downgrade to Windows XP

[zackwz]

Just got the $399 sony laptop from the Bestbuy on BF. want to downgrade to Windows XP. Only problem is don't know the best way to get a windows xp cd or dvd. I do have XP dvds for my other PCs but not sure if compatible. Any suggestions?

[Manx]

As long as it's not an OEM cd, such as from Dell or Compac, etc. then it should be okay. The license key is the only thing that is not transferable. Even then you can contact Microsoft and get them o transfer your license if you're going to sell/destroy your old PC.

Don't quote me, but I think you might be able to transfer an OEM license if you are persistant enough. The trick in that situation is finding a disk to install from.

[zackwz]

I got like 2 xp dvds from desktop emachines, and 1 from toshiba notebook. They probably are OEM CDs. Might need to find a place to get a XP CD or maybe i should just buy 2GB of memory to put in there.

[Starcade RIP]

If the Emachines DVDs are plain vanilla XP, you should be able to install it fine. You'll probably have to hit up the Sony page for some specific drivers after the fact, but the OS should run fine.

I've installed XP off of a Toshiba DVD as well; that particular one was basically plain vanilla (the extra stuff was optional installs). Other Toshiba disks might be different though.

The question is: do you or anyone else use any of those three computers still? If they are up and running you won't be able to activate windows on the new laptop.

[zackwz]

Yeah, i'm still running these 2 emachines and I'm replacing the toshiba with the new sony. How do you check if the cd is vanilla?

[Starcade RIP]

You're pretty much limited to using the Toshiba disk then.

The only way I know to test based on the information we have is to try it and see. Worst case scenario, you have to reinstall Vista from the disks that came with your Sony.

[elitericerocket]

I worked on so many of those sonys at geek squad. You may not want to install xp until you check for xp drivers.

[Valaris]

I worked on so many of those sonys at geek squad. You may not want to install xp until you check for xp drivers.

Very good advice. download all drivers first, save them on cd/usb drive and THEN downgrade. I did this a few weeks ago. Best thing that's happened to my laptop.

[Esker]

Why do you keep calling it "downgrading"? Vista -> XP is an UPgrade.

[zackwz]

Why do you keep calling it "downgrading"? Vista -> XP is an UPgrade.

That's true but that's the official "call". The sony laptop doesn't come with any cd so unless i can create a recovery dvd from the system partition otherwise I might have to request one from sony.

[elitericerocket]

There's a built in utility to make recovery disks. Your main concern is checking the Sony website to see if they have drivers for Windows XP.

[zackwz]

Yeah, I just check sony's site. It seems there are no xp drivers for this laptop. I guess I'm stuck with vista for now.

[Sanji Himura]

Not really. Just go out there and buy a full copy of XP. I did it for my laptop(howbeit that I got my copy from a friend), and I'll do it again when I build my new PC. It may cost more, but in the end you will get the downgrade that you always wanted minus the crapware.

Oh, and one more thing, I know that you checked Sony's site, but did you check each parts manufactuer for the drivers(like NVIDIA for vid card)?

[Manx]

Not really. Just go out there and buy a full copy of XP. I did it for my laptop(howbeit that I got my copy from a friend), and I'll do it again when I build my new PC. It may cost more, but in the end you will get the downgrade that you always wanted minus the crapware.

Errm.. no. He already has payed for TWO copies of the same software. Why should he have to pay more for the same thing? Make the OEM give you another copy and make Microsoft let you install it on whatever system you desire. Or like Jion said, download a copy of Linux and learn how to use that. It's a great OS, but still a lot of trouble if you already payed twice for something in the first place.

[Preppy]

Any specific problem/issue you're running into, or just randomly want to move back to XP?

[zackwz]

well I just got the laptop and with its specs, it's kinda sluggish running vista. Of course i haven't had any chance getting to know how to use vista yet.

