Windows vista to XP downgrade....really

[NamesAreUseless]

Well ive had vista for a while but i really dont like it and its kinda annoying so i wanted to go back to XP but it wont let me because it says you cant install XP because its an older version of an os than my current one (which is vista)
So what im asking is ,how do you install XP over vista?

Please Comment i really need to know. :?

[Cagedconnerman]

The only way i know of is to put XP on a disc, then reformat and boot from cd

Notes: If u dont already know, reformatting will make u lose everything.
Other Note: in vista, if u right click ur C: drive there is a button to reformat

[NamesAreUseless]

i tried to reformat using the right click the c drive thing but it say you cannot format this drive because it contains your current os.So i really need help with how to reformat and what do you mean by putting the XP in a cd the actual OS or the installer?

[Cagedconnerman]

...I think you just boot from CD and reformat there, I know theres a command you can type in the Run box, sadly I haven't had to reformat anything in a few months so i forgot the command.

[NamesAreUseless]

Okay well if you find it please tell me and is it legal do donload and burn boot disks from the internet? And what if i just remove the hard drive and replace it with a new one would that work?

[doesi87]

If it is just for the formating process you could use BartPE. It is a winxp version which runs from cd/usb-sticks and can be legally created from any winxp cd including SP2 or your current installation under winxp. Not sure about using a vista installation. It may work, if the winXP data in the i386 directory is still there. Also you can add realy usefull software to your BartPE version like a partitioning program or a backup program. If you think this solution might work for you i can check my PE to send you the program for formating and repartitioning a disk. If you just want to format you can use the standart version. it is already included.

[Cagedconnerman]

yep, found you can just boot from a windows installation cd and reformat from there. I'm almost 100% sure that it is illegal to download a windows cd from the internet, for any reason. Have you ever bought an XP cd? or had one come bundled with a computer you bought? if you've never done either of these then sorry, but you're gonna have to buy an xp cd.

[NamesAreUseless]

No no no...i think you misunderstood me i have the XP disk it came with my comp when i bought it but its useless since i cant do anything with it since i have vista all im saying is if its legal to download the boot part of XP on the internet like the CD that removes everything from your comp to start fresh and stuff so there will be no more OS in it so that way i can just install XP instead.

Edit: Oh, and you havent answered wether if replacing the Hard drive will work, i know its going a little too far but id go for it.

[Cagedconnerman]

oh, u dont need to get any program off the internet, just pop that XP cd in, it should ask u if u wanna format and say Yes, it'll set itself up for you. Yes a new HDD would work, but you would have to install XP on it.

[SgtM]

I agree with Cagedconnerman.. just use the XP CD to reformat. If you forgot to back anything, try using get data back for NTFS (http://www.runtime.org/) to recover it. Alternatively, if you ever need to COMPLETELY DESTROY data, use DBAN (http://dban.sourceforge.net/).

[XcOM]

there is a way to downgrade but it is rather hard:

Use your XP disk, boot into recovery console, look and see if you have two folders called "Windows.old" and "Program files.old"
if so delete your "Windows, Program Files" folders, and remove the ".old" extentions on your "Windows, Program Files".

Next use the commands


chkdsk
fixmbr

next you need to create a "boot.ini" file, normally it reads like below:


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect


Expanded:
Timeout = How long to wait to boot OS (Default 30, if only one OS then not asked)
Default = The default OS to load
Multi=The array, ie, Raid array1, 2 or 3 for example
Disk = is always 0 unless you're using a SCSI controller without the BIOS enabled in which case the 0 is replaced with the channel number.
rdisk = Which disk to boot from, 0 is master, 1 is slave, for scsi with more than one drive on the channel start at 0 and work your way up to the drive in question.
partition = Which partition to boot from, it always starts from 1, following this is where to look for the boot information, for windows xp its normally "\windows" for 2000 its "\WINNT"

I got a program i wrote if you like to edit boot.ini files, to ensure you don't damage anything, just got to finish it, almost done. just adding the backup function to backup the boot file automaticly before edditing it.