Can Not Revert back to XP After Installing VISTA RC1

After installing Vista RC1, I was UNABLE to get online through my Linksys
Wireless router (had to go directly through dsl modem), onboard Soundmax
Audio AND Sounderblaster X-FI will not work with Vista.......................
VISTA IS VERY DISAPPOINTING SO FAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...........TOO MANY SECURITY
ISSUES THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED BY USER, the yellow bar won't leave custom
security settings the way YOU want them, it keeps prompting to fix the
security changes.
After installing Vista and VERY UNHAPPY WITH IT.........I tried to reinstall
XP 5 times and the message............ERROR READING DRIVE ........appears
after XP installation copies set up files and then restarts.
I CAN'T REINSTALL WINDOWS AND MY COMPUTER IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!
HELP!!!!!!!!..........PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--
Eric D

Your computer is not dead. As the very last resort, you may have to format
your hard drive and then re-install XP. But if you are patient, it may be
easier for you to resolve many of the problems you see today in RC1. Many
who started the test at the Beta 2 stage had many night mares. I can tell
you that RC1 is more stable. But it took a lot of learning curves for me to
get to this stage. Good luck Eric.

Obi

"Eric D" wrote:

> After installing Vista RC1, I was UNABLE to get online through my Linksys
> Wireless router (had to go directly through dsl modem), onboard Soundmax
> Audio AND Sounderblaster X-FI will not work with Vista.......................
> VISTA IS VERY DISAPPOINTING SO FAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...........TOO MANY SECURITY
> ISSUES THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED BY USER, the yellow bar won't leave custom
> security settings the way YOU want them, it keeps prompting to fix the
> security changes.
> After installing Vista and VERY UNHAPPY WITH IT.........I tried to reinstall
> XP 5 times and the message............ERROR READING DRIVE ........appears
> after XP installation copies set up files and then restarts.
> I CAN'T REINSTALL WINDOWS AND MY COMPUTER IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!
> HELP!!!!!!!!..........PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> --
> Eric D

"Eric D" <EricD@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F2064ADE-A468-4F59-94D9-38A91354768C@microsoft.com...
> After installing Vista RC1, I was UNABLE to get online through my Linksys
> Wireless router (had to go directly through dsl modem), onboard Soundmax
> Audio AND Sounderblaster X-FI will not work with
> Vista.......................
> VISTA IS VERY DISAPPOINTING SO FAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...........TOO MANY
> SECURITY
> ISSUES THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED BY USER, the yellow bar won't leave custom
> security settings the way YOU want them, it keeps prompting to fix the
> security changes.
> After installing Vista and VERY UNHAPPY WITH IT.........I tried to
> reinstall
> XP 5 times and the message............ERROR READING DRIVE ........appears
> after XP installation copies set up files and then restarts.
> I CAN'T REINSTALL WINDOWS AND MY COMPUTER IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!
> HELP!!!!!!!!..........PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> --
> Eric D


You may need to do a clean install of XP. Vista should only be installed on
a test system, not on a production machine.

--
Rock [MVP Windows Shell/User]

When running XP setup, delete the existing system partition and then create
a new one from the resulting free space. Format, then proceed with the
installation.

Your router doesn't affect the connection so much as your network card does,
you may not have had the right settings. It only assigns the address in the
case of DHCP, or authenticates an assigned one (as long as it is within the
predetermined IP range).

Did you bother running the hardware compatibility check before installing
Vista?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"Eric D" <EricD@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F2064ADE-A468-4F59-94D9-38A91354768C@microsoft.com...
> After installing Vista RC1, I was UNABLE to get online through my Linksys
> Wireless router (had to go directly through dsl modem), onboard Soundmax
> Audio AND Sounderblaster X-FI will not work with
> Vista.......................
> VISTA IS VERY DISAPPOINTING SO FAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...........TOO MANY
> SECURITY
> ISSUES THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED BY USER, the yellow bar won't leave custom
> security settings the way YOU want them, it keeps prompting to fix the
> security changes.
> After installing Vista and VERY UNHAPPY WITH IT.........I tried to
> reinstall
> XP 5 times and the message............ERROR READING DRIVE ........appears
> after XP installation copies set up files and then restarts.
> I CAN'T REINSTALL WINDOWS AND MY COMPUTER IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!
> HELP!!!!!!!!..........PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> --
> Eric D

Hey Guys!!! Thanks for the help, but, i HAVE reformatted my drive after the
VISTA failure, after the formatting, XP will copy the set up files and reboot
to continue the install, then just a black screen that reads......ERROR
READING DRIVE......
I have installed a spare drive and it accepts the XP install, the drive that
VISTA was on was configured as a slave, reformatted, and error checked,
everything reads ok.........then I configured that drive again as the master
and tried to install XP a 6th time, with the same error AGAIN.........VISTA
has apparently done SOMETHING that can't be fixed...............oh by the
way, I am not A+ certified YET, but I did just complete 3 cert prep courses
with a 97% overall grade, I do have a good idea as to what I am doing, but
not a quite a PRO just yet..............
My recommendation...........avoid VISTA until at least a year after its
release!!!!!!!
--
Eric D


