I recently had a computer crash. The new computer has Vista Home Premium
Edition installed by the manufacturer, not by my choice. Surprise, surprise,
you can't just uninstall Vista. Joke is on me!



My software, including Office, works on XP, but not Vista. I want to
reinstall XP. The problem: I have been upgrading versions of Windows since
Win95. Vista will not let me install XP, even though it is already installed
on an external drive, the c: drive from my former computer.

Does the presence on XP on the bootable external drive solve the problem of
my XP installation disks being upgrades? The truth is that the upgrade disk
is a complete copy of XP any way. If not, how do I reinstall 98 from my
installation disks which are also upgrades? I know that can be done, but I
don't have the command immediately available.

P.S. The manufacturer may have installed Vista, but I installed XP.
--
rholcomb8

"rholcomb8" <rholcomb8@xxxxxx> wrote in message
newsECE21AF-D2D5-4074-A10B-FCCEFFD186AC@xxxxxx

>I recently had a computer crash. The new computer has Vista Home Premium
> Edition installed by the manufacturer, not by my choice. Surprise,
> surprise,
> you can't just uninstall Vista. Joke is on me!
>
> My software, including Office, works on XP, but not Vista. I want to
> reinstall XP. The problem: I have been upgrading versions of Windows
> since
> Win95. Vista will not let me install XP, even though it is already
> installed
> on an external drive, the c: drive from my former computer.
>
> Does the presence on XP on the bootable external drive solve the problem
> of
> my XP installation disks being upgrades? The truth is that the upgrade
> disk
> is a complete copy of XP any way. If not, how do I reinstall 98 from my
> installation disks which are also upgrades? I know that can be done, but
> I
> don't have the command immediately available.
>
> P.S. The manufacturer may have installed Vista, but I installed XP.
> --
> rholcomb8

There is a way to do a clean install using an upgrade disk. Google and find
out how. What version of Office do you have? I use Office 97 Pro SR2, and
it runs perfectly on my Vista Premium system. Office 2000, 2003, XP and so
on will run on Vista with no issues. You can't install the OS from an
external hard drive. So you are saying that the only Windows installation
disk you have is a copy of Windows 95?

How about using the hidden restore partition on your system to reinstall
Vista? If your machine is an HP, Dell, Acer or other mainstream system it
has a restore partition on it. Consult your documentation for instructions
on restoring the system.

If the computer is new, consider returning and ordering a computer
with Windows XP.
Nearly countless local computer shops continue to sell computers with
windows XP.
Last I checked, Dell, Toshiba and possibly others of the major OEMs
also sell computers with windows XP.

As with most operating systems, there is no uninstall.
You perform a Clean installation removing the previous operating
system and all other data on the partition.
If you choose this route, first verify your hardware is compatible
with windows XP.
As time passes, more and more new hardware can be expected to not
perform with Windows XP.

What version of Office works on windows XP but not windows Vista?
I have heard as old as Office 2000 works with Windows Vista but I have
not tried it.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar



"rholcomb8" <rholcomb8@xxxxxx> wrote in message
newsECE21AF-D2D5-4074-A10B-FCCEFFD186AC@xxxxxx

>I recently had a computer crash. The new computer has Vista Home
>Premium
> Edition installed by the manufacturer, not by my choice. Surprise,
> surprise,
> you can't just uninstall Vista. Joke is on me!
>
> My software, including Office, works on XP, but not Vista. I want
> to
> reinstall XP. The problem: I have been upgrading versions of
> Windows since
> Win95. Vista will not let me install XP, even though it is already
> installed
> on an external drive, the c: drive from my former computer.
>
> Does the presence on XP on the bootable external drive solve the
> problem of
> my XP installation disks being upgrades? The truth is that the
> upgrade disk
> is a complete copy of XP any way. If not, how do I reinstall 98
> from my
> installation disks which are also upgrades? I know that can be
> done, but I
> don't have the command immediately available.
>
> P.S. The manufacturer may have installed Vista, but I installed XP.
> --
> rholcomb8

Thanks for your response. I will check Google next.

I bought the same computer for my wife, and found that it would, apparently,
run Word 98.

In contrast, I have Office XP, including the second update, but I get the
message that the computer is not configured to run the program. I am going
to check with Dell to see if its drives are the problem rather than Vista.

Re installation disks, I have the 98 and XP installation disks, which were
upgrade versions. I don't have the 95 disk which was installed on a couple
of computers ago. Over the years, I have just replaced the drives. Since I
usually install two hard drives, it is usually no problem. I regret not
doing that this time, but I was in a hurry!?