[elitericerocket]

well I just got the laptop and with its specs, it's kinda sluggish running vista. Of course i haven't had any chance getting to know how to use vista yet.

Did you get the opitimized one, or just a plain Sony? I know must of the shit us Geek Squad people say is complete BS, but the optimization we do is actually pretty good.

If you want to try and accomplish the same thing on your own, you should probably use Windows Classic mode instead of the Vista theme. Also use msconfig, to clean out various startup items that aren't necessary. And go through the Window's uninstaller and get rid of anything that isn't essential to running the system. (Wild Tangent, Google Desktop, etc)

Unfortunately all our 'Agent Tweaks' cost money, but they do a lot to speed up the system as well.

[jinsaotome800]

just go upgrade to 2gb and be happy

[zackwz]

the sony model is VGN-NR110E/S.
After much consideration, I'm going to install XP to make it dual boot, just so i can still use xp comfortably while learning how to use vista.

[Wolfkiller]

I was wondering about this myself. Everyone is telling me Vista is horrible. But I'm sure it beats this piece of shit Windows 98 computer I'm running now. I got a new HP with Vista on it, am I going to hate it? Haven't gotten a chance to hook it up yet.

[GosBroDansFan]

I was wondering about this myself. Everyone is telling me Vista is horrible. But I'm sure it beats this piece of shit Windows 98 computer I'm running now. I got a new HP with Vista on it, am I going to hate it? Haven't gotten a chance to hook it up yet.

I know people that love it and people that hate it. Someone I work with bought an inexpensive Dell desktop and gets a BSOD literally every day. All she uses it for is the copy of MS Office she paid to have installed with it.

I hated 98 with a seething passion so I would say Vista will probably end up being a better experience for you, but mainly because 98 isn't fit to be on the internet :-D

[Dragonfave723]

Anybody read this article recently? The benchmarking of the upcoming XP SP3..........

http://exo-blog.blogspot.com/2007/11/windows-xp-sp3-yields-performance-gains.html

[Preppy]

I know people that love it and people that hate it. Someone I work with bought an inexpensive Dell desktop and gets a BSOD literally every day.BSOD == driver/hardware failure. Get the people it came from to look at that.

Dell had some pretty random drivers - that'd be a good first place to check.

[pherai]

As far as I can tell, if you don't get cheap with hardware, Vista will run ok, but considering a lot of software manufacturers aren't supporting it, there's no real reason to jump on the Vista bandwagon. That and Microsoft has an annoying habit of changing things for the sake of change.

[UltraDavid]

Heh what bandwagon?

I bought a new comp over the summer, made sure it had XP from the get-go.

[Preppy]

That and Microsoft has an annoying habit of changing things for the sake of change.Doesn't usually happen, although I'd bet it can certainly seem like that to the random outsider. A big part of Windows is third parties, so if there's some change that could potentially affect anybody else, it's viewed pretty cautiously.

If you really feel that way, I'd suggest tracking Raymond Chen's The Old New Thing (http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/) blog over time. He works at MS (randomly, we're on the same team now, which I think is cool) and gives great insight to the problems of maintaining extensibility with compatibility along with third party people who try to take shortcuts.
If you're going to make "changes", generally you have to sell that to management - if you're making disruptive changes for 'the sake of change', you'll probably have a VP breathing down your neck pretty quickly because that's just stupid behavior. :smile:

[zackwz]

If i'm gonna get rid of my old A45-S150, what's a good way, ebay or dealtree? My old toshiba is runing loud and has a nonworking battery.

[ComboMasher]

I am having some trouble downgrading back to XP. The downgrade went fine, XP was installed and working. But I wasnt able to connect to the because there werent any network connections set up, and in my control panel under "Add/remove programs" there wasnt anything. Is this because I need to downlaod all the drivers that would include getting the internet to work? Shitty thing is is that there isnt a driver recovery CD, on a full complete system restore CD that would install Vista again.

