Rachel wrote:
Quote:
> I have a new laptop with Vista Home Premium and I want to downgrade to XP
> Pro.
>
> I have read that with the Business or Ultimate editions that I can phone
> customer support and do a downgrade to get an XP key if I give them my
> unactivated Vista key.
>
> Since I don't have Business or Ultimate, can I do an upgrade to that and
> then downgrade to XP Pro (as it will be cheaper than buying the non-OEM XP
> Pro)?
General information about replacing Vista with XP:
A. On an OEM (HP, Sony, etc.) computer:
1. Go to the OEM's website and look for XP drivers for your specific model
computer. If there are no XP drivers, then you can't install XP. End of
story. If there are drivers, download them and store on a CD-R or USB
thumbdrive; you'll need them after you install XP.
2. Check with the OEM - either from their tech support website or by calling
them - to see if you will void your warranty if you do this. If you will
void the warranty, you make the decision.
3. If the OEM does support XP on the machine, call them and see if you can
have downgrade rights and have them send you an XP restore disk. This will
be far the easiest and best way of getting XP on the machine.
4. If XP is supported on the machine but the OEM doesn't have an XP restore
disk for you, understand that you'll need to purchase a retail copy of XP
from your favorite online or brick/mortar store.
5. Also understand that you will need to do a clean install of XP so if you
have any data you want, back it up first.
6. If none of the above is applicable to you because you can't run XP on
that machine (see Item #1 above), return the computer and purchase one
running XP instead.
B. On a generic/home-built computer (from non-OEM company) - You will need
drivers for all your hardware. See the second link below for more details:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...alling_Windows - What
you will need on-hand
Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!