Vista Won't Die!

organics1 · Jun 21, 2007

Vista is giving me the blues. It's slow and cantankerous. I WANT OUT! But...it came pre-loaded on a new Gateway MX8711 laptop. Even after wiping the hard drive with dban I was unable to install XP Pro, which said something like PROGRAN CANNOT ACCESS HARD DRIVE.
I have heard that a Host Protected Area is likely on the hard drive. Programs to erase HPA cost as much as a new hard drive. Would a new hard drive solve the problem?
Anyone got a clue?

bigbazza · Jun 21, 2007

What version of Vista?
BitLocker, only in Vista Ultimate Edition, encrypts the whole hard drive so it can't be read in any other PC. That might be your trouble, and then again maybe not.

@Vista experts@, please step in. Bazza

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organics1 said: ↑

Vista is giving me the blues. It's slow and cantankerous. I WANT OUT! But...it came pre-loaded on a new Gateway MX8711 laptop. Even after wiping the hard drive with dban I was unable to install XP Pro, which said something like PROGRAN CANNOT ACCESS HARD DRIVE.
I have heard that a Host Protected Area is likely on the hard drive. Programs to erase HPA cost as much as a new hard drive. Would a new hard drive solve the problem?
Anyone got a clue?
Click to expand...

baklogic · Jun 21, 2007

XP is very difficult to put on once Vista has been there.
Microsoft have made this link available
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931760

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Vista Won't Die!

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bigbazza R.I.P. 14/12/2011 - Good Onya Geek

baklogic The Tinkerer