Are some brands of laptops easier to switch to XP?

Question

I am thinking of buying a new Vista laptop and was wondering if some computers are easier to switch than others.

My friend installed XP and now her wireless doesn't work!

She says something about drivers? And how can she return to Vista now that her computer won't work properly with XP?

I don't want this to happen to me, I am not sure Vista works well enough.

Answer 1

No, it doesn't matter what brand.

What does matter is that you only use the MANUFACTURER'S Recovery disks for either Vista or XP which includes all drivers.

And you will have to pay them for the XP disks.

That's why your friend's PC is messed up, she used the wrong XP disk and the required drivers are missing.

Answer 2

There should be no problem as long as you get all the Windows updates for the machine whether you use XP or Vista. I was leary of installing Vista but have installed it (Business edition) on my Fujitsu laptop which had XP Pro on it prior.

No matter which operating system you decide to use, do a FRESH install, not an upgrade install.

If you need drivers and they are not updated using Windows updates or are still deficient, get the appropriate drivers from the device's manufacturer's website or the website of the maker of your computer.

You also should be aware of the supported hardware for any operating system you wish to install and the minimum system requirements. Remember minimum means it will work, but everything above minimum makes it work that much better.

Answer 3

Your friend formatted and downgraded correctly but didn't save the drivers that make her machine recognize and work the devices installed; such as the wireless card. Your friend should go to the manufacturer's website of her PC and look up the downloads section for drivers by the model of her PC and that should work with no problem.

Several people have issues downgrading only because they don't really do it right; any machine is capable of running XP, especially if it had preinstalled Vista which means it has more than the needed requirments to run XP.

Answer 4

Your friend needs to have a look on the manufacturers website for XP drivers for her model of wireless card.

Most, but not all, hardware has XP drivers available. You will need to check this on the laptop you buy if you want to 'downgrade' to XP. I think Dell will still sell you an XP configured laptop, so if you want to take this route I would speak to them and buy one ready to go as you want it....saves messing around!

Answer 5

If Vista wont serve your purposes, I would not be that Loyal to Microsoft to purchase a computer and then buy ANOTHER Microsoft license costing about an additional $200. Remember, you already bought one Microsoft license with your new Vista computer. Instead, get a good, open source operating system such as mint linux or www.kubuntu.org. They are free.