An idiots guide...

[sarahg]

Hi there,

I currently am running Windows Vista home premium on my laptop and would like to go back to using Windows XP. I'm hoping that this will make it run faster :confused:

I have the XP software but have no clue how to uninstall Vista and install XP safely...i'm worried that I end up wrecking my laptop!

I would really appreciate it if someone could give me an 'idiots guide' or a link to a website which shows you how to uninstall Vista to it replace with XP.

Thanks in advance
Sarah :mrgreen:

[cleggypdc]

I cannot understand why you would want to downgrade to XP, but I know that a lot of people and businesses have done, as they cannot wait for Vista service pack 1 to come out. Vista is the most secure OS available though, it is enevitable that we will all be using it in about 5 years time :). Same happened when XP came about.

But anyways here goes....

As always you should do the following before uninstalling any OS
0: Check to make sure that your laptop can support XP.
1: Backup your documents onto a separate (external) hard drive or media. i.e.
2: Backup anyone else's documents.
3: Make sure you backup your email if you use Outlook etc.
4: search for any other documents you may wish to keep.

Next, we get straight to it

5: Insert the Windows XP disc, and restart your laptop
6: When prompted, press any key to boot from CD, if you not get this prompt then restart the laptop and see if there is any options available to open a boot menu, it's usually F10 or f11...
7: XP setup should now be loading...
8: When prompted agree to any licence agreements.

Now we have to setup the partitions.

9: Setup should check your hard disks, when prompted to select the partition you wish to install windows onto, press up and down arrow keys to select the vista partition, and press 'd' to delete it.

10: Select the unpartitioned space in the list and setup XP on that.
11: If you are prompted to select the file system you wish to use select NTFS (Full). I recommend doing a full format as this will find any bad sectors on the hard drive. It can take a long time to complete this however.

The easy bits...

12: Once this is complete you can prretty much follow the on screen instructions :)

Hope this helps

[sarahg]

Thanks for the reply,

I'm know how safe Vista is but it's annoying me that its making my laptop run slower. I can always reinstall if needed.

This is probably a stupid question but do you know how to check if its XP compatible or are you able to tell me? I have an HP Pavilion DV6231eu.

Thank you!!:)

[cleggypdc]

yep this should be fine on XP

drivers link : http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=228&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3357853&lang=en

Download the software from the link above after you downgrade.

[Micky007]

also when it asks you to set the date and time stuff and keyboard settings make sure you select UK as you dont want be using a USA Keyboard as its very annoying as diffrent buttons are in diffrent places compared to the UK Keyboard, but if you do select USA andforgot then it doesnt matter. It can still be changed when installation has been completed.

[misty]

I can think of a few reasons why you would want to go to XP. Good luck.