Vista - Can I go back from Vista to XP Pro?

Hi all,

I have a few couple questions regarding Vista Home Premium that came
preinstalled on a new Toshiba Notebook computer.

1.) Is it possible to delete everything on the hard drive and install a
fresh copy of Windows XP Pro instead of Vista?
I have heard and seen the ads that say you can upgrade a XP machine to
Vista, I want to know if I can go in the opposite direction (from Vista to
XP)?

1a.) I guess I will have to get the drivers for the hardware - are they
different under XP compared to Vista, since the hardware is the same?

2.) Can anyone please tell me about these 16bit, 32bit, 64bit software, (or
OSes?), and simply explain what the difference is?
Are there any hardware differences on these different "bit" systems?

3.) Is it possible to import Outlook Express E-mails (DBX's), into Vista's
Windows Mail?

4.) Under Vista - in Windows Explorer -- on the status bar - it does not
list the total file size of all the files in a particular folder.
It did list this info in Windows XP Pro along with the number of 'objects'
in the folder. Is there a way to get it to do this in Vista?

Thank you for your help in these matters!

Sincerely,
Cin

If Business or Ultimate had been preinstalled, you'd have a right to
downgrade, but you do not get downgrade rights with Home Premium.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

It's your computer. If you want XP you're allowed to buy it - it'll go in.
Question number 1a would be best answered by Toshiba support.
For Question 2 see the Wikipedia CPU article's Integer range section:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central...#Integer_range
For Question 3, see Importing from Outlook Express at oehelp:
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx#OE2WM

"cutie_pyie" <cutiepyie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:45C1BA13-08BC-4A79-829F-C2212D94B8CF@microsoft.com...
> Hi all,
>
> I have a few couple questions regarding Vista Home Premium that came
> preinstalled on a new Toshiba Notebook computer.
>
> 1.) Is it possible to delete everything on the hard drive and install a
> fresh copy of Windows XP Pro instead of Vista?
> I have heard and seen the ads that say you can upgrade a XP machine to
> Vista, I want to know if I can go in the opposite direction (from Vista to
> XP)?
>
> 1a.) I guess I will have to get the drivers for the hardware - are they
> different under XP compared to Vista, since the hardware is the same?
>
> 2.) Can anyone please tell me about these 16bit, 32bit, 64bit software, (or
> OSes?), and simply explain what the difference is?
> Are there any hardware differences on these different "bit" systems?
>
> 3.) Is it possible to import Outlook Express E-mails (DBX's), into Vista's
> Windows Mail?
>
> 4.) Under Vista - in Windows Explorer -- on the status bar - it does not
> list the total file size of all the files in a particular folder.
> It did list this info in Windows XP Pro along with the number of 'objects'
> in the folder. Is there a way to get it to do this in Vista?
>
> Thank you for your help in these matters!
>
> Sincerely,
> Cin

INLINE:


"cutie_pyie" <cutiepyie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:45C1BA13-08BC-4A79-829F-C2212D94B8CF@microsoft.com...
> Hi all,
>
> I have a few couple questions regarding Vista Home Premium that came
> preinstalled on a new Toshiba Notebook computer.
>
> 1.) Is it possible to delete everything on the hard drive and install a
> fresh copy of Windows XP Pro instead of Vista?
> I have heard and seen the ads that say you can upgrade a XP machine to
> Vista, I want to know if I can go in the opposite direction (from Vista
> to
> XP)?


Yes (to the first part). However, if you want to "roll-back" per se,
Microsoft does not support this. Instead, they say you must install XP
"clean" - there is not "downgrade path" so to speak, merely a clean install
of the XP operating system. So you would have to install XP and re-install
all your apps etc. from scratch.


> 1a.) I guess I will have to get the drivers for the hardware - are they
> different under XP compared to Vista, since the hardware is the same?


Yes. But some manufacturers are now releasing "Vista" versions .. so you
will have to check. You can download most drivers from the manufacturer's
websites and then burn them to CD-R so you have them ready. What XP doesn't
detect during installation, you can install after.


> 2.) Can anyone please tell me about these 16bit, 32bit, 64bit software,
> (or
> OSes?), and simply explain what the difference is?
> Are there any hardware differences on these different "bit" systems?


It's the size of the instructions the OS sends to the CPU and usually the
size of the basic integer programmers program with and the basic size of the
memory location units. Some CPUs these days can handle 64-bit sized
instructions and therefore can handling 64-bit software and operating
systems. Unless you need to work with applications that need more than 4GB
memory space, just stick to 32-bits and don't worry about it. Yes, I'm on
32-bits myself.


> 3.) Is it possible to import Outlook Express E-mails (DBX's), into
> Vista's
> Windows Mail?


Vista's Windows Mail has an import / export utility that includes the import
of Outlook Express store folders.


> 4.) Under Vista - in Windows Explorer -- on the status bar - it does not
> list the total file size of all the files in a particular folder.
> It did list this info in Windows XP Pro along with the number of 'objects'
> in the folder. Is there a way to get it to do this in Vista?


I don't know. But if you let your mouse hover over the folder in question,
you get the size. If you use the Folder "menu tree" (to the left) and select
a folder, it will tell you the number of objects or items in the folder.


