How would I go about making a Brand new Vista PC to a XP PC?

[Denvers Dawgs]

I just got a new PC as a gift. It's a quadcore and I want remove vista and install xp. My question is, how will I know what drivers I'll need after I install xp? Is there some type of program that can scan the pc after I install xp, and tell me what software/hardware needs drivers?

[usually_quiet]

I think I did something like that at Microsoft's website after re-installing XP, but I don't remember where to go for it.

[redwudz]

Go to the laptop manufacturers site and see if there are XP drivers for that model. What drivers are usually required? The motherboard chipset drivers, the video card drivers, the audio card drivers, the hard drive and optical drivers and the LAN adapter drivers most times.

A lot of new laptops with Vista installed don't have available XP drivers, so you may be out of luck. Laptop drivers may be proprietary to just a single laptop. Easier to just get used to Vista.

If you do go ahead and install XP, look in the Device Manager and it should tell you which drivers are missing. But I would have XP drivers ready before you do that. Or at least the restore discs for the laptop. If you destroy the restore partition on the hard drive the Vista restore discs may not work either.

[edDV]

Keep Vista, google XP for dual boot post Vista install.

Some of the components may lack XP drivers. Search the manufacturer web site. You may need to replace those parts.

[wtsinnc]

What brand is the PC ?
You can usually find what you need at the manufacturer's website.

Whitebox/custom built PCs may require installation of needed drivers for each individual component. XP's hardware wizard can search for the appropriate drivers or you can search manually. In device manager, look for anything which has the yellow icon; those will need attention.

Two good websites for additional information;
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/

http://labmice.techtarget.com/

[Dv8ted2]

Anyone wanting to ditch Vista for XP is being short-sighted. The next version of windows will be out next year or the first part of 2010. Windows 7 is an improvement of Vista. If you go backwards to XP, then you will encounter compatibility problems, when you switch to windows 7.

It makes no sense to go backwards and cling to an operating system that is approaching eight years old. Vista is rock solid and many compatibility problems have been solved. You are more secure by running Vista, than you would be with XP.

[Denvers Dawgs]

The PC is a HP desktop. It isn't connected to internet so security isn't an issue. It's used for photo/video editing. I prefer xp, because several of the programs I like/use aren't Vista compatible. I'm aware of Win7 coming out soon. Not sure how xp will cause more compatibility problems, but sure it might, just as right now, me jumping to vista has compability problems. Thanks for the info

[Dv8ted2]

The PC is a HP desktop. It isn't connected to internet so security isn't an issue. It's used for photo/video editing. I prefer xp, because several of the programs I like/use aren't Vista compatible. I'm aware of Win7 coming out soon. Not sure how xp will cause more compatibility problems, but sure it might, just as right now, me jumping to vista has compability problems. Thanks for the info

Have you tried compatibility mode?

It would be easier to update the programs? The vendors probably have updated versions that are compatible with Vista

[Po|arbeaR]

Well unfortunately, we've all been forced into using vista (and win7 next) by the evil microsoft. In my opinion Vista is a terrible OS (and trust me I've been using microsoft OS's since 3.1) To me its right up there with WinME. Win7 promises to be better but who knows. Denver Daws for the sake of not being 'left behind' you would be better off just leaving vista as your OS and re-learning how to use it as an OS, And assuming your computer handles it fine you should have no problems when we're all forced again to upgrade to win 7.Sorry about the negative attitude towards vista but in my usage of it (being a network administrator for a few small companies) it's a pain. Just my 2 cents.

-PB

[Dv8ted2]

Well unfortunately, we've all been forced into using vista (and win7 next) by the evil microsoft. In my opinion Vista is a terrible OS (and trust me I've been using microsoft OS's since 3.1) To me its right up there with WinME. Win7 promises to be better but who knows. Denver Daws for the sake of not being 'left behind' you would be better off just leaving vista as your OS and re-learning how to use it as an OS, And assuming your computer handles it fine you should have no problems when we're all forced again to upgrade to win 7.Sorry about the negative attitude towards vista but in my usage of it (being a network administrator for a few small companies) it's a pain. Just my 2 cents.

-PB

I would think you would have a better appreciation of the OS, since you are a network admin. You need to have a better outlook on things. Try to be more positive. Vista was designed from the ground up with security in mind. It is not even in the same zip code as ME. The fact that you compared it to ME means that you do not fully understand the OS.

[Denvers Dawgs]

ok thanks guys.....this thread is finished. Thanks for the help.

[redwudz]

And I apologize for posting about a laptop. I don't know where I got that from, certainly not from your first post.

[lacywest]

I just got a new PC as a gift. It's a quadcore and I want remove vista and install xp. My question is, how will I know what drivers I'll need after I install xp? Is there some type of program that can scan the pc after I install xp, and tell me what software/hardware needs drivers?

Maybe already posted but it is helpful to mention the model of the PC you are talking about.

I gave my grandkids a Compaq computer for each of them with Win Vista on it ... I told my daughter I have the HP-Compaq Win XP reinstall disks and could put WinXP on them and she said they seem to be happy with Vista.

But they dont do anything with their PCs except click the Start button and go from there. They dont do the things alot of us do with our PCs ... I tried Vista ... and went back to WinXP.

Malware and Adware sometimes bugs the frikking heck out of me ... but I do get rid of it ... or I reinstall WinXP again.

I have plenty of 500 GB USB 2.0 harddrives connected ... I just save the files I dont want to lose and reinstall again.

[Denvers Dawgs]

no prob redwudz, thanks again all