my buddy bought a laptop that has vista on it, and i tried to install xp instead and it wouldn't let me.

i have a couple of questions:

1)Would all the hardware and drivers work with xp?

2)I heard that u either need to reformat the harddrive, install win 98 or linux for it to erase vista before u can install xp, is this true?

You will need to right down all the components and make sure there are XP drivers for each component. If and only if there are, you would need to reformat the drive, can do this from the XP install, and then install XP.
I have heard of some manufacturers not releasing drivers for all the components in new laptops.

before upgrading from vista to windows xp, download the windows xp drivers first for all hardware. then save it on a flash drive or external drive then install windows xp

as you know, most pc's that have vista, often when you install xp you wont have any network drivers.

Question: Why are you going directly from Vista to XP? Especially considering the time involved as well as the additional money needed for an authentic installation of XP?

its not for me, its for my girlfriend's brother, he hates vista i would prefer using ubuntu which i will prolly get for myself once i figure a couple of things out, but he is not a computer type of guy he just wants to be able to do basic things without any of the freezing and crap like that

He purchased new laptop that freezes? LoL not much of a shopper is he? I hope he didn't get suckered into a extended warrenty

he didnt' buy the extended warranty, it didn't freeze at first but when he put in alot of pics, movies, music and when he tried to run a couple applications at the same time, it freezes sometimes...i didn't buy it for him...

Very strange...But anyways, enough of that jazz..

What you will have to do although this may void warranties etc etc is insert any XP install CD where you have a valid product key to. Install XP, if it brakes your balls during activation call the described number and go through the process of getting it validated, only took my 7 minutes the one time I had to do it. Once its installed go directly to your device manager. If there are any exclamation points it will have a basic description of what it is supposed to be e.g. video device would be where you would have to install the real video driver/pci audio device would be where you install the real audio drivers. If you happen to have any exclamation points, go to the manufactures website under the support section. Their should then be a model lookup and then a link to a downloads/drivers site. From there download and install the appropriate drivers. If your unsure go to the website and double check that they have XP drivers for the laptop before you downgrade.

thx, that is what i am planning to do, i had a problem when i did put in an xp cd it didnt' want to install, it didn't give me the option it gave me other options only that one

Strange, do you have your boot priority set to CD-ROM first? A message in a DOS like screen should come up asking to press any button to start setup... Once you do that it will load a bunch of files. I kind of forgot what happens after that, but I think it asks to accept some agreement and then you will presented with your hdd partitions. From here I believe you can delete the partition (might be two if its got a backup partition, delete both). Now create one new partition and format it using NTFS and then install XP on that partition, and that should be it..

BTW make sure you have his stuff backed up.

Don't put XP on it. Put a fresh install of Vista on it. If it's a Sony or an HP or some other major brand it's probably choked with crapware and maybe bad drivers and just because a bunch of mostly u8ninformed people are saying 'Vista sux' he is blaming Vista when he should be pissed at the PC maker.


BTW if he puts A fresh install of XP on it and it runs great remember what I said about the crapware. This is a well documented problem: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=429

HA, I had a wonderful example, I was checking out my buddies laptop which was an HP of some type. In XP 70~80 processes I think . W T F? It was a nice dual core AMD chip and the laptop was very nice, but the damn thing was like a snail. I was able to get it down to the 50's but most of the stuff was still from HP that I didn't want to turn off since he paid for some warranty deal(waste of money) but ya a fresh install will clear all that garbage out. I really wonder why companies do that?

Salesman - "Here's your Ferrari sir!"
Buyer - "Thank you!"
Salesman - "Oh wait, one more thing...*Grabs 5lb sludge hammer and knocks the windshield and lights out*"
Buyer - *Drives away with smile on face because he bought a fast car.*