Buy a used computer from a local individual, rather than from eBay.

Where you buy used material is of course up to you, but I would
suggest that you be extremely careful buying something as expensive as
a used computer from eBay. It's easy to get burnt, and I personally
wouldn't trust that method of buying.

 

[Plato]

Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS website where
I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any assist on a contact would
be appreciated. I am contemplating the purchase of a new PC. The one I am

Then best bet is to find a local pc dealer that can build you a PC that
works for XP without looking for extra drivers.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS website where
I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any assist on a contact would
be appreciated. I am contemplating the purchase of a new PC. The one I am
interested in comes with Vista Home Premium; However, I need XP Pro. I wish
to know: if I can replace Vista Home Premium with XP Pro, can I do so by
simply purchasing a new copy of XP Pro and installing it over Vista.

Possibly, if device drivers exist; although WinXP cannot be installed
"over" Vista. You have to format the hard drive and start clean.

Will MS
register the XP Pro OS on my new computer.

If it's a retail license that's not currently in use elsewhere, or a
generic OEM license that's never been installed on any other computer, yes.

If not, it looks like I will be
limited to purchasing a used machine with XP Pro pre-installed on eBay.

There could be a couple possible adverse repercussions of which you
should be aware. First and foremost, if the specific computer model in
question was designed specifically for Vista, there may well be no
WinXP-specific device drivers available to make the computer's diverse
components work properly. Consult the computer's manufacturer about the
availability of device drivers. Secondly, removing an OEM-installed
operating system and replacing it with another will almost invariably
void any and all support agreements and, sometimes, even the warranty.
You would, at the very least, have to re-install Vista before getting
any support from the manufacturer. Again, consult the computer's
manufacturer for specifics. Thirdly, there may be the additional cost
involved in purchasing a WinXP license for this new computer.

After backing up any data you wish to transfer to the new OS
installation, simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be
offered the opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part
of the installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of
boot devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

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

Then, assuming you were successful in obtaining WinXP-specific
device drivers so that the computer can be made to work with WinXP, the
backed up data can be restored and applications (those that are
WinXP-compatible, that is) re-installed.


--

Bruce Chambers

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