Replacing Operating Systems

[wee papa smurf]

I'm currently running Vista Home Premium and i hate it with a passion! If i bought and installed XP would i lose all my files or would they be safe?

 

[Wulf2k]

That would completely depend on how it was done.

No offense, but if you have to ask, you'd probably put them at risk by doing it. Maybe burn everything you care about to DVD before chancing it.

 

[wee papa smurf]

No offence taken, im a dumb*** when its comes to all that operating systems junk

 

[Veggiesama]

Unless you have all your files saved on a separate partition, then yes, you will lose everything. So make backups.

 

[Wulf2k]

Unless you have all your files saved on a separate partition, then yes, you will lose everything.

Not if you don't format the partition.

But it's an easy mistake for somebody to make if they're not familiar with the process.

 

[Viper09]

Backup important files if you can. Usually replacing the OS will not touch your personal apps and files unless you choose to format then install.

 

[Old Man of UO]

I'm currently running Vista Home Premium and i hate it with a passion! If i bought and installed XP would i lose all my files or would they be safe?

If you computer came with Vista installed on it, think twice before installing XP on it. Some newer video cards and especially SATA hard drives aren't supported by XP and won't work.

Also, installing XP over Vista DOES require reformatting the hard drive, or at least the primary partition. Then you have to do a CLEAN install.

And lastly, you do not have to buy a new copy of XP if you can find an install disk. your Vista license will cover your XP downgrade. You will have to do a phone activation to get the proper key, but have to give the MS Tech your Vista product key.

 

[Skylark SP]

Downgrading to XP from Vista is not for computer novices, IMO. There are so many things to consider, and potential pitfalls, even hardware issues during the setup phase. I have been in the unwelcome position of creating custom XP installation disks with slipstreamed SATA drivers from the manufacturer for example, to even get XP setup to run for the downgrade. It was very time consuming, and as mentioned, you can't simply do an in-place downgrade, you must back up your data to another storage device or media and do a clean install of Vista. Keep in mind also that XP will not recognize backup files created using the built in Vista backup utility or system restore - you will need to do standard file system copies of your data to preserve it. Be very cautious too - some computer manufacturers are using a pre-configured utility partition on the primary hard drive to house all of the OS & driver installation files, rather than including separate media for them - the sloppier ones may even have it on the OS partition itself in a folder! You can inadvertently wipe out your only installation media source if you aren't paying careful attention.

If you don't have an existing XP license and media to use for this project, I would suggest waiting a month or two and just purchase a Windows 7 upgrade license. You can do an in-place upgrade of Vista to 7 if you choose (still good to back up your data of course), then you will not be losing any of the new features, such as DirectX 10 support (assuming your video card also supports it and you have applications that can utilize it). Windows 7 will look and feel more like Vista than XP, but should be less of a resource pig, and as mentioned, you will likely have less hardware compatibility issues going forward to the next Windows than backward, if your system's hardware is newer.

Having said all that, if you really would like to have XP, particularly if you are going to have to purchase a separate license for it anyway, I would suggest you go with a dual boot system, installing XP on its own drive if you have a spare bay available, and keeping Vista intact on the original drive. Making that happen has its own set of complications when Vista is the first OS (Vista has a different boot mechanism, using a special database, whereas XP and earlier versions of Windows rely on boot.ini file) but that is much easier to fix than an actual downgrade from Vista to XP.

-Skylark

 

[wee papa smurf]

Great advice everyone ty! I think il stick with vista for now

 

[Old Man of UO]

Great advice everyone ty! I think il stick with vista for now

What don't you like about Vista? Some things can be made to act like XP.

 

[wee papa smurf]

What don't you like about Vista? Some things can be made to act like XP.

I guess i just like the way XP looked, and i'v had non-stop problems since i bought my new machine with Vista, I'v been trying to figure out how i can set my machine up for performance rather than looks, like you could do with XP?

 

[Skylark SP]

Well for looks, there should be a Classic mode in your Vista themes. It looks like XP, complete with familiar "start" button in the lower left corner.

Right click desktop, choose Personalize
Double click Theme
Select Windows Classic
Click Apply

Now the Start button should be available, right click it and choose Properties. Then click Start Menu, and choose the Classic Menu button. Now your menus should look more XP-ish.

For performance, there are actually a lot of free resources out there that might help.

Example

-Skylark

 

[Old Man of UO]

I guess i just like the way XP looked, and i'v had non-stop problems since i bought my new machine with Vista, I'v been trying to figure out how i can set my machine up for performance rather than looks, like you could do with XP?

Skylar covered the XP "LOOKS" part of your question. If you want to change the performance settings in Vista. Open your Control Panel in Classic View and click on "Performance Information and Tools." On the left-hand menu, click on "Advanced Tools" and then "Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows."

In the pop-up box under Visual Effects, you can take the generic settings to adjust for maximum visual effects or maximum performance. Or you can make individual adjustments in the customs settings. You really aren't going to hurt anything, so play with it.

There is also a marked Advanced, with two basic options. Be sure the "Programs" radio button is clicked under Processor scheduling (it should be by default). You can also adjust the Virtual Memory size on this page. I have a pretty fast hard drive and 8 GB of RAM, and have just let Windows determine the page size.

There are other optimizations settings, especially if you want to download the Microsoft free TWEAK Powertools (nice program, but you still want to be careful).

You can also adjust your video card settings, which how you access those depends on your video card manufacturer. If you don't know how to do that, post your card make and model for more help.

I hope that helps and is what you are looking for.