Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have a brand new HP. I want Vista taken off and XP put on.
I have called 2 different companies to do this. One told be it 100% could be done and to bring in the computer and they will do it for 300$ including the software, but I do not get a copy of the xp software.
The other company told me it might not can be done b/c my computer is so new, they have to run a diagnostic first and tell me if they can find the right drivers. If it can be done, they will do it for $234 including the xp software and I get the copy of the software.
Anyone who charges you $300 and doesn't give you a copy of Windows is a pirate. XP Home OEM costs about $100 at places like Newegg last time I looked. So they're making $300 profit to install a pirated XP. Run away.
The second company is being honest with you. HPs can be a real pain in the ass to work on. Putting an old OS on a new computer can be a lot of work. First they'll probably have to track down the SATA drivers, put them on a floppy, install a floppy drive if you don't have one, then get Windows installed and possibly hunt all over the Internet to figure out what you have (sound chip, Ethernet chip, etc) then find drivers. HP's web site is often worthless for such tasks. Unless they've installed XP on your model computer already and have all the necessary drivers handy, they can be setting themselves up for A LOT of work for what they're charging.
It like a lose lose situation. I have a ton of software that will not work with Vista, I need a new computer desperately but no one will sell me one with XP on it.
If someone is willing to put in the time and find the drivers is it possible though? Or is there a possibility that the drivers I would need don't exist for my computer?
You should be OK downgrading to XP from Vista. What software do you have that wont work on Vista ? You can have Vista emulate XPSP2 which saved me a few times. Ive been on Vista over a year now with no problems in the last 12 months with regards to software.
It like a lose lose situation. I have a ton of software that will not work with Vista, I need a new computer desperately but no one will sell me one with XP on it.
If someone is willing to put in the time and find the drivers is it possible though? Or is there a possibility that the drivers I would need don't exist for my computer?
You could build your own computer and buy a copy of OEM XP from NewEgg. It really isn't that difficult, there are lots of online guides and you can determine the quality of computer that you want.
Autocad 2006 and an old version of photoshop/Illustrator wont work with Vista.
What is Vista emulate XPSP2 ?
Right click on the shortcut and go to properties. There's a tab called compatibly. On that tab is a checkbox that tell Windows to tell the app that its actually running on an older version of Windows. Its been around for years. Another thing that hangs up older programs under Vista is UAC. One solution is to turn off UAC altogether. You can also chose "run as administrator" on that compatibility tab. That'll keep a lot of programs happy under Vista that ordinarily wouldn't be. Of course, those programs probably wouldn't have run right under 2000 or XP as a limited user so its not 100% a Vista issue.
Another option is to get a Vista computer and a copy of Parallels, VMWare, or Microsoft Virtual PC and keep a copy of XP in there for your old apps. I did that for a couple of months last year when I built my Vista PC but a few old apps didn't run right (or at all) under it.
Right click on the shortcut and go to properties. There's a tab called compatibly. On that tab is a checkbox that tell Windows to tell the app that its actually running on an older version of Windows. Its been around for years. Another thing that hangs up older programs under Vista is UAC. One solution is to turn off UAC altogether. You can also chose "run as administrator" on that compatibility tab. That'll keep a lot of programs happy under Vista that ordinarily wouldn't be. Of course, those programs probably wouldn't have run right under 2000 or XP as a limited user so its not 100% a Vista issue.
Another option is to get a Vista computer and a copy of Parallels, VMWare, or Microsoft Virtual PC and keep a copy of XP in there for your old apps. I did that for a couple of months last year when I built my Vista PC but a few old apps didn't run right (or at all) under it.
I considered getting a mac and running paralles, and loading windows so I could use CAD on it (cad will only work with windows)
But I didnt b/c I read it can causes problems, it that the same thing you are talking about with running Vista and XP on a PC, does that take up a lot of space on the computer??
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian.Pearson
I Googled a bit and saw this suggested. The person doing the suggesting said she hadn't seen any worthwhile free ones.
Thanks for the link!!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