Finally, I have not removed Vista yet. I am making sure I have all the
procedure nailed down first. Any way, I have two back up locations, the
internal drive, and one on one of the virtual drives on the external drive.

My problem now is how to assure that the Upgrade disk will install. Your
"Google" comment provides a solution I will pursue. My reference to the
presence of XP on the external drive had to do with the problem of
establishing to the satisfaction of the setup software on the Upgrade disk
eligibility to install the upgrade on the c: drive. Or in other words, will
the setup software search and respond to the content of the external drive
for the purposes of continuing with the setup procedure? Before I start the
"downgrade" process I will search Google as you suggest.

I am wondering if I could solve the Upgrade problem by using a CD copy of
the file transfer software. On my wife's old computer, I had to replace the
drive, and we used such procudure to transfer all the files including the OS.


--
rholcomb8


"Kevin" wrote:

>
> "rholcomb8" <rholcomb8@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> newsECE21AF-D2D5-4074-A10B-FCCEFFD186AC@xxxxxx

> >I recently had a computer crash. The new computer has Vista Home Premium
> > Edition installed by the manufacturer, not by my choice. Surprise,
> > surprise,
> > you can't just uninstall Vista. Joke is on me!
> >
> > My software, including Office, works on XP, but not Vista. I want to
> > reinstall XP. The problem: I have been upgrading versions of Windows
> > since
> > Win95. Vista will not let me install XP, even though it is already
> > installed
> > on an external drive, the c: drive from my former computer.
> >
> > Does the presence on XP on the bootable external drive solve the problem
> > of
> > my XP installation disks being upgrades? The truth is that the upgrade
> > disk
> > is a complete copy of XP any way. If not, how do I reinstall 98 from my
> > installation disks which are also upgrades? I know that can be done, but
> > I
> > don't have the command immediately available.
> >
> > P.S. The manufacturer may have installed Vista, but I installed XP.
> > --
> > rholcomb8

>
> There is a way to do a clean install using an upgrade disk. Google and find
> out how. What version of Office do you have? I use Office 97 Pro SR2, and
> it runs perfectly on my Vista Premium system. Office 2000, 2003, XP and so
> on will run on Vista with no issues. You can't install the OS from an
> external hard drive. So you are saying that the only Windows installation
> disk you have is a copy of Windows 95?
>
> How about using the hidden restore partition on your system to reinstall
> Vista? If your machine is an HP, Dell, Acer or other mainstream system it
> has a restore partition on it. Consult your documentation for instructions
> on restoring the system.
>
>
>

Thans for your comments. The problem with using Office XP may have something
to do with Dell's drives. Interesting, I bought the same computer for my
wife, and Word98 seems to work on hers. Thanks again.
--
rholcomb8


"Jupiter Jones [MVP]" wrote:

> If the computer is new, consider returning and ordering a computer
> with Windows XP.
> Nearly countless local computer shops continue to sell computers with
> windows XP.
> Last I checked, Dell, Toshiba and possibly others of the major OEMs
> also sell computers with windows XP.
>
> As with most operating systems, there is no uninstall.
> You perform a Clean installation removing the previous operating
> system and all other data on the partition.
> If you choose this route, first verify your hardware is compatible
> with windows XP.
> As time passes, more and more new hardware can be expected to not
> perform with Windows XP.
>
> What version of Office works on windows XP but not windows Vista?
> I have heard as old as Office 2000 works with Windows Vista but I have
> not tried it.
>
> --
> Jupiter Jones [MVP]
> http://www3.telus.net/dandemar
>
>
>
> "rholcomb8" <rholcomb8@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> newsECE21AF-D2D5-4074-A10B-FCCEFFD186AC@xxxxxx

> >I recently had a computer crash. The new computer has Vista Home
> >Premium
> > Edition installed by the manufacturer, not by my choice. Surprise,
> > surprise,
> > you can't just uninstall Vista. Joke is on me!
> >
> > My software, including Office, works on XP, but not Vista. I want
> > to
> > reinstall XP. The problem: I have been upgrading versions of
> > Windows since
> > Win95. Vista will not let me install XP, even though it is already
> > installed
> > on an external drive, the c: drive from my former computer.
> >
> > Does the presence on XP on the bootable external drive solve the
> > problem of
> > my XP installation disks being upgrades? The truth is that the
> > upgrade disk
> > is a complete copy of XP any way. If not, how do I reinstall 98
> > from my
> > installation disks which are also upgrades? I know that can be
> > done, but I
> > don't have the command immediately available.
> >
> > P.S. The manufacturer may have installed Vista, but I installed XP.
> > --
> > rholcomb8

>
>