Can you switch from Vista to XP?

[NBninja8]

I'm going to buy a laptop, but I'm having a hard time finding one with Windows XP. If I buy a Vista laptop and then want switch to XP, can I use my XP CD that came with my XP computer?

[MJA]

dell.com gives you the choice between XP and vista

http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/hot_offers_nb?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd...243&lid=507237

if the XP CD you have is a full OEM copy then it's fine,but if it's a recovery/restore copy it will not work

[redwudz]

If your XP OS disc is a full copy, not just a OS restore disc that came with another computer, sure. But you can only have one licensed computer for each OS disc. And you will have to call MS most times for the activation.

And to get Vista off the computer, you would need to first wipe the drive by booting from a boot disk so the HDD can be repartitioned and reformatted. You can use a Linux distro, a or Windows PE disc or similar to boot from. Then just do a regular XP install.

But before you do any of that, make sure there are XP drivers available for the laptop. Some newer laptops don't have XP drivers available, so XP may be useless.

I would try Vista first if you end up with it on the laptop. I have only had minor problems with the OS on two systems, and all have been resolved.

[classfour]

I'd buy one with XP first if available. If not: It depends on which version of Vista you start with. I have Vista basic OEM, and it CANNOT be "downgraded".

[JohnnyMalaria]

If your XP OS disc is a full copy, not just a OS restore disc that came with another computer, sure.

Don't assume that especially with a modern laptop that has a SATA drive.

My wife's company provided her with a Dell Latitude 630 laptop in July that had Vista Business on it. The problem was that one of her essential applications doesn't work with Vista so I set about trying to get XP on there. At first, I tried Virtual PC 2007 - I successfully installed XP Pro and all of the applications she requires. Unfortunately, the laptop's graphics driver made the mouse move erratically so it was a no-go. Virtual PC 2004 wouldn't install on Vista.

I was left no choice but to install XP Pro for real. To be very safe, I created a separate partition so that the Vista installation would remain if it all went horribly wrong.

"No problem", I thought. Popped the XP installation CD, it booted and started the installation process. Great. Until it claimed that no suitable storage device had been detected - i.e., it couldn't find the SATA hard drive.

"No problem", I thought. Got the make/model and went to the website to get the SATA driver. No go. After much more research, I learned the problem is a missing Intel driver. Got all the drivers for the motherboard and found the SATA controller driver.

"No problem", I thought. Pop the driver on a USB drive and, when the XP installation asks for the driver, let it get it from there. Nope. Can only get it from the A: drive. Please.

"This is getting ridiculous", I thought. Many Googles later, I learned that I had to slipstream the driver into the installation CD. So, make an image of the CD on the hard drive, do all the things according to Intel and repackage the whole thing as a bootable CD.

"This'll work", I thought. Nope. Same complaint by the installer.

"OK, I better call Dell and ask for an XP setup CD", I thought. "Sorry, Sir. You have to specify the OS at the time of ordering. We can only provide duplicate CDs for the OS you have.", they said. "But this is a corporate machine.", I replied. "You will have to get your purchasing department to call our corporate business line and purchase an OS swap."

Well, I explained all of this in gory detail to my wife's company. As of today, it still has Vista on it and so my wife continues to use an ageing T21 Thinkpad that I have to breathe life into on a frequent basis.

So, the moral: don't attempt a "downgrade" until you have fully researched the process specific to your laptop. Back it up before hand and only proceed if you have the full setup disks for your laptop.

[edDV]

Just buy a Dell with XP preinstalled. Then you can always upgrade to Vista later.

[redwudz]

JohnnyMalaria, I suspect the problems you mentioned may be fairly common. I've got a older W95 laptop that used proprietary drivers. I tried to put W2000 in there, but as soon as the OS disc got to 90% and did a reboot, the CD drive would never be found again. I did get W2000 in over a parallel port, but it was unstable and BSOD'd within a few days. Never found a cure, so it's a doorstop at present.

Vista laptops, especially, may not have XP drivers available. I agree completely to research a change to XP before you leap into it.

On the other hand, if Vista was originally installed, you should have minimal problems with many newer programs. But businesses should stay away from Vista at present, especially if they need to use some older software.

But if you really want XP, buy a laptop with it installed.

[Super Warrior]

Yes, my recent Dell Vostro 1000 came with XP installed.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/vostronb_1000?c=us&cs=04&l=en...tab=bundlestab

The best way to go, never bother with Vista.

[CobraPilot]

"MaximumPC" magazine's January 2008 issue, page 40, gives instructions on how to revert a Vista machine to XP in 5 steps. (US magazine)

[Dv8ted2]

If your XP OS disc is a full copy, not just a OS restore disc that came with another computer, sure.

Don't assume that especially with a modern laptop that has a SATA drive.

