How to Install XP on Computer w/ Vista Home Premium?

I have an Acer Aspire E2200 desktop that came with Vista Home Premium. I need XP. Can someone break down the process in the most basic terminology?

A few more questions:



Could my computer possibly be damaged by switching operating systems?

Can I keep both systems or will that require too much memory? Is it necessary to keep both systems?

Do I need to purchase Windows XP or are free/legal downloads available?

What will I need to purchase to accomplish the switch?

I know how to use computers but I know nothing about how they actually work so I apologize for asking such silly questions.

 

First you will want to check Acer Website to see if there are drivers for XP for your particular system.
If not, you will run into problems.

Without trying to sound harsh or unconcerned....
There are a ton of posts on this forum and the net regarding this.
Please use the search feature.

But you can also try this.

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_xp__stepbystep_guide_with_screenshots.htm

Also...

1.) Yes and No. Did Acer send Vista Restore disks for your PC? If not, then you may have to create them. Check with Acer on how to do this. Otherwise you will blow away the restore partition and you will need to try and order the disks from acer if they did not already send them to you.

2.) No, it is not necessary to keep both systems, unless you have apps that are not compatible with vista that you can not replace or upgrade. Vista is a very solid secure OS. XP is on it's way out as MS will end mainstream support in April 09.

3.) You will need to purchase XP, there are no free legal ways of getting it for free.

4.) You can simply purchase windows XP if you can find it. They are not manufacturing it anymore so most retail stores are not selling it anymore. We as system builders can't even order the OEM versions anymore. You can probably find it at newegg. XP Pro will run about $199.

 

Thank you for responding. I checked the Acer website and the XP drivers are not available. What next?

 

If the drivers aren't available on the Acer website, then I would not recommend installing XP. There would be too many problems.

There is an alternative though, you can use a virtual machine. Microsoft Virtual PC is free: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/virtualpc/default.mspx

Here's the download link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...22-6EB8-4A09-A7F7-F6C7A1F000B5&displaylang=en

 

You can always try, but most likely you will have problems.

Why are you wanting to dual boot XP with vista?

Yes virtualpc is a good idea, and I like better,,, VirtualBox http://www.virtualbox.org/

 

There are work-at-home opportunities that I want to pursue but the companies do not currently support Vista, just XP. Oh well.

 

Once again, thanks for the responses.