change from xp to vista question

i'm thinking to change operating system from xp pro to vista.

my question is if i install vista over xp without reformatting (fresh install?), will all the laptop drivers need to be re-installed as well?

also, will using this method allow me to restore back to xp from my recovery partition without problems from vista?

 

You will need vista drivers, although alot of XP drivers work in vista having the proper drivers is better.

 

Also, since you only have 1GB ram, you may not get the best performance out of Vista. Most people recommend 2GB. However, I have never tried Vista with anything less than 3.5 GB RAM so I can't tell you for sure how bad the slowdown may be. Someone else can probably give you a better idea.

 

thanks for the replies

and i'd like to know if the recovery partition will be affected if i change to vista as it was originally xp? does it have to match the recovery partition's OS to recover if ever i want to go back to XP?

i know there might be a slow down compared to xp but i'm not using anything special on it but a casual internet surfing and typing machine.

 

The Vista installation should go smoothly even if you have a recovery partition on your system. Just be careful that you don't have Vista install over it. One tell-tale sign of which partition to choose you can use is to look at the size of the partition. The smaller partition is the recovery partition. Also, usually manufacturers label the partition with the word "RECOVERY" on it.

As d4nz0r says, 1 GB of memory will reduce performance of your machine with Vista installed. Having 2 GB allows Vista to flex its muscles a bit, but 4 GB really lets Vista do its thing. You can get a 4 GB kit (2 x 2 GB sticks) for about $50-$70 these days online.

I have tried Vista with 2 GB of memory and runs good for regular Internet surfing, word processing, and mild to moderate gaming even.

Edit: One thing to note is that during the first week or so of usage Vista will chew up more processing time as it tries to figure out your habits. The more you use it, the more trained Vista becomes in preloading applications you use a lot and self-tuning some parts of it to achieve better performance down the road.

 

so as long as i don't delete the recovery partition i'll be able to recover back to factory windows (xp) and settings no matter which version of windows i installed afterwards or even if the whole operating system got erased?

i think i can live it with 1gb as i had previously a thinkpad with 1gb ram running vista and it was pretty smooth for my usual usage

 

Yes, you should be able to recover your factory installed version of Windows XP with the recovery partition.