Can i De-GRADE from Win Vista to Win Xp ?

Question

Hi, i bought this pc from bestbuy a few days ago

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8223184&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat103700050069&id=1166840115685

I'm not dissing Win Vista or nething but in my personel opionnion, it doesn't support a few drivers for my digital camera.
Neways.... I have this Old Windows XP HOME EDITION "Upgrade CD" at home (brand new, just laying around)
So i was thinking can i de-grade and switch my Os to Win XP?

I don't want any complications, just wondering if it will be safe to do it.

Hustler: what do u mean format ? I am fairly new to cpu's

Answer 1

who u calling a huslter? betta not b me!

Well just install xp! Easy as that. Windows Installation guide, will guide you through it. Its fairly simple.

Answer 2

Your computer is slowing because it need to be "cleaned' up a bit. You probably have way to much running in the background. Now, which OS should you run. XP is a good OS, but it has become quite bloated with all of the security updates and system patches. Vista is a much better OS then XP. It is faster and way more secure. But it requires allot of system resources. You would need a pretty fast processor and at least 2 gigs of ram. Win7 hasn't been released to the general public. So far it's in RTM or Release To Manufacturing. Any copy that your Dad has will be either a Beta, or an RC, (Release Candidate". These last two are not complete, and are meant for those how help work out the bugs before the OS is released to us. You laptop will probably run best on the OS that it came with. If it were me, I would do some system cleaning and then run the Windows Repair Console. Do so will speed up your system and repair anything that may be wrong with the OS.

Answer 3

Even if you format "erase all data from hard drive", I don't believe an upgrade disk will work. It won't install the full version of Windows XP. The upgrade disk is mainly for people upgrading from ME or 2000. You are going to have to pick up a full version, or just stick it out with Vista. But, there is no way to downgrade without erasing the hard drive. I had to go through it and it was a huge hassle. Might as well just stick it out with what you have..

Answer 4

Yes you can de-grade to Windows XP from Vista. I have done it myself. It is very safe to do it. I had the same problem as you, some of my drivers were not compatible with Windows Vista, so I had to de-grade to Home Edition. I am not sure if you can de-grade with an upgrade CD, but I do not think it will hurt you if you try. The CD will tell you if it can de-grade or not. Also one more thing all your data might get erased. So you might want to backup all your files before doing anything.

Hope that helped.

Answer 5

your best option is to format your hard drive as the others said.this means that your hard drive is wiped clean and thus prepared for a fresh install of the operating system.their are different ways of doing this-you may be able to do it from from your xp home upgrade cd: i do mine from a separate hard drive with an operating system already on it.as another person said you will need another windows cd to validate your windows xp upgrade(upgrade edition needs previous version of windows for security reasons. if you dont like this, blame bill gates.tee-hee).also, with my computer their is a problem with a fresh install after format-i have to change the pc's boot priority so it will boot from cd first before even looking at the hard drive.boot priority is found in bios settings.if you the manual to your computer it should be most helpful.if possible,make copies of files you cant replace with ease.good luck.by the way, I will diss vista-it's junk.

Answer 6

There will be no complications if you manage to format the hard disk. First put the winxcd in cd drive and restart the computer. It will ask to press any key to boot from cd. Do so. After that it will boot and present you with a screen , you should be able to see two options New Install / Upgrade. As Upgrade is not possible, you should choose New Install. After that everything is routine.

Answer 7

Win XP has 2 architecture: 32bit and 64bit. XP pro has these two architecture, XP Home has only 32bit architecture. Windows Vista is supposed 2 b just 64bit thru-out, cos they say its faster and better. but bcos not evry1 will jump into the boat immediately, Vista was then re-designed to also run 32bit programs, which is what the computer industry has had since 1997.
so check in the accesory of ur Vista menu -Start, click all programs-click asscesories- there shud b a place where u can run Vista like a 32bit operating system. do so and then install those old drivers on ur vista machine. they shud work fine now.
i dont think vista will allow u to downgrade it to XP home, not even XP Pro, but XP home. come on man! do something real.
if uwant to uninstall Vista, then u need to redo evrything, which u dont want to do. another alternative is to go to microsoft.com and click this article "remove vista" or something like that. it might show u how to get XP back.
Goodluck

Answer 8

you can always format the disk and install xp. but it will probably want a past version of windows cd to use the upgrade cd to install

Answer 9

format the machine & reinstall xp

Answer 10

yeah just save your important files to another hard drive and format your hard drive