> Thank you for your help in these matters!
>
> Sincerely,
> Cin

Hi,

"cutie_pyie" <cutiepyie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:45C1BA13-08BC-4A79-829F-C2212D94B8CF@microsoft.com...
> Hi all,
>
> I have a few couple questions regarding Vista Home Premium that came
> preinstalled on a new Toshiba Notebook computer.

Ok.

> 1.) Is it possible to delete everything on the hard drive and install a
> fresh copy of Windows XP Pro instead of Vista?
> I have heard and seen the ads that say you can upgrade a XP machine to
> Vista, I want to know if I can go in the opposite direction (from Vista
> to
> XP)?

If you own a copy of XP Pro and have a license for it, yes. Be aware that as
this is a laptop, you will likely be missing some essential drivers for the
hardware. These you should be sure to obtain before attempting the wipe and
clean install.

> 1a.) I guess I will have to get the drivers for the hardware - are they
> different under XP compared to Vista, since the hardware is the same?

Yes, drivers are nearly always OS specific.

> 2.) Can anyone please tell me about these 16bit, 32bit, 64bit software,
> (or
> OSes?), and simply explain what the difference is?
> Are there any hardware differences on these different "bit" systems?

The standard has been 32-bit since the mid-90's. Slowly things are migrating
towards 64-bit, but we're not there yet. The 32-bit (x86) version of Vista
can run both 16 and 32 bit software. The 64-bit (x64) version cannot run
16-bit software, and requires that all drivers be signed (something that is
not required in the 32-bit variation). The "bits" refer to the amount of
data that the processor can store in each of its general purpose registers
and that it can handle to compute in a single instance. To use x64, all the
hardware (motherboard, processors, and added cards) must support this mode.
Most currently released software is 32-bit, and running it in a 64-bit
machine will not produce faster results.

> 3.) Is it possible to import Outlook Express E-mails (DBX's), into
> Vista's
> Windows Mail?

Yes, you will find a listing for OE under file/import/messages.

> 4.) Under Vista - in Windows Explorer -- on the status bar - it does not
> list the total file size of all the files in a particular folder.
> It did list this info in Windows XP Pro along with the number of 'objects'
> in the folder. Is there a way to get it to do this in Vista?

A common complaint, I'm sure there will be some third party hacks if there
aren't already.

> Thank you for your help in these matters!

Hope this was.

--
Best of Luck,

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

Hello cutie... my replies are after your questions below:



>
> 1.) Is it possible to delete everything on the hard drive and install a
> fresh copy of Windows XP Pro instead of Vista?
> I have heard and seen the ads that say you can upgrade a XP machine to
> Vista, I want to know if I can go in the opposite direction (from Vista
> to
> XP)?

If you do a clean install of XP then you can say bye bye to vista. I
congradulate you for your
intelligent choice.

> 1a.) I guess I will have to get the drivers for the hardware - are they
> different under XP compared to Vista, since the hardware is the same?

That is correct but I am sure that notbook pc has a site that has downloads
for all the drivers needed. Take a look before you do anything.

> 2.) Can anyone please tell me about these 16bit, 32bit, 64bit software,
> (or
> OSes?), and simply explain what the difference is?
> Are there any hardware differences on these different "bit" systems?

the number of bits is the length of the binary number that the computer uses
to do calculations.
An example of a 16bit number (digital) is this 1001100010011000
The bigger the length of the numbers the more powerfull the computations can
be.
To simplify this drastically, the more bits you have the better, however
there is a catch...
if you go to 64 bit (there are both 32 and 64 bit versions of XP and Vista)
then you will have
compatibility problems with drivers and some programs might not like it..
However there is also a good thing .. you can have a 64bit capable CPU and
run a 32bit OS on it..
If you do that, you have the CPU for future use when more 64 bit drivers
come out, and you currently use a 32bit OS to retain compatibility. You can
search wikipedia.com Im sure there are articles there that explain all this
in detail


> 3.) Is it possible to import Outlook Express E-mails (DBX's), into
> Vista's
> Windows Mail?

Yes

> 4.) Under Vista - in Windows Explorer -- on the status bar - it does not
> list the total file size of all the files in a particular folder.
> It did list this info in Windows XP Pro along with the number of 'objects'
> in the folder. Is there a way to get it to do this in Vista?

You can enable the status bar in vista too...

You first have to enable the classic menu by pressing ALT and then go to
VIEW> Status bar

You may want to see this explorer extension too.. but I have not tested this
with vista yet:

Aurionix FileUsage http://www.aurionix.com/

Hope this helps....



>
> Thank you for your help in these matters!
>
> Sincerely,
> Cin

In article <45C1BA13-08BC-4A79-829F-C2212D94B8CF@microsoft.com>, Cutie pyie
wrote:

> 1a.) *I guess I will have to get the drivers for the hardware - are they*
> different under XP compared to Vista, since the hardware is the same?

This is the Catch 22. Many manufacturers are not issuing XP versions of the
special files notebooks use for their model-specific features for notebooks
delivered with VISTA.

So although you may be able to identify a similar XP model and use its
files, you may not.

So I would say don't try unless you do a lot of research on the Toshiba
website for your country and can see the XP files you need.

You can get good Toshiba specific advice on the LAPTOP FORUM of Compuserve
http://community.compuserve.com/laptop

-- you don't have to be a member of compuserve any more but just sign in
with an AIM name and give a password. That Forum used to be run by Toshiba
and so people know the background although it isn't Toshiba operated any
more (although they point to it on their website).