Vista to XP Home

  • Thread starter Thread starter Todd Patterson
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Todd Patterson

I am so tired of all of the, what appear to be, bugs with this new system.
The irritating pop-ups everytime I want to do something (like access user
controls, delete a folder, etc.) that want confirmation.

Unfortunately I purchased this comptuer with Vista Home installed. Is
there a way to just install XP Home back on this thing? I have tried with
the XP Home CD and it appears that it will not allow the system to be rolled
back.

Any suggestions??

Thanks,

Todd
 
Todd Patterson said:
I am so tired of all of the, what appear to be, bugs with this new system. The irritating pop-ups
everytime I want to do something (like access user controls, delete a folder, etc.) that want
confirmation.

Unfortunately I purchased this comptuer with Vista Home installed. Is there a way to just
install XP Home back on this thing? I have tried with the XP Home CD and it appears that it will
not allow the system to be rolled back.

Any suggestions??

Thanks,

Todd
Click to expand...

It may be possible to do a clean install of XP (using a purchased copy of a FULL XP-SP2 program).
But first you need to check with the PC manufacturer to see if XP drivers are available for that
model.
If not, you won't be able to make it work and you will end up with a lot of $$$ pounded down a rat
hole.
Then, if you did not get a set of restore disk with the PC or, in the case of HP or Compaq, make
your set of restore disks, then you won't even be able to get back to Vista.

Dell and Gateway will still let you buy a new PC with Windows XP (look in the business section).
 
You could wipe the disk and install XP fresh. You could also install XP
into another Windows directory in the existing file system. That tends to
be tricky because of conflicts in the Program Files directory. You can't
really have one installation of a program that works in two Windows
installations. If you want to keep both Vista and XP it is advisable to
boot each from its own partition. It is doable if you can find drivers for
all the hardware in your computer. Check your manufacturer's web site for
instructions on "downgrading" your system. If you have a Dell they will
tell you how to do it.

You are right that you will not be able to "roll back" your existing Vista
installation to XP Home.

You can change the irritating pop-up behavior if you like in Vista. See the
help page for "User Account Control".

Cheers,

Earle
 
You can not roll back to a legacy OS unless your current one is an upgrade
from that legacy OS. You will have to perform a clean install of XP. Make
sure the prerequisites Richard mentioned are met.

Charlie42
 
Charlie42 said:
You can not roll back to a legacy OS unless your current one is an upgrade
from that legacy OS. You will have to perform a clean install of XP. Make
sure the prerequisites Richard mentioned are met.
Click to expand...
The main one, the sine qua non, is the availability of device drivers.
Check the box's manufacturer's web site.

Earle
 
Todd said:
I am so tired of all of the, what appear to be, bugs with this new
system. The irritating pop-ups everytime I want to do something (like
access user controls, delete a folder, etc.) that want confirmation.

Unfortunately I purchased this comptuer with Vista Home installed. Is
there a way to just install XP Home back on this thing? I have tried
with the XP Home CD and it appears that it will not allow the system to
be rolled back.

Any suggestions??

Thanks,

Todd
Click to expand...


It's your computer, so the choice is, ultimately, yours. (Although
it would have been a lot simpler to have just purchased the computer
with WinXP installed, to start with.)

However, 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

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
 
Besides all other posts regarding how to wipe out VISTA and do your XP, you
might want to be cool down and just learn a bit more on VISTA (it is
reasonable to learn a bit on something new, right?).

If you do want to lower the security bar as you are used to XP, you can
disable UAC (User Account Control), which will immediately reduce the
confirmation message popups quite bit (however, the confirmation message for
deleting files/folder will stay, as all older version of Windows). Simple
search "UAC" in Windows help for how to enable/disable UAC (at your own
risk!).
 
Todd Patterson said:
I am so tired of all of the, what appear to be, bugs with this new system.
The irritating pop-ups everytime I want to do something (like access user
controls, delete a folder, etc.) that want confirmation.

Unfortunately I purchased this comptuer with Vista Home installed. Is
there a way to just install XP Home back on this thing? I have tried with
the XP Home CD and it appears that it will not allow the system to be
rolled back.

Any suggestions??
Click to expand...

Todd,

If you want to roll back to XP, you need to get a installable version of XP.
Using one from another computer supplied by the OEM manufacturer is not
likely to work.

While it is double dipping, you paid for Vista with the PC but now want XP,
you need install media and a license key for XP. If you have the XP
Microsoft install media, you can call Microsoft and they might give you a
key for the downgrade.

But most people don't have a Microsoft XP media kit, they get OEM vendor
specific sets. Which means you would have to re-purchase the OS. It is
likely you can get the drivers for everything. But what a PITA....
 
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