My wife's company provided her with a Dell Latitude 630 laptop in July that had Vista Business on it. The problem was that one of her essential applications doesn't work with Vista so I set about trying to get XP on there. At first, I tried Virtual PC 2007 - I successfully installed XP Pro and all of the applications she requires. Unfortunately, the laptop's graphics driver made the mouse move erratically so it was a no-go. Virtual PC 2004 wouldn't install on Vista.

I was left no choice but to install XP Pro for real. To be very safe, I created a separate partition so that the Vista installation would remain if it all went horribly wrong.

"No problem", I thought. Popped the XP installation CD, it booted and started the installation process. Great. Until it claimed that no suitable storage device had been detected - i.e., it couldn't find the SATA hard drive.

"No problem", I thought. Got the make/model and went to the website to get the SATA driver. No go. After much more research, I learned the problem is a missing Intel driver. Got all the drivers for the motherboard and found the SATA controller driver.

"No problem", I thought. Pop the driver on a USB drive and, when the XP installation asks for the driver, let it get it from there. Nope. Can only get it from the A: drive. Please.

"This is getting ridiculous", I thought. Many Googles later, I learned that I had to slipstream the driver into the installation CD. So, make an image of the CD on the hard drive, do all the things according to Intel and repackage the whole thing as a bootable CD.

"This'll work", I thought. Nope. Same complaint by the installer.

"OK, I better call Dell and ask for an XP setup CD", I thought. "Sorry, Sir. You have to specify the OS at the time of ordering. We can only provide duplicate CDs for the OS you have.", they said. "But this is a corporate machine.", I replied. "You will have to get your purchasing department to call our corporate business line and purchase an OS swap."

Well, I explained all of this in gory detail to my wife's company. As of today, it still has Vista on it and so my wife continues to use an ageing T21 Thinkpad that I have to breathe life into on a frequent basis.

So, the moral: don't attempt a "downgrade" until you have fully researched the process specific to your laptop. Back it up before hand and only proceed if you have the full setup disks for your laptop.

If you went into the BIOS and adjusted the SATA settings, would you see any diference?

[redwudz]

A lot depends on the motherboard. I have had MBs that refused to boot to the SATA boot drive without adding a SATA driver with a driver on a floppy disk first. Most others have no problem booting from a SATA drive. With a desktop PC, no problem, use a PATA drive.

If you were to use a XP OS disc, it would need to be a MS OS disc, not the OEM restore discs that come with some computers. They are usually specific to the computer model.

It will still come back to the same problem. You need motherboard specific drivers most times. The video, LAN and audio drivers are likely generic to the chipset brand. Not a real problem. The MB chipset drivers might be the real problem. They are usually specific to the motherboard. They usually include the hard drive drivers also. And without them, you are pretty much dead.

BIOS settings usually won't help, it may see the drives, but the OS may not see them as boot. There may be ways around all this, but it could get complex. Not really something most of us want to deal with.

[genki500]

You don't need to buy another copy Xp to downgrade from Vista, you can call Microsoft to activate your Xp.
Here is a discussion link,
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=45&TopicId=12525

[edDV]

Is anyone really complaining about Vista on new laptops? It will need 2GB RAM for power apps.

I'm hopefully getting a low end Compaq V6500Z w/Vista Prem tomorrow (Staples deal). I'll let you know how it does.

[redwudz]

genki500, true, but you need to have a full version of XP and not have it installed on any other computer. One OS per computer is the license.

Of course, if his XP OS is not on any other computer, MS can give him a new activation. But that may not help if XP drivers specific to his laptop are not available. That's the major problem.

EDIT: I've delt with Vista on several laptops with no problems. It depends on your software. Most software runs fine under Vista. Here's one compatibility list: http://www.iexbeta.com/wiki/index.php/Windows_Vista_Software_Compatibility_List

[genki500]

genki500, true, but you need to have a full version of XP and not have it installed on any other computer. One OS per computer is the license.

Of course, if his XP OS is not on any other computer, MS can give him a new activation. But that may not help if XP drivers specific to his laptop are not available. That's the major problem.

EDIT: I've delt with Vista on several laptops with no problems. It depends on your software. Most software runs fine under Vista. Here's one compatibility list: http://www.iexbeta.com/wiki/index.php/Windows_Vista_Software_Compatibility_List

I don't have Vista experience, but I did have trouble with my HP (Xp pre-installed) last year.
My HP crashed like crazy after multiple-restored. Finally HP's tech support told me to install a copy of Xp (full version, not OEM version), the tech support said the sticker number on the computer will work. I borrowed a copy, installed it; oh, no, the sticker number did not work. We finished installation with my friend's number, called Microsoft, they said "no" first - I was put on hold for 15 minutes, they gave me another number...
I don't know, maybe I was few of lucky ones. It worths a try before you spend money on a new copy of Xp, and if you can find one.

