Thread: Downgrading from Vista?

Anyone have any experience doing this?

I've done downgrades on pc's that were originally running on xp, and it's worked fine
By that, I mean I upgraded them to vista, and downgraded again after.

I just bought a laptop with vista by default,
and I'm unable to downgrade to xp.

I've read a bunch of guides on dual-booting, having the option to choose xp or vista.
Which is fine,
but I'd prefer being able to run solid-xp only.
Anyone have any resources / guides / experiences?

unr added 6 Minutes and 15 Seconds later...

Nevermind, I had been looking before and found nothing,

Found this How to Downgrade Windows Vista to XP » My Digital Life

Thank you for the find.

I have vista on my laptop and I will be downgrading to XP.

Best is to go for a clean install of xp.
Wipe the disk clean, reformat and load up xp.

Of course, that means you must have the xp installation disk.

Dawg, do you have experience with this? None of the solutions I've tried have worked.
I have a copy of Genuine XP Pro Sp2, And I can't get it to work.

I had planned on popping it in, booting, whiping my partitions, and then starting a fresh install.
But, my disc wont even boot.

You will have to set the BIOS on the motherboard to boot from CD.
After that, install fresh as the Dawg says.

It's the best way.
No remnants from the previous O/S = Nothing comes back to haunt you later.

I've also tried that several times,
I cannot change it in the bios in anyway.


I've already set the 'main boot' option as my CD drive, as well as tried other boot cd's.

However, when i put the cd in while my os is loaded I get an error that tells me that my new vista is fresher then XP.
And when I attempt to boot, it just doesn't show up. Don't understand why.

If you have a HP splash screen at bootup, you may not be seeing the message that says "press any key to boot from CD". So, put the CD in and press a couple of keys about 5 or 6 seconds after hitting the power button.

If that doesn't work, some manufacturers have a boot menu that you can choose before the O/S loads. Some set F2 to get into the BIOS and F12 or F10 to go to the boot menu, where you can choose to boot from CD.

If none of that works, and you have a floppy in your notebook, then there is a utility on the net (a bootable floppy disk) that will completely erase the contents (including partitions) of your hard drive. It is a DOD hard drive eraser utility. If you complete eradicate the contents of your hard drive, then the notebook will have no choice, but to boot from CD.

Zap added 1 Minutes and 4 Seconds later...

http://dban.sourceforge.net/

Hmmmm...must be something in vista to prevent another os?

But like I say, a clean install...meaning, wipe your hard drive clean first.

Always worked for me.

If push comes to shove, you might have to go to a computer shop.

I've tried every menu on my pc,
And i've already set up vista, past that hp boot screen (with the images you were talking about zap).

How else am I to whipe the harddrive?
The only way I can, is by using a windows install as far as I know.

Would it work if I were to use Ubuntu Live Disc, to format my drive, then try installing?

Originally Posted by unr

Would it work if I were to use Ubuntu Live Disc, to format my drive, then try installing?

Yeah, it would, but you'd still have to figure out how to BOOT from CD to do that. If you can figure out how to boot to CD, then you won't need to use the Linux disc. The XP disc will format your drive.

I'd check the manual or the HP site to see how to boot to CD. There has to be a way.

Zap,
I tried another boot disc, it boot'd fine.
It just won't boot the xp disc because vista doesn't like it.

Vista is irrelavant.

The boot process happens when you first turn your computer on, BEFORE Vista loads.
If you can boot directly from the XP CD, then you can follow the prompts to install XP and completely remove all partitions before installing XP files. It doesn't matter what operating system is currently on it, the XP install CD has all it needs to remove partitions and format them before copying the O/S files to the drive.

Unless you are working with some funky altered version of the XP install CD, this is doable. I do it all the time.

Can't you just burn partition Magik, or any other similar program to a disk, remove all partitions, make new ones, then boot up with the xp disk?

Paul,

If you can't figure out how to get the XP CD to do what it's supposed to do, then you may well have an altered version of XP on that CD. That would also mean that you could use a Linux based CD to remove the partitions and start from scratch, but if the XP CD is some funky version, then you could be left without the ability to install XP after you've removed the partitions.

Something to think about before proceeding.

That is my opinion also.
That your xp disk is bad.

My XP Disc is not original.

I've installed it several times on other pc's, and I'm aware that it works fine.
Just don't see why it's not working this time, though, thinking about it, I think I may have burned the boot files wrong...

I'll report back after that.



And LeenkzMike, I'm going to try it with ubuntu first, then try with a partition program.

If you're running HP (or Acer for that Matter) - you have a Recovery Partition.
Pretty much built into every HP/Acer computer in the last three years.

If your recovery Partition is installed with Win XP - use your recovery to regain
control over Vista and get back to Vista. Always good to have a back up recovery
disk created.

If you're HP does not have a XP Recovery Partiton (or you're clueless where it is)
Boot your computer into Dos (F8) at startup and FDSK your Drive - Then when you
boot from your CD (which should be set in the BIOS (and all other bootable [try other boot devices disabled) it will go to your CD/DVD to boot to load Xp.

