Windows XP

[Yuna_Firerose 0]

This is not a post for me, but rather for mum.

 

Our very old HP is dying. We've had it for, I think, four or five years now. So she's shopping for a new one. Computer shopping is confusing for her - she just wants a basic-basic type of comp - so of course I'm doing it for her.

 

We've decided on a Dell. At the site, even the most basic of computers come with Windows Vista pre-installed (I'm looking at two possibilities for her, Dell Dimension E520 and E521) with no way to change this. She doesn't like change, and just wants to stick with Windows XP.

 

If the computer doesn't have it automatically, we'll have to buy it (or, acquire it through, uh, other means. arr, mateys!)

 

How hard is it to install? And, is it hard to uninstall Vista? Do note that neither of us, save for crashing/reformatting a computer, have uninstalled/installed an OS.

[Guest Smues]

Going from Vista to XP I have no idea if it's difficult or not, but just installing Windows XP itself is a cake walk.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

I've heard of some problems from people trying to wipe Vista by replacing it with XP, like you get some kind of error when you actually try the install process. Wouldn't surprise me since Microsoft seems to like making everything clunky.

 

I'd be interested to know the answer to this, I'm getting a laptop within the next month and much prefer XP than a memory-hogging Vista which doesn't work with half the things I need it to because of driver incompatibility.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

I don't believe dual booting Vista and XP is possible.

 

Other than adding a separate hard drive, I wouldn't attempt doing this, especially since you're a novice.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

There should be a way to reformat the hard drive and put Windows XP on it. Try booting the computer with a Windows XP or other OS disk and reformat the HD.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Vista isn't that bad. Why not get the computer, and try it for a while. If it's really that bad, then maybe attempt it.

 

I can't imagine it being too easy though...Microsoft probably doesn't want you replacing their new toy with something older...

[Black Lushus 0]

just ge a refurbished computer from a local shop.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

There should be a way to reformat the hard drive and put Windows XP on it. Try booting the computer with a Windows XP or other OS disk and reformat the HD.

This would be easy if she had an XP CD... and I don't know how well that will work on a burned copy. Or, it's possible if she has one of those recovery disks from the HD manufacturer. But, those can be a pain with XP...

 

Just boot from the XP CD, and you have the option to delete the partition.

 

I still suggest she shouldn't do this. Then, she'll have to play with drivers and such.

[Yuna_Firerose 0]

There should be a way to reformat the hard drive and put Windows XP on it. Try booting the computer with a Windows XP or other OS disk and reformat the HD.

This would be easy if she had an XP CD... and I don't know how well that will work on a burned copy. Or, it's possible if she has one of those recovery disks from the HD manufacturer. But, those can be a pain with XP...

 

Just boot from the XP CD, and you have the option to delete the partition.

 

I still suggest she shouldn't do this. Then, she'll have to play with drivers and such.

We have an XP format disk for our old computer, the XP OS. Could we boot from that? Personally, I'm rather curious to see how Vista is. But, my mom is one of those middle-aged types -- don't like change, like things kept a certain, etc. She also has no patience for shopping around for a computer. We've ordered one from Dell with the basic Vista. I figured if she doesn't like it, we could reformat with XP -- well, hopefully. ^^;

[bobobrazil1984 0]

theoretically you can just pop in your XP Cd, boot from there, and the install screen should let you delete partitions. Like I said though, I've heard of some problems when trying it with Vista already installed. Has anyone here actually done it? XP over Vista?

[Black Lushus 0]

to me, buying a brand new comp just to turn around and put XP on it doesn't even make sense...go to a local buy, sell, trade computer shop, get a refurbished comp that has XP on it at a reduced price and be done.