Vista uninstall

I've asked this question on other forums but I'll try here.

I want to uninstall the copy of Vista that came pre-installed on my laptop.
I have a licensed copy of Windows XP home edition. Vista is business edition.

I have been unable to install XP over Vista because it says I can't
overwrite a newer copy of windows.

In the past, I could go forward or backward with any OS I wanted, from WIN
NT to Win 98, or whatever.

WHY CAN'T I GET RID OF VISTA? It SIMPLY DOES NOT WORK. It's buggy, kludgy, a
memory hog and an application nightmare and I'm done with it.

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO UNINSTALL VISTA.

I've tried deleting sys files but am told they're locked, etc.

This has nothing to do with Windows Update.

Have you tried formatting before installing WinXP?

Personally, I wouldn't attempt what you're trying to do on a notebook PC
unless I had WinXP-compatible drivers for that specific machine on a CD or
already downloaded.
--
WinXP-specific newsgroup:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...dowsxp.general

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002


jlloyd2035 wrote:
> I've asked this question on other forums but I'll try here.
>
> I want to uninstall the copy of Vista that came pre-installed on my
> laptop.
> I have a licensed copy of Windows XP home edition. Vista is business
> edition.
>
> I have been unable to install XP over Vista because it says I can't
> overwrite a newer copy of windows.
>
> In the past, I could go forward or backward with any OS I wanted, from WIN
> NT to Win 98, or whatever.
>
> WHY CAN'T I GET RID OF VISTA? It SIMPLY DOES NOT WORK. It's buggy, kludgy,
> a
> memory hog and an application nightmare and I'm done with it.
>
> SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO UNINSTALL VISTA.
>
> I've tried deleting sys files but am told they're locked, etc.

jlloyd2035 wrote:
> I've asked this question on other forums but I'll try here.
>
> I want to uninstall the copy of Vista that came pre-installed on my
> laptop. I have a licensed copy of Windows XP home edition. Vista is
> business edition.
>
> I have been unable to install XP over Vista because it says I can't
> overwrite a newer copy of windows.
>
> In the past, I could go forward or backward with any OS I wanted,
> from WIN NT to Win 98, or whatever.
>
> WHY CAN'T I GET RID OF VISTA? It SIMPLY DOES NOT WORK. It's buggy,
> kludgy, a memory hog and an application nightmare and I'm done with
> it.
>
> SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO UNINSTALL VISTA.
>
> I've tried deleting sys files but am told they're locked, etc.

*If* you have verified you can get hardware drivers (and have done so to
external media) that work in Windows XP and all your important stuff is
backed up...

- Insert the Windows XP CD.
- Change your system BIOS to boot from the CD drive first... (This has
nothing to do with Windows - it is done before Windows of any version loads.
You will need to review your computer manual to find out how to get into the
System Setup/CMOS/BIOS area and change the boot order to CD drive first.)
- Turn off/on the system and watch the screen for "Press Any Key to boot
from CD" and do so...
Follow through the install until it asks you where to install - then DELETE
the partition where Vista is currently installed and create a new one for
Windows XP and format it NTFS and continue following the instructions to
finish the install of XP...

When XP is installed - install all the hardware drivers that you got already
(motherboard chipset, audio, video, network, etc.) and then install all your
software applications (antivirus, word processor, spreadsheet, etc.) and use
your newly formatted computer.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Shenan, thank you. I will give that a try.

I know most people think you shouldn't uninstall Vista because of driver
issues etc, but I can honestly say that it cant get any worse.

The computer is unusable right now, so I really have nothing to lose.

I made a restore point from CD when I first got the machine so if all else
fails, I can go back to that. I may try restoring from those CD's just to be
sure they work, then attempt the XP install.

Thank you

Unless you purchased WinXP Downgrade rights, installing WinXP may void your
warranty and any service contracts.

jlloyd2035 wrote:
> Shenan, thank you. I will give that a try.
>
> I know most people think you shouldn't uninstall Vista because of driver
> issues etc, but I can honestly say that it cant get any worse.
>
> The computer is unusable right now, so I really have nothing to lose.
>
> I made a restore point from CD when I first got the machine so if all else
> fails, I can go back to that. I may try restoring from those CD's just to
> be
> sure they work, then attempt the XP install.
>
> Thank you