[Help - Windows] How to downgrade?

[Killapac]

How dose one downgrade from Windows Vista to Windows xp?:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[IFS]

well I would go with a format, and re-download all the xp versions of the programs you had, unless all your drivers are made for vista then I have no advice <- although I don't think that was the answer you were looking for, sorry if it wasted your time

[Killapac]

I try to boot from a Windows Xp cd on my Windows laptop and i got Blue Screen of Death

[IFS]

lol thats harsh man I hate the blue screen of death, maybe your xp cd is corrupt or your chipset only supports vista, like mine only supports xp and I get all kinds of error when I try to install vista

[Killapac]

I was just thinking that my self.

[IFS]

well you should be able to through format that clears all data on your harddrives, unless you are restricted by your mother or processor, or maybe even harddrive

[Killapac]

I looked at my BIOS and it said Default OS:Windows VISTA I think its my BIOS.

[IFS]

Can't you change it to XP, why don't you flash your bios?

[Killapac]

I have no idea

[Gr1mmy]

http://tinyurl.com/msudd9

Did that help? =D

[Klakz]

There's no easy way to downgrade. You have to reformat your HDD, then reinstall XP from scratch.

Just wait for windows 7 and splash out on that; then you can easily update (although still recommended to do a fresh install on a blank HDD). W7 is superior to both XP and Vista, if your PC hits the recommended spec.

[Teddy2116]

There's no easy way to downgrade. You have to reformat your HDD, then reinstall XP from scratch.

Just wait for windows 7 and splash out on that; then you can easily update (although still recommended to do a fresh install on a blank HDD). W7 is superior to both XP and Vista, if your PC hits the recommended spec.

Well if I'm not mistaken I believe Windows 7 its going to cost a smurf ton, tho it is easy to use than vista. But yeah I think that way should work, but be sure to backup your files first.

[Ashminigun]

You need to play around with the laptop BIOS setting. I presume your BIOS HDD setting is set to AHCI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AHCI) mode by default since it use Vista. Can you provide us the brand and spec of your laptop?

When booting up your laptop, press a key to enter BIOS setup screen (depends on your laptop model it might be F1, F2, F10, F11, F12 or DEL). On the screen (also depends on the BIOS chip maker, AMI, Phoenix or proprietary) go to the 1st or 2nd tab, and find HDD setting under it which let's you change the laptop to read your HDD as IDE/SATA, RAID or AHCI mode. Then you can try to boot your XP installation disk.

If you're using Intel chipset and you're using SATA HDD, you need to install its RAID driver (esp. if you're using ICH7-M, ICH8-M, ICH9-M, -M is for Mobile). You need to download Intel Storage Matrix AHCI driver from its website and external floppy disk drive since the downloaded program will create the SATA driver on a floppy disk.

Assuming you have follow the above step and able to load the XP installation screen, press F6 when a message on bottom of screen state you need a RAID driver. Wait until a setup screen appear that requires you to specify your RAID driver. Press 'S' and Enter until it show you the list of ICH controllers available. Usually it will show 2 items and pick with M suffix and press Enter again. It will resume loading the necessary driver and programs to install your XP.

[Killapac]

Here it is
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product=3872413&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us


You need to play around with the laptop BIOS setting. I presume your BIOS HDD setting is set to AHCI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AHCI) mode by default since it use Vista. Can you provide us the brand and spec of your laptop?

When booting up your laptop, press a key to enter BIOS setup screen (depends on your laptop model it might be F1, F2, F10, F11, F12 or DEL). On the screen (also depends on the BIOS chip maker, AMI, Phoenix or proprietary) go to the 1st or 2nd tab, and find HDD setting under it which let's you change the laptop to read your HDD as IDE/SATA, RAID or AHCI mode. Then you can try to boot your XP installation disk.

If you're using Intel chipset and you're using SATA HDD, you need to install its RAID driver (esp. if you're using ICH7-M, ICH8-M, ICH9-M, -M is for Mobile). You need to download Intel Storage Matrix AHCI driver from its website and external floppy disk drive since the downloaded program will create the SATA driver on a floppy disk.

Assuming you have follow the above step and able to load the XP installation screen, press F6 when a message on bottom of screen state you need a RAID driver. Wait until a setup screen appear that requires you to specify your RAID driver. Press 'S' and Enter until it show you the list of ICH controllers available. Usually it will show 2 items and pick with M suffix and press Enter again. It will resume loading the necessary driver and programs to install your XP.Okay i looked and i can't do that sorry for 2 post in a row