Lenovo XP option

I seem to be having difficulty getting an answer from Lenovo uk, and this is rather urgent.

Because of a failure of 3 laptops within a few weeks, I need an urgent replacement that will run XP. I've been looking at a 3000 N100 that comes with Vista Business, that seems to have an option to get a "Downgrade" to XP Pro from Lenovo. The website gives no indication of the cost of the XP installation CD and, as I say, I can't seem to get through to Lenovo sales.

Has anyone done this downgrade? Any snags? Any advice? What was the cost?

Any help gratefully received.

 

This should answer all your questions:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=VSTA-DWNGRD

 

But that's where the trouble starts. It says on that site

"For a limited time Lenovo is providing Windows XP Recovery CD media as a way to downgrade from Windows Vista. Lenovo customers that have Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate "qualified systems" may purchase a Windows XP Recovery CD until July 31, 2008. Fees may vary. Please contact your local Support Center for additional details."

But I've now achieved contact with my local support centre (does this only apply to the USA?), and the UK sales rep said that they won't provide XP recovery media, I'd have to provide it myself, then phone Microsoft to explain why I wanted to activate an already used copy of XP. This roughly agrees with the Microsoft statements about this, and not the Lenovo website.

That's why I'm asking if anyone has done this here. The two sites don't agree.

I can probably cobble together an XP install CD and a COA off the bottom of a dying machine, but it's yet another hurdle to climb over.

I am grateful for the response, though. I suppose I'll have to ring Lenovo again.

 

billaboard, send the link to the person at the support center. That's what I did when the support op wasn't quite sure what I was talking about.

Support centers are not always updated on the latest announcements made by their respective companies. But showing them the announcement should solve the issue. After all it says in the text that it is applicable worldwide.

 

Well, I've now talked twice to the support centre, who consulted the supervisor, and were then quite clear that the dealer would have to inform them at the point of sale to arrange the supply of the XP installation media. They stated that there would be no charge for the disks.

I then consulted the dealer, who said that this was not correct. Lenovo would charge them for the media and they would not be prepared to bear or pass on the cost. They obviously had no intention of contacting Lenovo at the 'point of sale'. They then quoted the Microsoft statements, which differ from the statements on the Lenovo website.

In the event, I've recorded the names of the staff I've spoken to and taken a copy of the Lenovo website, and then ordered the machine. Hopefully this will be enough to allow me to navigate through the Microsoft-generated mire when it arrives.

 

It is fairly easy to downgrade the only problem you might encounter is with 1 or 2 drivers