"Rock" wrote:

> "Eric D" <EricD@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:F2064ADE-A468-4F59-94D9-38A91354768C@microsoft.com...
> > After installing Vista RC1, I was UNABLE to get online through my Linksys
> > Wireless router (had to go directly through dsl modem), onboard Soundmax
> > Audio AND Sounderblaster X-FI will not work with
> > Vista.......................
> > VISTA IS VERY DISAPPOINTING SO FAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...........TOO MANY
> > SECURITY
> > ISSUES THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED BY USER, the yellow bar won't leave custom
> > security settings the way YOU want them, it keeps prompting to fix the
> > security changes.
> > After installing Vista and VERY UNHAPPY WITH IT.........I tried to
> > reinstall
> > XP 5 times and the message............ERROR READING DRIVE ........appears
> > after XP installation copies set up files and then restarts.
> > I CAN'T REINSTALL WINDOWS AND MY COMPUTER IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!
> > HELP!!!!!!!!..........PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> >
> > --
> > Eric D
>
>
> You may need to do a clean install of XP. Vista should only be installed on
> a test system, not on a production machine.
>
> --
> Rock [MVP Windows Shell/User]
>
>

Thanks for the replies guys!!!!
Although I am not A+ certified YET, I did just pass the cert prep courses
with a 97% overall average, not a PRO yet, but I do have a good idea as to
what I am doing. I DID reformat the drive the after VISTA...5 times with each
XP install attempt, everytime after set up "copies files" and reboots to
acually install XP, the screen comes up black with the error "ERROR READING
DRIVE"........
VISTA has apparently done SOMETHING that can't be fixed........I installed a
small spare drive as master and installed XP without a glitch, configured the
drive VISTA was on as a slave, reformatted AGAIN, ran the disc check from
seagate AND windows, everything reads ok.......then configured that drive as
single/master and attempted XP install again.........AND AGAIN THE SAME ERROR
COMES UP!!!!!
I will not recommend VISTA, until at least a year after its
release!!!!!!!!!!!!
--
Eric D


"Rock" wrote:

> "Eric D" <EricD@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:F2064ADE-A468-4F59-94D9-38A91354768C@microsoft.com...
> > After installing Vista RC1, I was UNABLE to get online through my Linksys
> > Wireless router (had to go directly through dsl modem), onboard Soundmax
> > Audio AND Sounderblaster X-FI will not work with
> > Vista.......................
> > VISTA IS VERY DISAPPOINTING SO FAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...........TOO MANY
> > SECURITY
> > ISSUES THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED BY USER, the yellow bar won't leave custom
> > security settings the way YOU want them, it keeps prompting to fix the
> > security changes.
> > After installing Vista and VERY UNHAPPY WITH IT.........I tried to
> > reinstall
> > XP 5 times and the message............ERROR READING DRIVE ........appears
> > after XP installation copies set up files and then restarts.
> > I CAN'T REINSTALL WINDOWS AND MY COMPUTER IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!
> > HELP!!!!!!!!..........PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> >
> > --
> > Eric D
>
>
> You may need to do a clean install of XP. Vista should only be installed on
> a test system, not on a production machine.
>
> --
> Rock [MVP Windows Shell/User]
>
>

Hey everyone, thanks for the help.......but......I DID reformat the drive
before trying to reinstall XP, after set up "copies set up files" and reboots
to actually install XP, the screen goes black and reads..."ERROR READING
DRIVE"....this happened 5 times. I installed a spare drive a the master and
the "vista drive" as a slave, I reformatted it AGAIN and ran seagate's error
check as well as windows error checking, everything reads ok and that the
drive is active and healthy. I then reconfigured the "vista drive" as a
single/master and attempted to install XP again, and the same error STILL
HAPPENS. I don't know what VISTA did to my drive, but it WILL NOT allow XP to
be installed again.
NOTE: although I am not A+ certified YET, I did just pass the cert prep
courses with a 97% average, so although I am not a PRO yet, I do have a good
idea as to what I am doing.
VISTA simply has too many bugs and too early for software/hardware support
that WORKS!!!! After the beta 2 release and now RC1, neither of which are
worth a crap, I will not attempt installing VISTA until the official release
has been tried and proven for at least a year!!!!!!!!
So........on that note.....does anyone have any other suggestions........any
clue why a brand new 400 gig Seagate SATA HDD will not accept an XP
installation after installing VISTA?
--
Eric D


"Eric D" wrote:

> After installing Vista RC1, I was UNABLE to get online through my Linksys
> Wireless router (had to go directly through dsl modem), onboard Soundmax
> Audio AND Sounderblaster X-FI will not work with Vista.......................
> VISTA IS VERY DISAPPOINTING SO FAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...........TOO MANY SECURITY
> ISSUES THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED BY USER, the yellow bar won't leave custom
> security settings the way YOU want them, it keeps prompting to fix the
> security changes.
> After installing Vista and VERY UNHAPPY WITH IT.........I tried to reinstall
> XP 5 times and the message............ERROR READING DRIVE ........appears
> after XP installation copies set up files and then restarts.
> I CAN'T REINSTALL WINDOWS AND MY COMPUTER IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!
> HELP!!!!!!!!..........PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> --
> Eric D

Eric,

What kind of NIC is in your PC? Laptop, I assume? I've got a Dell Latitude
D620 with a Broadcom NIC and it does drop sometimes, but it works. And I
have a Linksys WR54G router.

