XP Upgrade

[Bill Martin]

If I buy a retail XP upgrade box, can I apply it to "upgrade" a Vista
machine? Or does Microsoft prevent that from working?

Bill

 

[David B.]

AFAIK Vista is not a qualifying OS for the XP upgrade, you would need
Windows 2000 or below for XP Pro, Windows ME or below for XP Home Edition.

 

[peter]

Like David said Vista is not in the upgrade path to XP......but if you have
an older version of an MS OS on CD that would be on the upgrade
path..........the bad part is that you would need to "newly" install XP
formatting your HD in the process.
peter

 

[Bill Martin]

That's an interesting idea. I'll have to root through the closets for an
old Win98. Reforatting the disk is less of a pain than moving to Linux
would be.

Thanks for the idea.

Bill
-----------------------

 

[JS]

If it's a new PC that came with Vista installed you have a couple of
potential problems.
1) Are there XP drivers available for your PC. Check the manufacture's web
site.
2) Do you have a Vista CD that came with the PC. If not Vista may be on a
restore partition on your hard drive, you don't want to delete this
partition or you will no longer be able to go back to Vista if you choose to
do so.
3) As posted by others in the know, you may also void the warranty by
installing XP.

JS

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

If I buy a retail XP upgrade box, can I apply it to "upgrade" a Vista
machine?

No, that's a downgrade.

Or does Microsoft prevent that from working?

It's not just Microsoft. As far as I know, no software vendor supports
downgrades.

 

[Harry Ohrn]

Not without a qualifying product. Vista isn't a qualifying product to use a
windows XP Upgrade version with. But if you have a Windows 9x/Me or 2000 CD
you can use that to satisfy the request when asked during the XP
installation.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

If I buy a retail XP upgrade box, can I apply it to "upgrade" a Vista
machine? Or does Microsoft prevent that from working?

No, of course not. Transitioning from a current OS to an older OS
is a *downgrade*, and, to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever come
up with a way to do that, short of formatting the partition and starting
from scratch. You'll need to obtain a full version of WinXP.

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. (An OEM CD and license from some previous computer will not
do, for legal and usually technical reasons.)

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:


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

 

[Bill Martin]

I'm not really asking them to support a downgrade, just to find some way to
install XP in place of Vista. All things considered, I'd rather give my
money to Microsoft for XP than to Apple. It just seems Microsoft isn't too
interested in taking my money. If necessary I'll buy Apple, but I'd rather
avoid that if possible.

Ah well, I'll work something out.

Bill
----------------

 

[Anteaus]

No, that's a downgrade.

Nonsense. ;-)

http://www.9to5mac.com/windows-xp-upgrade-43265254

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I'm not really asking them to support a downgrade, just to find some way to
install XP in place of Vista.

You can't downgrade, as I said, but you can certainly clean install XP
if you want to. But before doing this, especially if you're talking
about a laptop, make sure that there are XP drivers available for all
your hardware.

Also be aware of the possibility that some hardware manufacturers may
consider that changing operating systems voids your warranty.

All things considered, I'd rather give my
money to Microsoft for XP than to Apple. It just seems Microsoft isn't too
interested in taking my money. If necessary I'll buy Apple, but I'd rather
avoid that if possible.

Ah well, I'll work something out.

Bill
----------------

 

[dweebken]

If you have an XP upgrade box, you'd need the installation disc from an
earlier version of Windoze to qualify for installing it.

The catch 22 is, if you upgraded to Vista from a previously installed
XP, I think the software registration process cancels the installation
key for the XP version, I heard that somewhere.
Dweebs