[Kylratix]

Vista's fine. If you don't like the differences, you can always tweak services and whatnot to make it run just like XP.

[Preppy]

I am having some trouble downgrading back to XP. The downgrade went fine, XP was installed and working. But I wasnt able to connect to the because there werent any network connections set up, and in my control panel under "Add/remove programs" there wasnt anything. Is this because I need to downlaod all the drivers that would include getting the internet to work? Shitty thing is is that there isnt a driver recovery CD, on a full complete system restore CD that would install Vista again.The ARP comes from enumeration of the entries under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Uninstall ... not sure why that wouldn't show up.

I take it this wasn't a formatted install of XP to a blank disk? I generally prefer clean OS installs, but then again I probably do 100x the average number of OS installs compared to the average user.
As regards drivers, is the network card recognized? That's usually my chief problem when I put a new OS on a clean system. =\

[ComboMasher]

Well I formatted the partition before i installed XP. Install went just fine but the internet wouldnt work at all. So I used the recovery CD and it installed vista again, then the internet worked just fine. Is there a way to install XP without deleting all of the drivers/programs that are already installed?

[Kylratix]

No, drivers and most modern applications are OS-specific and need to be installed after the OS is, not just copied. Go to your model's support page and download the XP installers for all of your drivers, burn them to a CD, and then run them after you install XP. Make sure that your network card driver is included in that group.

[Mrs.ButtonSmash]

Very good advice. download all drivers first, save them on cd/usb drive and THEN downgrade. I did this a few weeks ago. Best thing that's happened to my laptop.

Yes, and make sure you understand your girlfriend's handwriting when you try to type in the cd-key for XP, right? Otherwise you might end up looking all over the interwebs for one that works.. without success... right, Love?

I'm kidding. I love you!!!! :D

[fjf314]

I'd suggest tracking Raymond Chen's The Old New Thing (http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/) blog over time.

That's a really interesting blog, thanks for the link.

Well I formatted the partition before i installed XP. Install went just fine but the internet wouldnt work at all. So I used the recovery CD and it installed vista again, then the internet worked just fine. Is there a way to install XP without deleting all of the drivers/programs that are already installed?

Not that I know of, but I'm hardly an expert so maybe someone else will prove me wrong. Regardless, do what Preppy said and check to see if the system is recognizing your network card.

[aquarake]

Just got the $399 sony laptop from the Bestbuy on BF. want to downgrade to Windows XP. Only problem is don't know the best way to get a windows xp cd or dvd. I do have XP dvds for my other PCs but not sure if compatible. Any suggestions?

I bought the exact same one, and after almost giving up, this happened.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=189884&page=2

Install Nlite

Insert your XP Disk into the cd drive

Run Nlite, it will ask you where your xp installation is. Chose the drive the XP disk is in, and it should recognise it.

Next, it will ask you where you would like to save your installation. I'd suggest making a folder on your desktop, or somewhere easy to remember.

Next, Task Selection Screen should come up. Make sure you check Drivers, and Bootable ISO. I also like to check Unattended, so I have less work to do during the installation

Next, you have the chance to insert the SATA Driver. Click Insert > Single Driver. From the Intel Matrix Install Floppy, chose iaahci.inf, it will open up a screen of the contraining drivers. Select the HEM/HBM SATA AHCI controller (mobile) NOT WORKSTATION/DESKTOP.

Next, you have the options to change the default values of the XP install, you can pre-insert your serial number so you never have to type it in at installation, add desktop themes (MCE, Vista style, etc)... you can toy around with some of the settings that you're familiar with at this point.

Next, it will build your install of windows. Click yes if it asks : do you want to start the process

Next, the final step. You have the option to either burn your install to a disk or write it as an image file. I usually chose direct burn, as it goes straight to CD.




I'll keep you all cued in on the installation files, and I will host them all if it works.

[aquarake]

Oh, the link.
http://mobius9.com/INTEL_MATRIX_FLOPPY.zip