Vista - Downgrade from Vista to XP help

Hi,

After a while of tearing my hair out trying to get Vista to work
properly, I have come to the decision that maybe installing XP may be
the best solution. I have never had any issues with XP and feel safer
knowing my software won't bomb out on me halfway through a design job.

My laptop is 2 years old and came brand new from a high street retailer
with Vista Home Premium pre-installed on it (hence I do not have the
original vista install discs)

I wish to do a complete clean install wiping the whole machine to just
run XP.

Is this a pretty straight forward procedure? Or is downgrading from
this particular Vista-fitted laptop a bad idea?

My reasons for giving up on Vista are that i no longer get windows
updates installed correctly, Service Pack 1 won't even install on here,
I get blue screens constantly, the machine is really slow plus many more
annoying things. I've tried all the downloads possible to fix this via
the Microsoft website plus Microsoft Tech Support are about as reliable
as..well, need I say more.

My laptop details are:

Advent 7204 17"
Windows Vista Home Premium
1.73Ghz
2GB RAM

Any help as to whether this is a pretty straight forward procedure is
appreciated.

Thanks




--
funboy1975

funboy1975 wrote:
First step is to create the recovery disks so you can restore your computer
to factory condition. You should do this no matter what, unless you are
going to return the computer to where you bought it.

General information about replacing Vista with XP:

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.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