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Help with downgrading to XP


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Posted

Hi I bought a new Computer a few weeks ago and Vista has been giving me all

kinds of problems so I finally decided to downgrade back to XP but am having

problems. I know how to boot from the Install CD and it detects my C drive I

choose to install and things seem to go smoothly but every once in a while

certain files cannot be copied (Usually .xml extensions). After the first

part of install it has to restart. After it does a screen appears but then I

get a message saying that certain files were not installed and setup cannot

continue. Does anyone know what might be wrong?

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Guest Shenan Stanley
Posted

Re: Help with downgrading to XP

 

RyanH wrote:

> Hi I bought a new Computer a few weeks ago and Vista has been

> giving me all kinds of problems so I finally decided to downgrade

> back to XP but am having problems. I know how to boot from the

> Install CD and it detects my C drive I choose to install and things

> seem to go smoothly but every once in a while certain files cannot

> be copied (Usually .xml extensions). After the first part of

> install it has to restart. After it does a screen appears but then

> I get a message saying that certain files were not installed and

> setup cannot continue. Does anyone know what might be wrong?

 

In the future, if you feel your post is relevant to more than one

newsgroup - know that it is better for yourself (easier to track ALL answers

to your query) and easier on the community at large (don't have to see the

same message again and again like it was unread, see all the answers to the

query in any given newsgroup it appears, less bandwidth used to download it

once rather than multiple times per newsgroup posted in, etc..) if you

cross-post as opposed to multi-posting. Cross-post is simply posting the

smae message in many newsgroups ONCE - meaning you do not compose an

individual post for each newsgroup, but in the original message you specify

multiple newsgroups for the message to be posted to. What you have

seemingly done is multi-post - or copy and post the same message in many

groups.

 

I responded to your query in the microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment

newsgroup. Hopefully it will help you resolve your issue.

 

--

Shenan Stanley

MS-MVP

--

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Guest Paul Randall
Posted

Re: Help with downgrading to XP

 

I bought a Compaq desktop with Vista preinstalled and wanted to set up a

dual boot system with WXP. HP.com shows no WXP drivers for the model I

bought. I did an online chat to get more info. They said that the BIOS had

been optimized for Vista and they do not provide WXP support for this

machine. The motherboard manufacturer has no online info about the

motherboard for my desktop.

 

I suppose it is possible for you to install WXP on your computer. I haven't

tried on my computer yet.

 

Good luck

 

-Paul Randall

 

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

news:24B6F9AB-0F7E-40F8-9BF9-C55FAC0B0FD8@microsoft.com...

> Hi I bought a new Computer a few weeks ago and Vista has been giving me

> all

> kinds of problems so I finally decided to downgrade back to XP but am

> having

> problems. I know how to boot from the Install CD and it detects my C drive

> I

> choose to install and things seem to go smoothly but every once in a while

> certain files cannot be copied (Usually .xml extensions). After the first

> part of install it has to restart. After it does a screen appears but then

> I

> get a message saying that certain files were not installed and setup

> cannot

> continue. Does anyone know what might be wrong?

Guest frodo@theshire.net
Posted

Re: Help with downgrading to XP

 

This thread highlights two important issues w/ downgrading: 1) it may not

be possible to do at all, and 2) if it is you need to do it carefully!

 

I too just recently downgraded a new Compaq to XP, and fortunatly it was a

laptop that had previously sold w/ XP, so xp drivers were available for it

at the Compaq web site; it tooks some digging to find them tho. It went

relatively smoothly, and the laptop now works great; it had been an

unbelievable dog w/ Vista, now it's actually pretty fast (a 1.6 Ghz

celeron w/ 512MB ram. Certainly a minimal machine, but just fine w/ XP.

Example: Vista Boot Time: 4 to 5 minutes. Shutdown: 2 minutes. Now w/

XP boot up is 30 seconds, shutdown is even less. And it shows 350 MB of

avail ram after boot-up, Vista showed 60MB. Under normal usage it never

swaps; with vista, launching any app, even solitare, caused swapping. It

was totaly unusable as shipped w/ Vista Basic, and the "extra" BS that was

installed (Norton etc; yeah, I know, they were most likely a major cause

of the sluggishness, not just Vista. But Vista made it real hard/painful

to figure any of that out, it was simply easier to wipe and start over.))

 

But, I did have some difficulty, until I wiped all vista-made partitions

and rebuilt the partition table within XP Setup. Leaving the vista

partition table caused Setup to fail. I suspect this is the OP's issue

too. Vista changed how boot-up is done, so you really need to delete the

vista partition table and start fresh. Google for "Vista dual-boot

issues".

 

So, check if XP drivers are even available for your system, and if they

are do a totally clean XP install, leaving no remnants of Vista. And

good luck.

 

You might also try calling your machine's maker and bitching at them.

More and more are going back and making xp drivers for their newer

machines because so many people are having issues w/ Vista. MS has

actually started sanctioning "downgrading", and some makers actually now

include an XP Restore CD in their shipping Vista machines, just in case.


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