[heeyebsx3]

I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 that I bought this January, and it came w. Vista.
I have a Windows XP CD from my old computer, can i use it to change this laptop back to XP?
Or is there any other ways ?

And its not that I dont lik Vista, but a new game (Sims3) is comming out and the minimum GHz for XP is 2.0 but for Vista is 2.4, I only have 2.1
So i figure if i change to XP i should be good to play it.


Thanks

[Masta Squidge]

Originally Posted by heeyebsx3

I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 that I bought this January, and it came w. Vista.
I have a Windows XP CD from my old computer, can i use it to change this laptop back to XP?
Or is there any other ways ?

And its not that I dont lik Vista, but a new game (Sims3) is comming out and the minimum GHz for XP is 2.0 but for Vista is 2.4, I only have 2.1
So i figure if i change to XP i should be good to play it.


Thanks

It depends if its an install disc or a recovery disc and if you have the code for it. And its also questionably legal since microsoft doesnt like you reusing their discs on multiple computers with the same key.

[Elvandil]

Originally Posted by heeyebsx3

I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 that I bought this January, and it came w. Vista.
I have a Windows XP CD from my old computer, can i use it to change this laptop back to XP?
Or is there any other ways ?

And its not that I dont lik Vista, but a new game (Sims3) is comming out and the minimum GHz for XP is 2.0 but for Vista is 2.4, I only have 2.1
So i figure if i change to XP i should be good to play it.


Thanks

If it came with the other machine and is a recovery disk for that machine, then it won't install on any other. If it is a MS CD, then you will only be able to use it on one machine at a time. There may be problems getting drivers for XP to operate your hardware if the machine came with Vista.

There are a number of things you can do in Vista to make it more compatible for games, and even to be able to play your new game without switching to XP. Vista can be made to look and act exactly like XP if you want, except that it is a better operating system overall.

[heeyebsx3]

Okay then.
So how or wht could i do so that I can play the game w/o changing to windows xp ?

[aka Brett]

You know that when you put xp on it you are going to have a very rough time getting the recovery partition to work right when you are ready go back to vista
been there done that....finally got it but it took me hours to find the fancy command prompts to do it.
Chances are you wont be happy with a game running at minimum hardware requirement anyway.

[Deagon]

The Logic is there, but it's well not worth the hassle. First off all you going to have to find all of the XP drivers for your laptop, your going to need to have a install cd of xp (not the recovery disk i think you mentioned)
Making a restoration Backup is also a very time consuming but worthwhile task.

In my opinion is too much effort for very little reward, but hey everyone has their preference after all i did the same thing to one of my (old) laptops a while ago.

I believe this article will talk you through the process... But you will need a PenDrive for using the raid drivers that your laptop requires during the Xp install, but this is all detailed on the following web page;
http://www.laptops-drivers.com/dell-...ing-vista.html

[Elvandil]

Originally Posted by heeyebsx3

Okay then.
So how or wht could i do so that I can play the game w/o changing to windows xp ?

Start by using some advice on what services can be changed for gaming. When they say you need 2.4 for Vista, I'm sure they mean Vista that has not been streamlined to make it optimal for gaming. They mean just the standard Vista installation.

You should definitely install Service Pack 1. It includes a lot of system optimization and patches some earlier problems and slow-downs.

It would be a good idea to make a restore point before you make changes so that you can get back if you need to. And an even better idea to make a disk image so you can restore your whole system if you needed to.

Macrium Reflect
Paragon Drive Backup Express

Services for gaming (You can use the "Bare-bones" settings for the best game speeds, but you may want to stick with the "Safe" column so that you don't turn off other Vista services that you may later want to use.):

http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm

________________________________________________

After you get your services taken care of, you want to turn off any programs that start when you boot up that you do not need to have running all the time. Use a startup manager and the reference at the bottom to decide what to turn off.

Startup Control Panel
MZ Startup Manager
Startup Control Panel (Exe version for Vista)
Emsa Startup Manager
EM Startup Manager
WheresJames Startup Manager

Startup Programs Reference

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also look through your scheduled tasks. You probably want to keep almost all of them. But they can be re-scheduled to occur at times when you are pretty sure you will not be playing any games.

[aka Brett]

After i battled fixing my 1525 after putting xp on and going back to vista..the media center blah blah..it was a chore getting everything back proper as i was having trouble getting the recovery partition to work.
So when 7 beta came out i went and bought a wd passport ext hard drive.
I then took the hard drive out and set up a triple boot with xp w7 and ubuntu
I put my original hardrive in the case for the ext had...and copy the files i wanted to my new hd.
when i am done playiing with 7 i can swap my drives back out and be where i left off at.

if you choose to go this route go ahead ad go into your bios and set your hd to ide ..this way you will not have to make a slipstreamed xp cd
the sata drive from dell is an exe and slipping is a pain in the rear.

it is always nice to have an ext hd anyway as they make saving all your pics music and stuff a breeze