Help remove Vista

Minus · Jul 19, 2007

vemars said: ↑

I just got a laptop, old one was dying and I had a chance to get something similar pretty cheap. I tried to run Vista but when it took over an hour to move 400MB files into a thumb drive, I got fed up. Is there any way to remove Vista and go back to XP that is simple? I have a legal XP Pro disc, but Setup won't run from that, even when the Optical Drive is the first boot drive and the system is shut down. I remember doing similar things on PCs in the past, but when I try to remember them they all go away. Or should I just forget it and try to live with the bloat?

If you want to tell me to do my own searches, can you tell me where to start? Everywhere I search for "remove windows vista" either finds no matches or tells me how to remove malware, etc.

Oh, if it isn't obvious, I would strongly recommend against Vista. Many of the things that were so simple in XP are difficult or slow in Vista. Even removing several levels of subdirectories--Vista insists on removing them one layer at a time. And renaming files [as in multiple photos] where XP allowed you to arrange the files in order, then name, Vista reorders them in a random order. If you can stay away from it, do so.
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Im having the same problem trying to remove vista and install XP with a legal CD/product key. After inserting the XP disc, the vista security prompt appears to allow it to run setup.exe from the disc. After clicking allow, the XP window appears, but the "Install Windows XP" option is grayed out, and just I just hear a chime when I click it.

*UPDATE*
I was able to click the "Install Windows XP" option (not grayed out), but the vista security blocks it due to compatibility issues, recognizing that XP is an older version. I browsed the Cd and instead of running winnt32.exe that runs automatically when you click the install xp option, i ran the winnt32.msi file, but I eventually get an error "Internal Error 2356. Data1.cab"
***

Can someone tell me how to get rid Vista and install XP from the CD???

Or at least tell me how I can format the hard drive so I install XP???

Goran.P · Jul 20, 2007

Do you have some problem to read,cos I know that my post is there.
And the"check for device on boot" is -"BOOT OTHER DEVICE".
Read the post guys.

DavidGP · Jul 20, 2007

Minus, please keep questions that seem same in a thread of your own, having two troubleshooting questions in one thread is likely to get confusing to both of you and could casue you or the other member to do something wrong that was not suggested to you.

I have moved your question to its own thread.

and here is GoranP's post on how to wipe Vista and install XP

Goran.P said: ↑

Go to bios,set first boot option to CD,second and third-disable,and there was another feature caled-I think-check for device on boot-disable that too.run boot CD,and Good luck.
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You cannot install XP from within windows Vista, it will not work, you need to do the below.

You basically need to as Goran says ( and I'm recaping and adding a little ) go into your Bios and set 1st boot device to CDROM, then pop in your XP CD, hit Save and Exit in the Bios and your PC will reboot to the XP CD, then follow this and you will need to delete the partition on the HD that Vista was occupying, then recreate adn format that partition, then follow the prompts to installing XP.

Good picture guide http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

*warning* if your Laptop/desktop is new and designed for Vista, be warned that for some hardware ( Audio, onboard video, LAN ) there may not be XP compatible drivers available as the hardware was designed specifically for Vista and only Vista drivers were produced, this is not a Microsoft issue but one of the 3rd party OEMs as they produce hardware/drivers.

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Help remove Vista

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Goran.P MajorGeek

DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member