New laptop question

[kingfc22]

I'm looking at purchasing a new laptop soon, but how easy is it to install windows xp on a Vista machine since everywhere I look Vista is already loaded.

[PilotMan]

Since noone has answered you yet I will take a stab at it.

As my understanding goes, it is going to be very difficult if not impossible. The problem lies with the drivers that the company uses for the hardware. If it has vista already installed, there is a very good chance that they won't have any for xp at all, and your vista drivers aren't going to work with it either.

There was an answer to this in a Maximum PC that I read a couple of months ago, and that was the answer, but they gave a better explination than what I did. I can't find the exact issue, but all of their past issues are downloadable from their website for free in PDF format. Not sure if you will find it there or not, but I will keep an eye out for it.

FTR, I love my Max PC mag.

[Eaglesfan27]

I bought a new laptop last month to replace my dead one, and I looked into doing this, but everything I read indicated it would be very difficult. Now, I find that I'm enjoying Vista.

[weegeebored]

I thought that M$ extended the purchase life of XP until 6/30/08? Maybe I'm wrong. You might have to look to buy online to get XP with a machine instead of a Best Buy. I did a quick search at Dell and they sell laptops with XP installed.

[thesloppy]

I have a laptop that I bought last year pre-loaded with Vista. I too had heard it was nearly impossible to replace it with XP.....but it's not impossible to set it up to dual-boot, with XP as the default OS, although it certainly does take some work and some patience:

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_stepbystep_guide.htm

[thesloppy]

Oh! Now, don't take my word for this, as I think it might be specific to the company, but uninstalling Vista and replacing it with XP can void your warranty, which is a pretty big deal with a laptop, considering the abuse they take and that repairs are much more involved and expensive than with a desktop. Keep that in mind.

[the_meanstrosity]

The Dell Vostro line comes with Windows XP if you definitely want XP. The Vostro line is just Dell Small Business so you'll have to go to the Dell Small Business website and order from them. And yes, you can be a regular customer and still order from Dell Small Business.

I dual boot Vista and XP though I use XP much more than Vista currently. As long as you get the XP drivers for your hardware you should be fine. Dell website had all of the drivers available for both XP and Vista so it was easy for me. I can see how some manufacturers would make it difficult though.



I'm looking at purchasing a new laptop soon, but how easy is it to install windows xp on a Vista machine since everywhere I look Vista is already loaded.