I had the same problems as you did: brand new HP with Vista Excellent Wonderful Edition etc... downgrading wasn't working out, so I just stripped all the extra visual features and uninstalled a whole lot of add-on programs.
A month or so later, I've found that it's picking up speed as it's being used more. Did MS actually do something right with Vista? mg:
Now, I can run Photoshop, AutoCAD, and CorelDraw simultaneously... and they're all zipping along.

Originally Posted by unr

My XP Disc is not original.

I've installed it several times on other pc's, and I'm aware that it works fine.
Just don't see why it's not working this time, though, thinking about it, I think I may have burned the boot files wrong...

I'll report back after that.



And LeenkzMike, I'm going to try it with ubuntu first, then try with a partition program.

I think you need to ensure that you can boot off that XP CD before you do anything to the partitions. You could be left with an unbootable system and only Linux or Vista as your install options. Bottom line is that you'll need to boot from the XP CD to install it.

Hay Guys! Guess What? I'm an idiot.
Before this discussion turns to wares, I have a purchased Serial Key, no disc.


I realized that somehow, the copy of Windows XP I downloaded to boot from,
Wasn't a boot disc. :eek:

Re-downloaded, and burnt this morning.
And popped it in before heading to work, and sure enough, boot menu loaded instantly.

I'll report back on xp later.

Should be a breeze from here on out.

=]
Definitely.


Thanks for all the suggestions though.



Oh, and about the Recovery Partition
I knew about it, and it restores to vista.
I also made a set of recovery discs, just in case anything messes up.
Because of that, I plan on erasing the recovery partition, Don't need it.
If my harddrive fails, and I need to restore, I'd rather do a fresh restore with xp again anyway.

Oh boyz, guess what?

When I boot'd it told me my HDD couldn't be found.

So, guess I"m SOL?

I heard I have to do something special cuz I have a SATA HDD, Anyone have any experience with that?

Windows XP has support for SATA built in.
However, your SATA controller drivers might not be part of the native Windows XP driver set.
If that's the case, then you'll have to download SATA controller drivers from the HP website and hit F6 when the Windows XP begins it's install (in the DOS driven blue screen phase, right at the beginning).
Watch the bottom of the screen for the F6 message.

I saw that, Where it asks to install 3rd party drivers,
But I can't find them on the hp site. :eek:

HP Pavilion dv2894ca Notebook PC* - official hp page.
Know where it's at? :P

unr added 0 Minutes and 58 Seconds later...

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...roduct=3728170

That it?

Sorry to say, yes it is.

What a pain in the ass! mg:

Follow the instructions to the letter and you should be able to install XP.

Once you've done that, I highly suggest you get your hands on Norton Ghost or some other imaging software and make an image of your fresh XP install. If something goes wrong, you can just restore the image.
Make a second image after you've got everything installed (programs, etc.).


Oh... and next time... get a Dell. :twisted:

Ew Dell.

Alright, should be interesting.
I'll bring my laptop home tommorow and give it a whirl.

And as of now, just in case, I have a set of restore discs to the factory settings, incase I fux it up good.

But yeah, I'll make an image after I get xp sucesffuly installed as well.

Originally Posted by unr

Ew Dell.

Dell = Straightforward Install
HP = WTF?!?!?!?

:twisted:

Dell = Endless Errors! :O

I've had so many problems with friends dells lol.

Almost as bad as a mac!

What can I say? I've had the opposite experience.

I've worked with Dell servers/workstations/switches and I wouldn't recommend anything else.

I do work for another guy. He just recently ordered 2 blade servers from HP.
2 Blade servers for two different clients of his.

The number of blade servers we had to call HP out to replace a defective part on = 2 out of 2.
This is supposed to be high end stuff, too. Each of these blade server setups were in the $50,000 + range.
Simply unacceptable to have them both arrive defective and set our schedule back by days while they figure out why they shipped a square peg for a round hole.

:P

I've never delt with anything other then laptops / pcs
And I'm always fixing them for friends.

Maybe it's them? :eek:

Everyone's experience is different, I suppose.

I work with about 100-125 desktops and another 15 or so notebooks from Dell on a regular basis for my clients.
Rarely is there a problem with the hardware and when there is, I make a call to Dell and a new part is shipped without hassles.

:P

This will be my last hp.

I will say this for HP...


If you want a printer that lasts, HP is the place to get one.
Some of my clients have HP printers in use that are over 10 years old and still kicking!

I was gonna warn ya about getting SATA drivers but I'm too late. You're probably already setup and everything but make sure everything works on you computer..For instance on my HP desktop, everything works under XP but I cannot burn CDs. XP will read from it but not burn for whatever funky reason and there's no XP drivers available. So it was back to Vista for me.

Even I had few problems Downgrading to XP from VISTA, But Vista is working great

I'm contemplating just sticking with vista,
It's shiny.


And I agree, hp printers are good,
Because I have like, 9 free ones at home.
I never have to buy ink.