how do I uninstall windows 7

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bill saxon

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Mar 25, 2013
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How do I uninstall windows 7 from dell inspiron 6400 laptop, then reinstall windows xp home edition (which was originally installed) with reinstallation cd, recovery disk windows xp home, service pack 3
 
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groundrat

groundrat

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Dec 11, 2012
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As RDG 1101 said, normally you would simply put the XP disk in, remove any partitions, format the drive, replace the partitions, as you want and install windows XP.

But Microsoft doesn’t like that. The XP disk will tell you that a newer OS is already on the disk and will stop installation at that point. SO…

You can buy a new hard drive and install XP.
Or you can take your current hard drive to another computer, format it, then install XP on that drive.

Note: BOTH OS’s are now licensed to that motherboard. I didn’t know this until this weekend but MS is tracking every time you reimage your hard disk. Evidently if you do it too often, they will cancel your ability to transfer that license. So be careful.
 
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Murissokah

Murissokah

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You should first create a backup of all your personal data. All your photos, documents and the like. After that, think on what programs are vital for your work (if it is a work computer). Make sure you either have a copy of those programs or download their installation files. Also make sure you have the serial key for the windows OS you will install. After that:

1. Restart the computer, enter BIOS setup. (usually done by pressing "del" during boot)
2. Go to the boot settings. Set the primary boot drive to your optical drive.
3. Insert Windows XP installation disk (or the recovery disk, if that is what you have).
4. Restart the machine. If it asks you whether you want to boot from the cd, make sure you do.
5. Windows setup will start. When it comes to where you want to install it, choose your system drive. You will probably have only one, so choose that one.
6. If it asks whether you want to format the drive, make sure you do. You will want to format it to make sure no files from the old installation mess up the new one.
7. Let the setup run. It will ask you for some info during the setup. It will ask you for the cd-key.
8. Once it is done, restart the computer and enter steup again. Set the primary boot drive as the HDD, not the CD anymore.
9. Done! You should now copy your backup files back to the HDD and re-install any software you need.

There may be a cath at step 5. Since Windows XP is an old OS, it may need SATA drivers to recognize your HDD to begin with. If that is the case, you will need to download those drivers on the manufacturer's site and either burn them to a cd or copy them to a floppy disk.
 
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Deleted member 217926

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Microsoft is ending all support for XP soon. No more updates including security updates. Windows 7 is all around a much better OS and uses less resources than XP. Stick with 7 or move to 8.
 
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meathead_21

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Feb 21, 2013
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Hello MEATHEAD here I've never heard of ms tracking your installations it's news to me. All i know is i've done it over 20 times and never had a problem. One thing you
need to rememer you have to have the correct boot device enabled or it won't work.
On your screen (very briefly) when it starts it should say "press F whatever to change boot device. in my case it's F12. Go to bios and enable it.
 
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groundrat

groundrat

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They do. I tried to transfer a 7 HP license from an old broke MSI MB to a brand new ASRock last week and was deny'd by MS tech support because I had recently (last October) reimaged the old machine. I bought the license over three years ago and its been on the MSI motherboard the entire time. When my daughter outgrew her Athlon X2 6000 and HD4600 I gave her my old Q6600 and put a new copy of seven on it (it had been Vista Ultimate 64). I reimaged her machine with the original software to remove any artifacts. I think it had been re-imaged twice before (you know kids). Hardly the profile of a software thief.
The ASRock MB got a brand new OEM license.

As more “influential” persons have this happen to them and publicize it, we might see a reversal. But we all know that MS has been trying to go to a one license one instal policy for a long time now.

Too bad Ubuntu isn’t up to speed yet.
 
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