Mark said:
I have a new gaming computer and I've installed Vista Ultimate on it.
Great mother board, great video card but disappointing problems with Vista
Ultimate. How does one go about getting his money back from Microsoft on
one
of thier programs? As much as I'd love to have directx 10 the hassles
I've had so far with Vista aren't worth it.
If Vista came preinstalled on your new computer, then you need to contact
the computer mftr. about this.
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.
6. If none of the above is applicable to you because you can't run XP on
that machine (see Item #1 above), return the computer and purchase one
running XP instead.
B. On a generic/home-built computer (from non-OEM company) - You will need
drivers for all your hardware. See the second link below for more details:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What
you will need on-hand
If you bought Vista yourself from a retail store, online or in meatspace,
contact the retail store for their software return policy.
Malke