[edDV]

The kind of driver "fun" you can expect downgrading to XP with a new laptop.

http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?admit=109447626+119779694...readId=1184782

[NBninja8]

thanks everyone for the fast replies! I think I'm going to look for a windows XP laptop, I've really heard about too many Vista problems and having the extra vista features isn't really that important.

I just have one other question: I've been doing some research on dual core processors. I found that some programs don't use both processors. The main program I want to use both with is Ulead Video Studio. It says that it is compatible with Intel Core 2 Duo. Only the processor that the laptop I want is a AMD Dual Core Processor. Do you think that ulead will still be able to use both cores?

[MJA]

stick with Intel Core 2 Duo when it comes to laptops.less power consumption,less heat,faster

Vostro 1400 is a good choice IMO

[winifreid]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140283/article.html

[jman98]

Interesting post. This deviates from what the original poster wants, but in case this is useful to anyone else, SATA and XP work OK for us at work on desktops, so the SATA disk problems must be related to laptops. We have a standard desktop buildout that we use at work with SATA drives and they all run XP with no problems. I know that we did nothing special in terms of installing drivers because I did the installs.

[ofbarea]

For Intel chipset based mobos, you just need to go to support.intel.com site and download latest drivers for XP. Then you have to install XP with F6 option to provide the required drivers.

[JohnnyMalaria]

For Intel chipset based mobos, you just need to go to support.intel.com site and download latest drivers for XP. Then you have to install XP with F6 option to provide the required drivers.

But...they have to be on a floppy drive - you can't use a USB flash drive etc (well, in my particular case at least). I have the scars to prove it

[The_Doman]

Take a look at http://driverpacks.net/.
With those drivers you can easily update your XP CD so it will work with newer PC's using native SATA.
They have driverpacks for (almost?) all available controllers/devices for XP.

[JohnnyMalaria]

That's exactly what I did - slipstreamed the SATA drivers for the motherboard into the XP setup image following Intel's instructions to the letter. Didn't work...methinks there is a specific driver for the drive that isn't available to anyone except via the laptop vendor's setup disks.

The specific hard drive isn't listed on the drive manufacturer's site - they have almost identical ones but with different capacities. Wouldn't be surprised if it is an OEM drive for Dell.

[The_Doman]

That's exactly what I did - slipstreamed the SATA drivers for the motherboard into the XP setup image following Intel's instructions to the letter. Didn't work...methinks there is a specific driver for the drive that isn't available to anyone except via the laptop vendor's setup disks.

I have done this successfully for several recent laptop's with only native SATA support.

Just try this step by step guide on the DriverPacks.net Forum

It's easy to check if the correct (SATA) drivers are present: just boot the new created cd and see if the HD is detected by XP setup.

[Super Warrior]

stick with Intel Core 2 Duo when it comes to laptops.less power consumption,less heat,faster

Vostro 1400 is a good choice IMO

My Vostro 1000 has been great for a basic comp. Though do you think the AMD sempron puts out more heat than something like core 2 duo?

[MJA]

Super[/url] Warrior]

stick with Intel Core 2 Duo when it comes to laptops.less power consumption,less heat,faster

Vostro 1400 is a good choice IMO

My Vostro 1000 has been great for a basic comp. Though do you think the AMD sempron puts out more heat than something like core 2 duo?

I'm big fan of AMD,but sadly they are way behind in the mobile PC

[Super Warrior]

Super[/url] Warrior]

stick with Intel Core 2 Duo when it comes to laptops.less power consumption,less heat,faster

Vostro 1400 is a good choice IMO

My Vostro 1000 has been great for a basic comp. Though do you think the AMD sempron puts out more heat than something like core 2 duo?

I'm big fan of AMD,but sadly they are way behind in the mobile PC

I only ask because on my laptop i often hear the cpu fan whirring a good bit, even on times when i'm barely using it. Such as simple things like internet. Leading me to wonder if its somehow overheating.

My AMD Sempron works good so far, but is it slower than the Celeron-M i had on my last laptop.

[dcsos]

Un believable thread!!!!

remember when you put in the CD to install the OS and that was that?
We've come so far...only now we spent our efforts "downgrading"
-tho' running VISTA is the real downgrade.....

Now MICrOSOFT puts you thru multiple hoops to install the OS

and now all the major manufatureres (HP, Dell, Gateway)make boxes and laptops that will not install from rETAIL discs.
You must buy the OS install backup disc if its not included as the
MICrOSOFT retail disc appears to be missing files to the installer!

Very frustrating how greedy these companies are. I'm already spending all my disposable income on this crap!

[mwkurt]

I was able to downgrade my new Acer laptop jst last week. Acer has all of the XP drivers on their website.


ark