[phxmesa]

I bought a Toshiba laptop with Vista installed. Can I remove vista and install the more reliable XP? I would also like to do the same with a Gateway laptop.

Thanks for all your help.

[briealeida]

In short, yes.

Ensure that your machine is booting to CD, insert an XP CD and you're on your way!

[spdabbs]

Do be sure prior to downgrading to ensure that XP drivers are available for all your hardware. On machines without supplied recovery media, also ensure you make your recovery disks first. If you don't, when it doesn't work, you'll be faced with a bill for media from the manufacturer and a wait for it to arrive.

[Clumbsy_Mage]

This thread is over 2 weeks old, do you think the OP will come back and check this again considering he's a 2 post wonder

[samtree]

Originally Posted by Clumbsy_Mage

This thread is over 2 weeks old, do you think the OP will come back and check this again considering he's a 2 post wonder

Maybe not. But it is possible that someone else considering the same thing may find it helpful.

[kenjk]

I have tried to reinstall Windows XP over Windows Vista with my XP installation disk but it won't let me. It says that you cannot replace a newer operating system with a older one. I have tried several times. What am I missing?

[Zeppfan]

Have you tried partitioning your drive and installing a dual boot operating system?

[spdabbs]

Originally Posted by kenjk

I have tried to reinstall Windows XP over Windows Vista with my XP installation disk but it won't let me. It says that you cannot replace a newer operating system with a older one. I have tried several times. What am I missing?

It sounds like you're trying to do an upgrade install. What you need to do is delete all partitions, repartition (just a single partition for the whole drive) and reformat the drive.

[hbrat]

I had the similiar problem installing XP on a gateway laptop, the error message I got was that windows could not find the hard drives. Is there a work around for this?

[andrewnwi]

Well I did that, I put in my XP disc. Booted off it, went through the blue screen. I did two things: First, I hit 'enter' to continue set up, and a screen came up saying it can't detect a hard disk driver. Than, I went through again and hit 'R', and it showed the same thing. So where do I go from here?

[spdabbs]

If it has a SATA HDD, you'll need to put the XP drivers for SATA on a floppy to insert at the start of install (Press F6 to install 3rd Party SATA/RAID drivers).

[mercerml]

Originally Posted by briealeida

In short, yes.

Ensure that your machine is booting to CD, insert an XP CD and you're on your way!

Originally Posted by mercerml

In short, NO, you will not be able to do that so easily as some people would believe. The reason for this analysis, is that I have experienced this and if your laptop came with Vista and uses only Vista drivers for the hardware, then you will not be revert your machine to XP as we all wish we could. There are some companies though like Dell that are able to do so with some of their laptops.

[houdinii]

I found this article on the Softpedia website outlining the process:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Unins...ws-59129.shtml

Uninstalling Windows Vista and restoring the previously deployed version of Windows – be it Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 or even a low level edition of Vista – is quite a task. If you don't know your way around the command prompts, then you'd better stay away from this one or ask for help. But otherwise, there is nothing stopping you from manually removing Windows Vista and replace it with the previous Windows platform you had installed. But be advised, the process does require a "steady hand" as it is laborious and full of meanders. Microsoft has yet to automate the removal of Windows Vista and there are no signs that point to this feature with the first service pack for the operating system.

The only prerequisite for the uninstallation of Vista to work is the existence of the Windows.OLD folder on the partition with the operating system. This folder contains all the files from the previous installation of Windows, and without it, you cannot complete the task of removing Vista and switching back to the Windows version you were using before. If you deployed Vista on C: , then here is where you can find Windows.OLD. You will also have to make sure that the folder's size is not larger than that of the free space available on the partition.

Now via the Windows Vista installation disc, start the Windows Recovery Environment. Choose the option "Repair your computer" after you boot from the Vista DVD, and in the "System Recovery Options" select the Vista version you want to uninstall and click on "Command Prompt." A little renaming is in order for some Vista folders, make sure to enter the following commands in the same order as presented in here and press Enter after each one: "c:"; "ren Windows Windows.Vista"; "ren "Program Files" "Program Files.Vista""; "ren "Users" "Users.Vista"" and "ren "Documents and Settings" "Documents and Settings.Vista"".

Next, you have to deal with the contents of the Windows.OLD folder. "move /y c:windows.oldwindows c:" and "move /y "c:windows.oldprogram files" c: "" are the first commands you have to enter. Then, if you want to restore a previous installation of Vista type "move /y c:windows.oldusers c:". For Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000 enter "move /y "c:windows.olddocuments and settings" c: "". And of course hit Enter after every line.

Having handled the contents of the Windows.OLD folder, you will have to bring back to life the boot sector from the older Windows operating system. Keeping in mind that DVDdrive is the letter for the DVD device on your system, for example E:; for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000 enter "DVDdrive:bootbootsect /nt52 c:"; and for Vista "DVDdrive:bootbootsect /nt60 c:".

Right, the boot sector is in place, so it’s time for the Boot.ini file. If you are switching back to Windows XP or to Windows 2000 then follow the next steps "c:"; "attrib boot.ini.saved -s -h -r"; "ren"boot.ini.saved""boot.ini"" and "attrib boot.ini +s +h +r". Press Enter after each item, you don't need to do anything for Vista or Windows Server 2003.

Now all you have to do is type "exit", hit Enter, and then restart your machine. Windows Vista will be gone and you will boot into your old version of Windows.

[pip22]

Houdini, that article assumes you upgraded from xp to vista, thereby leaving a backup of xp system files in a folder for later retrieval if/when required. This is not what the original poster was trying to do.

[GSDlady]

Originally I purchased a Gateway MX8710 in Jan-2007 with an XP OS. After three serious breakdowns, Gateway finally sent me this MX8715 as a replacement (Vista OS). I hate Vista because I will need to spend several thousand dollars replacing hardware and software, some custom. I already spent three days trying to find compatable drivers, fixlets, etc on the Internet with marginal success. I want the XP OS but Gateway says, 'NO'. So, seeing as I have the MX8710 reinstall CD with the XP on it, and reading above, is it possible to merely use that to change things around, or is it as I suspect, I will need the FULL version of XP to change from Vista to XP? If I need the full version, which one is the best to use - there seems to be quite a selection out there. Also, if I get in trouble, will I be able to use the Vista restore CD to bring VISTA back? Gateway won't even discuss this topic with me. What ever happened to the old days like they showed in commercials - open the box, plug it in, turn it on and GO? Thanks to Vista I have accomplished nothing!