Vista - Uninstalling Vista

Would like to uninstall Vista Ultimate from my laptop and install Windows XP
Professional.

May I use an upgrade version of Windows XP Pro?
Any chance that I'll lose data in the process?
How can I manage the uninstall and still keep the Vista Ultimate for
installation on another machine in the future?

Would appreciate any guidance.

Thank you.

See inline

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"Yurba" <Yurba@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A5919EC3-1BD1-43E2-89E8-05A3D63B3E3C@microsoft.com...
> Would like to uninstall Vista Ultimate from my laptop and install Windows
> XP
> Professional.

There is no uninstall, your hard drive has to be formatted to remove it.

>
> May I use an upgrade version of Windows XP Pro?

Per the license, if you have a previous version of Windows (95, 98, ME, 2k)
to qualify for the XP upgrade, yes you can, Vista is not a qualifying
product for the XP upgrade.

> Any chance that I'll lose data in the process?

A 100% chance, you have to format the hard drive (if using a single
partition) to go from Vista to XP, back up your data to external media
first.

> How can I manage the uninstall and still keep the Vista Ultimate for
> installation on another machine in the future?

If this machine shipped with your copy of Vista, it is likely OEM and cannot
be installed on any other computer other than the one it shipped with.

>
> Would appreciate any guidance.
>
> Thank you.
>

On Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:22:02 -0700, Yurba
<Yurba@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> Would like to uninstall Vista Ultimate from my laptop and install Windows XP
> Professional.


OK, but downgrades aren't supported. You have to do a clean
installation of XP.


> May I use an upgrade version of Windows XP Pro?


Yes, but you still have to do a clean installation, not an upgrade.
You will have to have a CD of a previous qualifying version to show it
as proof of ownership when prompted.


> Any chance that I'll lose data in the process?


Not a chance, but a *guarantee*. That's what a clean installation is.
Everything on the drive will be gone.


> How can I manage the uninstall and still keep the Vista Ultimate for
> installation on another machine in the future?


Keep the Vista DVD.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Yurba wrote:
> Would like to uninstall Vista Ultimate from my laptop and install Windows XP
> Professional.
>
> May I use an upgrade version of Windows XP Pro?


If you have an older, qualifying OS with which to prove that you're
entitled to use the Upgrade License, yes. (This older OS needn't be
installed, but you'll have to insert the installation CD to prove that
you have it. This older OS also cannot be in use on any other computer.


> Any chance that I'll lose data in the process?


100%, unless you back it up first. You'll have to format the hard
drive to remove Vista, and then install WinXP.


> How can I manage the uninstall and still keep the Vista Ultimate for
> installation on another machine in the future?
>

Did the Vista Ultimate come pre-installed on the laptop? If so, it can
never be used on any other computer, ever. You can reinstall it on the
laptop in question by using whatever recovery method the laptop
manufacturer provided. Read the manual.



--

Bruce Chambers

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