Downgrade from Vista to XP: Recommended?

Question

I can think of many, many reasons why I'd rather downgrade to XP, but can anyone point out some reasons why I should stay with Vista? I am so close to going back to XP. Running vista on my 2GB, AMD Turion X2 notebook is like running XP on 256MB, Pentium 3.

Answer 1

I purchased a new Dell in April that came with Vista installed. I downgraded to XP in late May or June and haven't regretted it for an instant.

Maybe once Vista SP1 comes out and I start hearing some positive reviews I'll switch back. But for now I'm perfectly happy with XP.

I would only recommend the downgrade if you actually know how to reformat your HD and do a clean install.

Answer 2

As long as you have 1 or more GB of memory, a DirectX 10 graphics card (the reason why people say Vista uses too much memory because they don't have this; there aren't really much advantage in using DirectX 10 if you don't have this), a much updated processor (Vista needs more processing power, so a dual/quad core processor is a recommendation), a DVD-ROM drive, 5 GB+ of hard disk space (Vista begin to use too much space when it comes to updates), a good internet connection for updating your software and drivers to make them all Vista-compatible, and prefer better security and next-gen gaming, then stay with Vista.

If your computer doesn't have advanced system specs, downgrade to XP. Windows Vista is likely to make your computer slow down much if you don't have the right specs.

Actually you haven't mentioned the specs of your computer, so I won't be able to tell if Vista is going to run smoothly on your computer or not (except for the dual core processor), but since you've mentioned that Vista runs slow on your computer, it's better to downgrade it to XP.

(I know all of this because I myself is a Vista user)

Answer 3

Given the problems people have I can think of only 1 reason not to downgrade...

If your PC has hardware that has no drivers in XP then you lose access to the hardware until someone writes a driver or you upgrade to Vista again. For instance, a soundcard in a Vista laptop may need the makers driver to run it, and if the driver only runs in Vista, silent laptop.

Oh, one other... you may need to buy a license for XP.

Answer 4

Vista without a doubt is much more secure than XP. Microsoft recently announced that they had found much fewer security holes in Vista (at this point) than they did with XP.
Obviously still some security problems but nothing like XP.
So more secure is one reason. Fewer updates would have to be another, if you go back to XP, be prepared to download a bunch of updates (several hours worth).

Answer 5

If it came installed with vista some of the hardware may not have xp drivers available. That is really the only reason I can think of.

Answer 6

Vista is suppose to have a manual over-ride on driver installations but this is just what I heard I don't know as I've never used it myself.
Also I think Vista has graphics bonuses like being able to use Direct X 10

Answer 7

vista is rubbish , pure and simple , it has not been properly thought through

and it uses up waaaaay to much memory

ask anyone who works on pc,s what they would rather have , everyone i ask says xp

all the best
Ian

Answer 8

Well first and foremost, Vista is very demanding on your processor.

With that said, it partially depends on which X2 processor you have in your machine and how much "stuff" you have running in the background from the Start Up process in Windows. You should be able to run Vista, and multi-task without major hiccups, but you really need to know how many things are trying to, and/or running.

I'm attaching my tips for improving a slow machine. Check them out and implement those that you haven't done yet. Especially concentrate on the Autoruns software I mention about half way down the tips. It's a great way of stopping "stuff" from running when they don't need to be.

A major cause of slow PC's is fragmentation of the hard drive. You need to defragment the HD at least once a week if not more depending on how much you use your computer, and what you do with it.

One way is to use the defragment utility built into Windows XP. It is slow but does the job rather well. Go to:
Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools and then click on System Defrag to run the tool. It may take several hours, so let it run overnight or simply walk away from your PC for a few hours.
A great program for defragging automatically is Diskeeper Home. It costs $30 but is well worth it. Go to http://www.download.com and search for Diskeeper. Read the Publishers Description and the Editor and User reviews. It can be scheduled to run automatically as the program deems necessary, and if you are using your PC and the program launches itself, it will take a backseat to whatever you are doing and give you the priority for CPU usage. I think you'll agree it's a good program to have. It precludes your needing to remember to defrag at regular intervals.