I installed RC1 on 3 PC's without issue. I have one PC that RC1 will not
install on. If I had only tried RC1 on the one computer on which it will not
install, then I'd be unhappy too. But just because you're having problems
doesn't mean RC1 is giving everyone fits.

In one of your later posts, you say the drive has been error checked. How?

Lang

"Eric D" <EricD@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F2064ADE-A468-4F59-94D9-38A91354768C@microsoft.com...
> After installing Vista RC1, I was UNABLE to get online through my Linksys
> Wireless router (had to go directly through dsl modem), onboard Soundmax
> Audio AND Sounderblaster X-FI will not work with
> Vista.......................
> VISTA IS VERY DISAPPOINTING SO FAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...........TOO MANY
> SECURITY
> ISSUES THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED BY USER, the yellow bar won't leave custom
> security settings the way YOU want them, it keeps prompting to fix the
> security changes.
> After installing Vista and VERY UNHAPPY WITH IT.........I tried to
> reinstall
> XP 5 times and the message............ERROR READING DRIVE ........appears
> after XP installation copies set up files and then restarts.
> I CAN'T REINSTALL WINDOWS AND MY COMPUTER IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!
> HELP!!!!!!!!..........PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> --
> Eric D

"Eric D" <EricD@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:187BAC29-869F-47F9-BA38-0762099DD61A@microsoft.com...
> Hey Guys!!! Thanks for the help, but, i HAVE reformatted my drive after
> the
> VISTA failure, after the formatting, XP will copy the set up files and
> reboot
> to continue the install, then just a black screen that reads......ERROR
> READING DRIVE......
> I have installed a spare drive and it accepts the XP install, the drive
> that
> VISTA was on was configured as a slave, reformatted, and error checked,
> everything reads ok.........then I configured that drive again as the
> master
> and tried to install XP a 6th time, with the same error
> AGAIN.........VISTA
> has apparently done SOMETHING that can't be fixed...............oh by the
> way, I am not A+ certified YET, but I did just complete 3 cert prep
> courses
> with a 97% overall grade, I do have a good idea as to what I am doing, but
> not a quite a PRO just yet..............
> My recommendation...........avoid VISTA until at least a year after its
> release!!!!!!!
> --
> Eric D


Get a zero fill utility and write zeros to the drive, then install.

--
Rock [MVP Windows Shell/User]

Reformatting is NOT good enough. You have to delete the partition that Vista
was installed upon. Then create a new partition in the free space (with the
Windows XP installer) and format said partition. Then you will be able to
install XP again.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!



"Eric D" <EricD@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:187BAC29-869F-47F9-BA38-0762099DD61A@microsoft.com...
> Hey Guys!!! Thanks for the help, but, i HAVE reformatted my drive after
> the
> VISTA failure, after the formatting, XP will copy the set up files and
> reboot
> to continue the install, then just a black screen that reads......ERROR
> READING DRIVE......
> I have installed a spare drive and it accepts the XP install, the drive
> that
> VISTA was on was configured as a slave, reformatted, and error checked,
> everything reads ok.........then I configured that drive again as the
> master
> and tried to install XP a 6th time, with the same error
> AGAIN.........VISTA
> has apparently done SOMETHING that can't be fixed...............oh by the
> way, I am not A+ certified YET, but I did just complete 3 cert prep
> courses
> with a 97% overall grade, I do have a good idea as to what I am doing, but
> not a quite a PRO just yet..............
> My recommendation...........avoid VISTA until at least a year after its
> release!!!!!!!
> --
> Eric D
>
>
> "Rock" wrote:
>
>> "Eric D" <EricD@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:F2064ADE-A468-4F59-94D9-38A91354768C@microsoft.com...
>> > After installing Vista RC1, I was UNABLE to get online through my
>> > Linksys
>> > Wireless router (had to go directly through dsl modem), onboard
>> > Soundmax
>> > Audio AND Sounderblaster X-FI will not work with
>> > Vista.......................
>> > VISTA IS VERY DISAPPOINTING SO FAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...........TOO MANY
>> > SECURITY
>> > ISSUES THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED BY USER, the yellow bar won't leave
>> > custom
>> > security settings the way YOU want them, it keeps prompting to fix the
>> > security changes.
>> > After installing Vista and VERY UNHAPPY WITH IT.........I tried to
>> > reinstall
>> > XP 5 times and the message............ERROR READING DRIVE
>> > ........appears
>> > after XP installation copies set up files and then restarts.
>> > I CAN'T REINSTALL WINDOWS AND MY COMPUTER IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!
>> > HELP!!!!!!!!..........PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>> >
>> > --
>> > Eric D
>>
>>
>> You may need to do a clean install of XP. Vista should only be installed
>> on
>> a test system, not on a production machine.
>>
>> --
>> Rock [MVP Windows Shell/User]
>>
>>