Now is the first question you can ask when you read this article, is: "Why would someone want to downgrade their laptop from Vista to XP?" There are many reasons but the most common is the speed and stability. Windows Vista is considerably faster than Vista on the same hardware. Even Windows Explorer crashes frequently in Vista compared to XP.

In this article we will see how we can downgrade Vista to XP in the simplest way. In fact, there are some options to makeWe will go through three of them here.

Option 1: Restore to a Windows

One way to downgrade to XP, is to run a Windows Recovery Console. Now, this approach is more practical because it is not necessary to erase your hard drive out.
The other aspect is that in general it is not as clean as the second option (the beginning of Kras option below).

Let's see what you should do:

Up your entire hard drive.

The first and most important thingsdo is to backup your entire hard drive in case something goes wrong with this process. If you have Windows Vista Business or Ultimate, there is a complete PC backup and recovery tool that you can use. Even before leaving several GB of free space on your startup disk after you run a backup.

A more secure (and my preferred) way is to check the data of an external hard drive. You can easily copy all to go back to XP is installed and working. Be sure to backup the entire C: Users folderwhich will include the My Documents folder, desktop files, and relevant information, such as e-mail.

Up your entire hard drive.

The first and most important thing to do is to back up entire hard drive in case something goes wrong with this process.
If you have Windows Vista Business or Ultimate, there is a complete PC backup and recovery tool that you can use.

Start the Windows XP CD.

Wnidows Insert the XP disc into the opticalunity and the power of the laptop. You can then press the spacebar when you see the Press any key to boot from CD …. Now, if you do not have this message, go to the screen of the laptop's BIOS setup and change the boot options. The CD should appear on your hard drive in the list of boot sequence.

If the Recovery Console.

When you install Windows XP starts, press R to the first page and open the Recovery Console. When asked to select a Windowsinstallation, type 1 and press Enter.

At this point, in order to obtain the administrator password is required. This is where it gets a little 'complicated. If you do not know the administrator password, you can in this way:
* Stand back in Windows Vista
* Open the Start menu, type and press OK Lusrmgr.msc
* Open the file C: User's Guide
* Double-click the Administrator account and disable the account is disabled opportunities
* Open the Start menu again, typeUserpasswords2 control in the search box and press Enter
* Click the button to reset the password, choose a new password, and start

What gives you the administrator password, and you should be able to proceed with the downgrade.

Prepare the hard drive for Windows XP. Next, we return to the recovery console prompt and type the following commands.

fixboot

fixmbr

CD

Windows ERS WinVista

Output

Let your laptop forreboot, and start the Windows XP CD once again. Installing Windows XP starts normally.

Move documents. After installing Windows XP is complete, you will have a functioning operating system Windows XP. However, you need to move some files manually. More importantly, would your documents, the contents of the desktop, as well as all other details of unnecessary Vista C: Users folder in XP C: Documents and Settings folder is not. You also need to reinstall all yourprograms and device drivers, and eventually eliminate the abandoned C: folder in WinXP.

And it is … This is followed through, you can use Windows Vista have downgraded to Windows XP successfully, without re-formatting the hard drive.

Option 2: Start From Scratch

The other way to downgrade to XP, is to start from scratch. This method has the advantage that it is very "clean" installation. That is, the laptop is not the rest of Vista is loaded, mixed withwith XP. All that will only come in Windows XP.

Learn how we do it:

Up your entire hard drive.

As before, the first step is to back up your entire hard drive in case something goes wrong with this process.
Just watch your data to an external hard disk – you can copy them back once XP is installed and running.

Perform a clean install of Windows XP.
The process here is very varied, depending on your laptop. You should consult your laptopmanual for more information.
Typically, the software wipe laptop hard drive and put in a pre-installed copy of Windows XP disk.
This image should come with all the drivers and demo software that you have with your laptop when it was the first purchase.

After installation, simply connect the backup drive and copy the files back.

Option 3: dual-boot configuration

Now consider a third possibility. What happens if a question of some importance orunit only works with Vista. You do not want to downgrade to XP.
What to do in this case? One possibility is a dual-boot. Be warned, but this is a sophisticated solution, so you have an idea of having to dual-boot before you try.

You will need to install XP with Vista, so you need a second hard drive or another partition on the primary disk.

You should start to boot from a CD to install Windows XP and then install the operating systemsystem in the second row.
Once you've done – do not worry, when Vista will not start. Just reinstall the boot manager in Vista.
Boot from the Vista installation CD and click Next on the first page.
In the Install Windows page, click Repair your computer.
You will be asked to choose between Windows XP and Vista each time you return to a laptop.

Closed

Right! I hope this page gives you an idea on how to downgrade from Windows VistaWindows XP. The reduction actually make sense if you have problems adjusting to Vista. You should also take into account the fact that
The new software is optimized for Vista. And the legacy of support for Windows XP will disappear very quickly. However, if you feel that the downgrade is still needed, you can try one of the options above. I hope that works for you!

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