XP downgrade

I have the option of getting a downgrade XP CD from Lenovo for my laptop to rid Vista. As I am a little un easy in doing a fresh install I think this is the better way for me to go. My question, would this downgrade using a disc supplied by a manufacturer be the same as a clean fresh install of XP? Will I still experience a better, faster running system? Thanks!

 

You might have to uninstall a little bloatware (ads or unnecessary programs installed by your manufacturer) but it'd have to be pretty dodgy software to stop XP making a substantial speed increase over Vista.

I say kill Vista. I haven't looked back since I did!

Grand Admiral

 

This coming from a guy with "Down with Microsoft" in his footer. Tell us your specs, and we'll tell you if you should run Vista or not. If you have the specs, there's not a single reason to downgrade.

*EDIT* If I can assume the specs in your footer are your laptop...then you should downgrade since vista will choke and die on 1 gig of RAM. I'm pretty sure a downgrade won't be the same as a fresh install. IMO, your better off doing a fresh install of a XP installation disk.

 

Yeah its slow which I have put up with for a while. But I have a number of programs I wanna use again and cant with Vista. I read the fresh install guide for XP and well a lot I did not understand and from alot of user posts, most ran into trouble.

I like XP so I am happy to try the downgrade cd they are offering. I'm hoping it will providemy system as a clean fresh would.

 

You need more that 1 gb ram in vista to run properly , I have 4 gb and vista runs ok
It's funny they call it a downrgrade ,as your boot times will be less with xp running than with vista.
More compatable with older applications
Restore disk makes it easy as it will have the correct drivers.

 

I doubt it, I haven't actually used a downgrade CD before...but I bet you its just like a OEM factory install XP CD. Meaning it comes with the same crap that the Vista OEM install CD would have to.

 

Somebody said this on the Lenovo site forum:

"Change the BIOS SATA drive setting to compatibility mode then boot from an XP Pro CD and install as normal. XP won't read the hard drive is you don't change it to compabitility mode in the BIOS, from my experience."

Can it be as easy as this?

 

Er, how is this making it any easier? XP on default doesn't have any SATA Harddrive drivers installed, so you need to turn it on in your BIOs...then start the fresh install.

 

Pretty much. The reason for changing the hard drive mode is that a pure XP SP2 install has trouble with SATA hard drives. I don't know what XP disc Lenovo ships; there are three basic possibilities:

*Pure XP. If this is it, that is good. It's the Microsoft version with no tweaks. This one requires HDD compatibility mode.
*Pure XP, except with SATA drivers. This is ideal. Dell OEM discs, for example, ship this way. No bloatware, just XP SP2 - except it has SATA drivers.
*"Lenovo" XP. In other words, it comes with Lenovo's software that automatically installs with Windows, some of which is likely trialware or stuff you don't want/need. Note that just because it says Lenovo on the disc, doesn't mean it is this type. It might well be Pure or Pure with SATA.

But once you've got the hard drive in compatibility mode (not necessary for Pure+SATA or "Lenovo" with SATA), it is that simple - just pop in the CD, restart, and follow the instructions. Although a couple of other notes:

*Make sure you've got you data backup up, because if you want a clean install you'll be overwriting everything.
*Make sure your BIOS is set to boot from CD/DVD before hard drive; otherwise it'll just boot up into Vista when you restart.
*Download at least an Ethernet or wireless card driver (or modem) for XP before nuking Vista, and put it on a flash drive or CD. You can download the rest of the drivers after installing XP, but you're in a bit of a pickle if you can't connect to the Internet in the first place.

 

Apollo 13
Thankyou for that- the best bit of advice! I think I am going stick with Vista. BUT get a few more gig put into this thing. Speed and being broke were the only reasons for wanting to revert back to XP.