Another major cause of a slow PC is programs that are running in the background. Software manufacturers write ".exe" files that help launch a program faster when you click on the icon. These .exe files are running all the time unless you shut them down, and they eat up your RAM and can leave you with precious little RAM to run your PC. The best thing to do is to shut down all the unnecessary programs that are running unless you specifically NEED them to be running "in the background". If you can wait another 2 or 3 seconds for a program like Word, or Adobe, or whatever to open then don't allow some of these ".exe" files to run. Each one you shut down, saves you RAM to help run your PC more efficiently. The following program, Autoruns, will allow you to control what runs when you boot up your PC.

Here's a really good Microsoft tool. It’s called Autoruns and it was written by SysInternals who were recently bought up by Microsoft. Before you download the program create a folder under program files called Autoruns. Leave Windows Explore open. Launch Internet Explorer and go to the following Microsoft web page. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/autoruns.mspx
Go to the bottom of the page and download the Autoruns program. After it downloads unzip the file (You'll need WinZip or WinRAR to do so). You will see 4 files. Drag and drop those 4 files to the Autoruns folder you created under Program Files.
Once you have the 4 files in the C:\Program Files\Autoruns folder you can double click on the file titled “autoruns.exe” (not the autorunsc.exe) to launch the program.
This will bring up a window with several tabs at the top. Click on the “Logon” tab. It will list the programs that are running on your PC and eating up resources. Look them over carefully and turn off any that don’t absolutely have to be running. Simply click on the “check mark” in the little box beside the program name. Clicking on it will remove the check mark. Look for any program that your are not using at this moment that has a check mark in the box. Look for programs such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, etc. Once you have edited the Startup list, click on Apply and then on OK.
NOTE: Look in the publisher column and leave items that show Windows; System 32; Program Files; etc. alone. Also leave things that mention Audio, video, etc. alone. Shutting them off may cause some things not to work. Once you have exited the window, reboot your PC for the settings to take effect.
WARNING: Don’t go into the other tabs and start deleting/unchecking things. You will probably give yourself major headaches if you do that. Stay focused on the “Logon” List only. If you happen to shut off something that you didn't intend to, you can relaunch the Autoruns program and simply put the check mark back in the appropriate box, and then reboot the PC. The "program" will be reinstated to run at boot up.

Regularly clean up your browsing history, files, cookies, temp files, etc. A good program to use is Ccleaner and it is FREE. Get it here: http://www.download.com

Also, you need a “registry cleaner”. The registry can get “defragmented and clogged” with various data that you simply don’t need. The only effective way to clean this massive list is to use an automated cleaner. Go to http://www.download.com and you can search for Registry Cleaners. There should be several FREE ones there for you to use. One I've found to do a good job is named Registry Distiller.

Another good thing to have is a little program called FreeRAM XP Pro. It is free and is available from http://www.download.com This program puts a little RAM meter on the System Tray and shows how much RAM you have remaining that you are not using at any given time. I think you may be surprised at how little RAM you have to run other programs. Also, once it is installed you can right click on the little meter, then click on RESTORE and it will open the RAM display window. You can tweak the settings so it will display your CPU usage also. Then just click “Minimize” and then “To System Tray” to return it to the Task Bar.

What happens when you run out of or run real low on RAM is that the OS recognizes the low or no RAM situation and starts using a section of your hard drive as memory. This is called virtual memory, or a swap file. The PC is constantly writing and reading from your HD. Comparitively, it is a very slow process. Check your motherboard manual and determine how much RAM each slot can hold. It will also tell you what type of RAM you need. You can also go to http://www.crucial.com or http://www.4allmemory.com and run their analysis utility to determine what kind and how much RAM is installed in your PC. Depend on your MoBo manual to determine the RAM limits of each slot though.

Hope this helps!!!

Answer 9

xp is old.....but still good.