If you remember back to when you installed Windows XP, Microsoft provided users with a fairly simple option to return to Windows 98 if something went wrong, or if you didn't like it.
So check with your PC vendor, to see if they will provide a Vista-to-XP recovery disk at low or no cost. But what if you bought a no-name PC or the manufacturer won't ship you the XP recovery disk?
Microsoft does not permit vendors to ship the XP recovery disk to customers who have these lower-end versions of Vista. You should take all the normal precautions like backing up all your important files and record important passwords in a different place, preferably on a CD. Note: There is a way to have both Vista and XP in a dual boot configuration, but that's an option for more advanced users.
Before you begin the XP installation, make sure that the necessary XP hardware drivers are available, or included on the XP disk provided by your PC vendor. If in doubt, check the vendor's website or poke around with your favorite search engine to see if others have attempted the XP install on the same hardware. You may be able to install XP without all the needed drivers, but some hardware may not work afterwards.
If not, perhaps you have an XP disc that came with another computer. If all else fails, you can always buy a copy of Windows XP on Ebay. Just be sure it's a legal, licensed copy. Have you successfully downgraded from Vista to XP? Share your experience. Got questions or comments about downgrading from Vista to XP?
Post them below. This article was posted by Bob Rankin on 16 Oct Posted by: Craig Golby 11 Aug Something very bizarre has happenned.
Laptop running quite satisfactorily in Vista last night was shut down at about midnight. Booted up this evening and it came up in XP. I don't believe for one minute that we didnt do something, but I have no idea what. Its the wifes laptop, she hasnt installed anything, wouldnt know how and I dont give her those permissions, but that doesnt mean that she didnt select something on boot up.
It has brought forward network connections, but has lost email profiles and files etc. Any ideas what happenned and how I can get back to Vista?? Maybe she just hit the wrong button during startup. Posted by: Nish Rana 10 Sep Posted by: haseeb 11 Sep Posted by: sbrobbs 05 Oct Hi, I bought a second hand Alienware Aurora M laptop with vista home premium already on it.
Wanted to install xp pro on a new gb hardrive. Before doing this contacted alienware support they said I need to change some bios settings but would not tell me what as they did not support second hand systems. Posted by: sbrobbs 09 Oct Hi ED, Did try it it seemed to install fine until I came to update the drivers. I've never seen this before. I also tried to run a diagnostic program to tell me what was on my system but all it did was open a black window for a split second and then nothing but this worked fine on my desktop.
Posted by: Raj 18 Oct Posted by: Barry 02 Dec I could not get XP to boot up and making that one change fixed my problem. You da man! Posted by: Cat Cooter 11 Feb I havce Vista on a Dell inspiron and hate it. Nothing but issues. I have all my music stored on an external seagate drivce and can unplug it but will it still work right? We can also copy everything off my computer and save it to a harddrive to reinstall, pictures etc.
Will this work? FInal problem. I have a Seagate 1. It was working fine. I downloaded many anime full series on it and used it for back up then it quit doing the back ups. Next it said there was new software. After we installed the new software it totally screwed up my computer. It took my husband hours to get it working again, but the Seagate cannot be used.
I think we need drivers? Is it possible to fix this or am I just screwed, and will trying to downgrade to xp make things worse? I'm most concerned at this point about getting my big external running again. Windows XP Media Center is usually priced between the two. Once you pick an edition, you can choose from OEM, upgrade, and full product versions, which are priced in that order, lowest first.
OEM, often called "system builder," omits support and can be installed on only one machine, ever. You don't need to install that predecessor, only insert its CD at some point during the XP installation. No earlier Windows version is necessary to install this, and like the upgrade, it can be transferred later to another PC.
Of course, the most affordable downgrade is one using the XP installation CD you saved when you upgraded that well-worn machine of yours to Vista earlier this year.
You did save it, right? If you didn't get an install disc with that box when you bought it -- and some vendors don't bother, instead slapping restore files in a hidden partition on the hard drive, which has been, of course, copied over by Vista -- you may be able to pry one from the reseller. Dell owners, for instance, can use an online form to request one free copy of the install CD. I have XP and I'm ready to downgrade. Now what? From here, a downgrade is just like any clean install. If you've upgraded to software suitable for Vista, it's likely that the newer programs will also run under XP.
Copying data and the application installation files you've downloaded from the Web is easiest if you plug in an external drive. Install XP, then reinstall all applications and copy data and settings from the external drive. There aren't any downgrade utilities to do the kind of work that upgrade, or migration, tools provide when you're moving up in the world, operating system-wise, so don't bother looking for them. Any caveats? Although Vista has been out for less than a year, that's plenty of time for change.
If you bought a machine preinstalled with Vista, make sure there are XP drivers for the PC, its components, and any new peripherals before you downgrade. Check the computer maker's site. If you find any major holes, reconsider. I'm lazy but still want to downgrade. What are my options? If you're fed up with Vista, but not so sick of it that you're ready to face a complete mulligan on the operating system, virtualization might be for you.
You'll still need a licensed copy of Windows XP to be legit. You will also need a XP product key even if you legally can downgrade from Vista Ultimate or Business edition. You can also create a second partition with disk management utilities such as Acronis Director or Partition Magic, and then move the data files to the new partition.
Ensure that also you have CD or DVD setup media for the software applications that you want to install and use after wiping off your system from Vista.
Run through the setup wizard at per normal. However, when prompting for where to install Windows Vista, delete by pressing D and then confirmation , create and format the Vista disk drive or partition if you have multiple partition. And then choose to install on that just formatted partition or hard drive.
Enter any product key for XP. Vista product key will not work.
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