Replacing Vista with XP Pro

[Guest Dennis]

Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS website where

I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any assist on a contact would

be appreciated. I am contemplating the purchase of a new PC. The one I am

interested in comes with Vista Home Premium; However, I need XP Pro. I wish

to know: if I can replace Vista Home Premium with XP Pro, can I do so by

simply purchasing a new copy of XP Pro and installing it over Vista. Will MS

register the XP Pro OS on my new computer. If not, it looks like I will be

limited to purchasing a used machine with XP Pro pre-installed on eBay.

[Guest GreenieLeBrun]

Re: Replacing Vista with XP Pro

 

 

 

Dennis wrote:

> Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS

> website where I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any

> assist on a contact would be appreciated. I am contemplating the

> purchase of a new PC. The one I am interested in comes with Vista

> Home Premium; However, I need XP Pro. I wish to know: if I can

> replace Vista Home Premium with XP Pro, can I do so by simply

> purchasing a new copy of XP Pro and installing it over Vista. Will

> MS register the XP Pro OS on my new computer. If not, it looks like

> I will be limited to purchasing a used machine with XP Pro

> pre-installed on eBay.

 

Make sure you can get XP drivers for all the hardware..

 

Some manufacturers still provide XP on some machines, others can provide

"downgrade" CDs at a price so you will need to shop around..

[Guest Jerry]

Re: Replacing Vista with XP Pro

 

"Dennis" <Dennis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:FA7BA255-22E3-45B2-9A6A-D96A4C5B4C16@microsoft.com...

> Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS website

> where

> I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any assist on a contact

> would

> be appreciated. I am contemplating the purchase of a new PC. The one I

> am

> interested in comes with Vista Home Premium; However, I need XP Pro. I

> wish

> to know: if I can replace Vista Home Premium with XP Pro, can I do so by

> simply purchasing a new copy of XP Pro and installing it over Vista. Will

> MS

> register the XP Pro OS on my new computer. If not, it looks like I will

> be

> limited to purchasing a used machine with XP Pro pre-installed on eBay.

 

You can purchase a brand new Dell with XP Pro pre-installed. See link

below:

http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/winxp_inspndt?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

[Guest DL]

Re: Replacing Vista with XP Pro

 

And certain versions of Vista have downgrade writes to WinXp.

If purchasing a Vista PC, you would also need to determine whether that PC

has WinXp drivers avilable, particularly if buying from a large OEM, eg HP -

not all new PC's have winxp drivers avilable, it may also impact on any PC

warranty or support.

BTW Whay do you need winxp pro?

 

"Dennis" <Dennis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:FA7BA255-22E3-45B2-9A6A-D96A4C5B4C16@microsoft.com...

> Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS website

> where

> I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any assist on a contact

> would

> be appreciated. I am contemplating the purchase of a new PC. The one I

> am

> interested in comes with Vista Home Premium; However, I need XP Pro. I

> wish

> to know: if I can replace Vista Home Premium with XP Pro, can I do so by

> simply purchasing a new copy of XP Pro and installing it over Vista. Will

> MS

> register the XP Pro OS on my new computer. If not, it looks like I will

> be

> limited to purchasing a used machine with XP Pro pre-installed on eBay.

[Guest HeyBub]

Re: Replacing Vista with XP Pro

 

Dennis wrote:

> Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS

> website where I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any

> assist on a contact would be appreciated. I am contemplating the

> purchase of a new PC. The one I am interested in comes with Vista

> Home Premium; However, I need XP Pro. I wish to know: if I can

> replace Vista Home Premium with XP Pro, can I do so by simply

> purchasing a new copy of XP Pro and installing it over Vista. Will

> MS register the XP Pro OS on my new computer. If not, it looks like

> I will be limited to purchasing a used machine with XP Pro

> pre-installed on eBay.

 

Allow me to re-phrase what others have said. Some Vista computers will not

run XP and cannot be made to do so.

 

Inasmuch as this is a hardware restriction, you will not find the answer on

a Microsoft site.

 

New machines ARE available that will run XP or come with XP installed. Just

like there are machines on which XP cannot be installed.

 

Get some sort of assurance from the seller.

