Downgrading a New Laptop to XP

star1_2

I've had a quick look - can't find if this specific question has been asked before.

If i'm purchasing a new machine with Windows Vista Home premium, whats the procedure to downgrade this to Windows XP (Pro - if possible)? Does this have to be paid for? or because you already have a licence for an OS is it free? do disks come from Microsoft or the maunfacturer?

Any advice greatfully received.

Thanks

aliEnRIK

You would need a licensed version of XP (NOT free)

star1_2

aliEnRIK wrote: »

You would need a licensed version of XP (NOT free)

If i've an old desktop which i'm scrapping which has an xp licence on it (all purchased etc), is there a way of re-using this?

Thanks

Fonz_2

No, that will be an OEM version which is tied to your old machine and cannot be transferred.

What is your reason for wanting to downgrade?

marms

Microsoft only give a free downgrade to XP to users of OEM copys of Vista Business or Ultimate.

aliEnRIK

Regardless of where you guys stand (Id put it on without even thinking about it )
I dont think the OP HAS A DISC anyways.

aliEnRIK

Star? I have Vista myself (As well as XP). If you switch off all the desktop cr*p and UAC. Stop the drive from auto defrag and limit the system restore. Your onto a winner anyways

Oblivion

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Star? I have Vista myself (As well as XP). If you switch off all the desktop cr*p and UAC. Stop the drive from auto defrag and limit the system restore. Your onto a winner anyways

As a recent newcomer to Vista, I hadn't realised it would be set to auto-defrag. Perhaps this explains why my hard disc often seems to be chuntering away when I'm not even doing anything on my laptop.

How do I switch off auto-defrag please? Also not sure what you mean by "limit the system restore".

Dave.

aliEnRIK

Hi dave
Control panel ~ system ~ performance ~ advanced tools ~ open disk defragmenter
untick 'run on a schedule' (Ballache isnt it ) and click ok

System restore. Vista (And XP) set restore points. But vista auto sets as soon as you boot up and the upper limit of information is WAY too much for my liking (My mates vista with an 80 gig drive and 3 logons uses around 30 gig for system restore!)

heres how to limit the space (id suggest between 10 and 15 gig)
http://www.davescomputertips.com/articles/vista/change_vista_system_restore_size.php

aliEnRIK

ahhh
quicker way to get to defrag is to right click on the drive and select PROPERTIES then TOOLS

Oblivion

aliEnRIK wrote: »

ahhh
quicker way to get to defrag is to right click on the drive and select PROPERTIES then TOOLS

Thanks for the tips. Seems I must have already turned off auto defrag scheduling as the box wasn't ticked ... It was probably one of the first things I did without really thinking about it. I don't on principle like things being scheduled, I like to decide when something should run .

I will certainly look into reducing the restore space. Cheers.

Dave.