Install Windows XP on VGN-NS110E which came preloaded with Vista

Hello experts

I would like to know how could I install Win XP on my VAIO VGN-NS110E which came preloaded with VISTA.

It doens't allow me to downgrade, I can install Win 7 but it doesn't allow me to install Win XP.

Can anyone give step by step instructions as to how to install Win XP? I know it's possible but don't have any idea and searching on google didn't provided me the required info.

Quick help and response will be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards

 

You need to do a fresh install, you cannot downgrade it.

Here is a link how to do it:

How to Downgrade Windows Vista to XP « My Digital Life

May I ask why you want to downgrade?

 

Thanks mate

My laptop seems real slow with Vista and Win 7 and I believe installing Win XP might help it. Well I hope at least else I can always switch back to Win 7. Vista is just I don't want it at all.

I have weekend free so I can do a bit of experiment and hence decided to give it a go after more than 2 years of consideration.

 

Hi. I'm not sure whether or not you would gain any noticeable performance benefits via using Win XP.

What I read regarding the performance differences between Win XP vs Win 7 came closer to tie between the two depending on the usage.

After you have been using Vista and Win 7 the functionality and overall experience in my opinion isn't that great.

Win 8 and especially 8.1 should have greatly improved looking the matter specs wise. It should run rather smoothly with older laptops as well in comparison to the older Win OS's.

I'm not sure about the pricing though.


In case you do choose to give Win 8 a shot there is a great link with instructions, although I don't know whether or not all the programs and firmware are being supported by you laptop. But the same could be applied to XP as well.



http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/699021-vpcz1-how-clean-install-windows-8-a.html

I would expect better performance results by using Win 8.1 and at least I would give it a shot as you can download it anyway and there is some sort of trial that you can use the OS.

If you are going to do a fresh install, the actual installation of the OS will take just about half an hour. Its all the settings and programs that take time.

In case you wouldn't be happy with Win 8 / 8.1 you could always just fresh install Win XP but hopefully you would be fine with Win 8.1.

Best of luck, and give it a try. Fresh install will make your computer faster no regard what you end up using. Just back-up your files and install the rest.

 

If your willing to spend some money, upgrade that laptops hard drive to an SSD, and reinstall win7. An SSD makes a huge difference in responsiveness.
Also after looking at your specs, I would upgrade the ram to 4gb and install the 64bit version of win7.
You should see a decent performance boost that might get you a couple more years use out of that laptop.

 

@truplayr - Thanks again mate, I'll give Windows 8 a try

@S.Prime - That's an option I am considering as I am sure I won't be able to upgrade my laptop for atleast another year.

 

Hi. I would have to agree with S.Prime. Upgrading your memory to 4Gb is a necessity.

The memory of 2 Gb simply ain't enough to run all the processes going on smoothly. You would notice a significant boost to your computer in load times and when browsing the internet.

The SSD upgrade would make your computer feel at least twice as fast even after the memory upgrade.

In Windows environment you need the 4 GB memory and 64 Bit Windows version.

I don¨t know where you are located but there should be lot of Ram available in second hand markets. I'm not sure do you have 1 or 2 ram slot machine and whether you have one or both filled. Is it 1 X 2 Gb or 2 X 1 Gb. If its the latter you would need to replace both memory's. In case of the first one you would only need to add another 2 Gb memory to the slot.

Also you could consider looking for 128 Gb SSD second hand. Those two upgrades are something you certainly wouldn't regret. The speed increase and overall usability would feel your computer to be like a new machine.

But the minimum thing is to upgrade the memory. Otherwise your laptop will need to use the hard drive to create memory and that makes it awkwardly slow.

 

Another option that is inexpensive and might be worth trying out is the Linux operating system. If you don't have any specific programs that you really need that run in windows and you just generally use your laptop for browsing, email, music, etc.. It might be worth giving linux a try.

There a lots of different linux distributions, and you can get a list of the popular ones at Distrowatch.com.

To easily try one (or more) out without installing or changing anything on your laptop, get a 4Gb usb flash drive and install it on that using linuxliveusb. Run that program, insert your flash drive and under "choose a source", choose "download" / automatically. I recommend for a total beginner either Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu. After its done, you can boot your laptop from the usb drive and try out the linux operating system which runs very good on older hardware. Those 3 distributions (and others) have their own download center where 99%+ of the programs are free.

 

When you installed Win7 did you try optimising for performance? If you disable aero glass and other cosmetic features, you should get better performance.
These features are disabled by default in 8 and 8.1 which is one of the reasons these OSs appear to run faster.

 

Thanks for all the help.

I finally was able to install Windows XP on my vaio and everything is good.

Just one issue, display seems a bit different to me. It seems like there's some pixelation in the screen which I am not sure why as I have installed the graphics driver too.

Can anyone point out a reason as to why that's the case please.

Thanks

 

1. Change the display resolution to match the LCD screen's native resolution.
2. Change the way text is displayed. System properties> Advanced> Visual effects> smooth edges of screen fonts.