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I Hate Vista
Is it possible to downgrade to XP through Dell as I wish I had chosen that option now. Vista is more trouble than Its worth. It wont run FS2004 without big issues not to mention other games. Its security drives me potty and it seems I spend my time tweeking and experimenting with this OS rather than getting on with what I I would rather be doing.
LeahcimAz
306 Posts
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May 27th, 2008 22:00
Boyd B
552 Posts
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May 28th, 2008 14:00
Maturecheese
65 Posts
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May 28th, 2008 14:00
I have a couple of copies of windows 98 se kicking around so could I get away with an upgrade copy of XP home sp2 rather than a full retail which is vastly overpriced.
If I format the HDD to install XP instead of Vista what happens to my warranty?
Boyd B
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May 28th, 2008 15:00
Maturecheese
65 Posts
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May 28th, 2008 15:00
Thanks for the help esp Boyd. Whatever the problems I really don't have a lot of choice as Vista is not a lot of good to me:smileysad:. I had better swot up on slipstreaming:smileysad:.
As an after thought could I load the xp chipset drivers on to a USB stick and then load them before xp by using the bios to set the boot priority? Probably not as an OS is probably needed.
LeahcimAz
306 Posts
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May 28th, 2008 15:00
Questions?
1) What price did you get on an upgrade.
And it will not void your warranty, BUT you MAY have to reload Vista if you have a problem with your computer. It is up to the Tech depending on what the problem is.
Mike
LeahcimAz
306 Posts
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May 28th, 2008 16:00
Maturecheese
65 Posts
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May 28th, 2008 16:00
Maturecheese
65 Posts
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May 28th, 2008 16:00
Leahcimaz I can get an upgrade xp Home sp2 for £87 on Amazon. I already own an upgrade copy without sp2 but its on my other pc and I want to keep it on that
Boyd is this what you were refering to re slpistreaming?
The only prob I see with this procedure is that It is normally pretty impossible to copy windows XP on to another disc. Isn't there built in copy protection?
Boyd B
552 Posts
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May 28th, 2008 16:00
LeahcimAz
306 Posts
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May 28th, 2008 16:00
What I was going to suggest was to buy a computer from Dell Auction for around $100.00 that comes with Windows XP Pro, use the Dell XP Disk that comes with the computer and then unload the computer. You would wind up with XP Pro for all most nothing, But I now see that your in the UK (?) so that probably would not work for you.
Mike
Boyd B
552 Posts
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May 28th, 2008 17:00
That is indeed, the instructions and a link to the program that you need to get the task achieved. Windows XP disk are not prevented from being copied. The only thing that should be of concern is that you will need a new original copy with a Product Key that has not been activated and follow the instructions. I highlighted the linked page instructions you provided, not the entire page, just the instructions, including the photographs, and copied and pasted them into a MS Word document and then saved the document for future referral purposes since I can't seem to remember all this any longer. You could print these out if needed. But with these instructions, and an unactivated copy of Windows XP Home upgrade, you should be good to go. Hope this helps.
EDIT: By the way, I love the name of your hometown.
Maturecheese
65 Posts
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May 28th, 2008 18:00
OK good but my only worry is that when I use a new copy of xp upgrade and try to activate it Microsoft will know its a Dell machine and be aware that it used to have Vista on it and not allow activation. At £87 (@ $175) for a new upgrade copy it is a bit of a gamble. The trouble is in the UK its @ £170 for a full retail copy. Thats around $330
also wouldn't I need to slipstream the sata drivers not the chipset drivers or maybe both?
Boyd B
552 Posts
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May 28th, 2008 19:00
I understand your very real concern. But this will not be a problem. First, you will be reformatting the hard drive which would erase all the data on the drive. No Vista data or any other data would be on the drive. Secondly, Microsoft does not care if it is a Dell system that you are installing Windows XP on. Third, If all goes well, and the install succeeds, as I expect it to, and you go online to activate your legally purchased copy of Windows XP Home upgrade, and the activation fails, as it does even with legal copies as yours will be, you then can call a Microsoft toll free telephone number and speak to a representative and explain what you have done and the representative will ask you for some numbers (they will show you where to locate the numbers) and then give you another set of numbers for you to enter on your system, and it will be legally activated. Before attempting to do the downgrade from Vista, please perform any backups of any data that you may need later, like documents, photos, dowloaded files, etc., because all the data will be deleted when XP is installed. I understand your concern. We are not talking a small amout of money here. Hope this helps.
Edit: I forgot to answer your question about the drivers. Included in the chipset drivers, I beleive, are the SATA drivers. But to be safe, I would slipstream all the drivers I could from the Dell web site for your system that deals with XP. As in some of the driver downloads, I found that the SATA drivers were embedded in the Intel Chipset Driver Utility. It was an executable file so you could not see the individual driver files. XP cannot locate these drivers from within the executable file so I extracted the files and it created a folder on the C:\ drive listed as C:\dell\Drivers and in the XP folder were the SATA drivers. You can then just copy the SATA drivers files to anywhere you prefer. Hope this helps.
Maturecheese
65 Posts
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May 28th, 2008 19:00