[Guest Ken Blake, MVP]

Re: Replacing Vista with XP Pro

 

On Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:29:01 -0700, Dennis

<Dennis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS website where

> I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any assist on a contact would

> be appreciated. I am contemplating the purchase of a new PC. The one I am

> interested in comes with Vista Home Premium; However, I need XP Pro.

 

 

Why do you need XP Pro? Are you sure that you need it? It's very rare

that a program will run under XP Pro, but not under Vista Home

Premium, but if you are reading older documentation about the program,

it might say that because Vista didn't yet exist when it was written.

 

> I wish

> to know: if I can replace Vista Home Premium with XP Pro, can I do so by

> simply purchasing a new copy of XP Pro and installing it over Vista.

 

 

No, you can never install XP *over* Vista. Your only option would be

to format and install XP cleanly, not *over* Vista. Or run both in a

dual-boot scenario.

 

Also note that you may need XP hardware drivers, instead of Vista

drivers, especially if you are buying a laptop. Many newer computers

don't have them available, and that means that XP won't run on that

computer. You should check regarding availability with the computer's

manufacturer.

 

 

> Will MS

> register the XP Pro OS on my new computer.

 

 

 

Registration is *always* completely optional. The important issue is

*activation*, not registration. Yes, if you buy and install a

legitimate copy of XP Pro, you can activate it.

 

> If not, it looks like I will be

> limited to purchasing a used machine with XP Pro pre-installed on eBay.

 

 

No, not at all. You have other choices. There are probably more, but

here's three:

 

1. Buy an XP computer from a manufacturer like Dell, who offers XP on

some models as an alternative

 

2. Either build a computer yourself and install XP on it, or have a

local small computer shop build a computer to your specifications.

 

3. Buy a used computer from a local individual, rather than from eBay.

 

Where you buy used material is of course up to you, but I would

suggest that you be extremely careful buying something as expensive as

a used computer from eBay. It's easy to get burnt, and I personally

wouldn't trust that method of buying.

 

--

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

Please Reply to the Newsgroup

[Guest Plato]

Re: Replacing Vista with XP Pro

 

=?Utf-8?B?RGVubmlz?= wrote:

>

> Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS website where

> I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any assist on a contact would

> be appreciated. I am contemplating the purchase of a new PC. The one I am

 

Then best bet is to find a local pc dealer that can build you a PC that

works for XP without looking for extra drivers.

 

--

http://www.bootdisk.com/

[Guest Bruce Chambers]

Re: Replacing Vista with XP Pro

 

Dennis wrote:

> Iim new to windows PC's and am unable to find a place on the MS website where

> I can get product info prior to purchasing. Any assist on a contact would

> be appreciated. I am contemplating the purchase of a new PC. The one I am

> interested in comes with Vista Home Premium; However, I need XP Pro. I wish

> to know: if I can replace Vista Home Premium with XP Pro, can I do so by

> simply purchasing a new copy of XP Pro and installing it over Vista.

 

 

Possibly, if device drivers exist; although WinXP cannot be installed

"over" Vista. You have to format the hard drive and start clean.

 

> Will MS

> register the XP Pro OS on my new computer.

 

 

If it's a retail license that's not currently in use elsewhere, or a

generic OEM license that's never been installed on any other computer, yes.

 

> If not, it looks like I will be

> limited to purchasing a used machine with XP Pro pre-installed on eBay.

 

 

There could be a couple possible adverse repercussions of which you

should be aware. First and foremost, if the specific computer model in

question was designed specifically for Vista, there may well be no

WinXP-specific device drivers available to make the computer's diverse

components work properly. Consult the computer's manufacturer about the

availability of device drivers. Secondly, removing an OEM-installed

operating system and replacing it with another will almost invariably

void any and all support agreements and, sometimes, even the warranty.

You would, at the very least, have to re-install Vista before getting

any support from the manufacturer. Again, consult the computer's

manufacturer for specifics. Thirdly, there may be the additional cost

involved in purchasing a WinXP license for this new computer.

 

After backing up any data you wish to transfer to the new OS

installation, simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be

offered the opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part

of the installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of

boot devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

 

HOW TO Install Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

 

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

 

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

 

Then, assuming you were successful in obtaining WinXP-specific

device drivers so that the computer can be made to work with WinXP, the

backed up data can be restored and applications (those that are

WinXP-compatible, that is) re-installed.

 

 

--

 

Bruce Chambers

 

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