19 Jun 2008

Officially downgrading from Vista to XP

Filed under: Software and Technology by Hari
Posted at 14:29:28 IST (last updated: 17 Jul 2008 @ 08:51:53 IST)
Update: Since writing this article, my plans have been failed because the bloody XP installation does not proceed beyond the initial driver-loading stage on my laptop. I suspect a hardware driver problem which I'm not sure how to solve. Read the rest of this article with caution. If you're going to dump Vista, do make a full System Restore disk and back up all the data on your entire hard disk.

Yes, you read that right. In case you were unaware, Microsoft officially allow downgrades from Vista OEM Ultimate to XP Pro or XP 64-bit. I found this through an obscure document on the Microsoft website titled (not unreasonably) "Windows Vista Downgrade Rights." The catch here is that Microsoft only allows downgrade from Vista OEM Ultimate or Vista Business Edition to XP. If you're stuck with a retail edition of Vista or with a different OEM edition, bad luck. Luckily my particular laptop model came pre-installed with Vista Ultimate 64-bit, so I can follow the downgrade procedure.

The catch is that I need to obtain a genuine Windows XP installation CD. Microsoft supplies these at a cost (not the cost of the full XP Pro license, but the cost of shipping which is still considerable). I can also use any XP installation CD which I might get my hands on but it has to have a valid product key. Then once I install XP Pro, I have to activate it through phone by explaining that I am downgrading from Vista and give them the valid product key. I verified this point a couple of times to be absolutely sure through Microsoft's customer support lines (yes, I did call, why do you ask razz).

The reason I'm downgrading Vista is to free up some hard disk space (Vista's system files take up nearly 1/5th of the free space on my Windows partition) and also to get better performance out of my laptop (especially 3D performance).

Here's the procedure I'm following currently,
  1. Made a full computer backup using Microsoft System Backup and Restore facility on my external USB hard disk.
  2. Copied all my Linux data on another partition in the same external hard disk.
  3. Currently making HP recovery DVDs in order to be able to restore Vista (if I want to) and its factory settings at a later point of time.

What I still have to do:
  1. Install XP Professional after deleting Vista. Luckily I happen to have an OEM CD which I used for my desktop system.
  2. Restore bootloader (I'm sure XP erases GRUB so I cannot boot Linux immediately after installing XP).

Hope somebody finds this bit of information useful.

19 comment(s)

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  1. It's good that they make it so easy for you to do :crazy:

    Comment by ray (visitor) on 19 Jun 2008 @ 16:06:49 IST #
  2. My plan has been aborted because the XP installation won't work on my laptop....

    I restored Vista, but now GRUB is gone and I need to get that back. I don't have any way to do it though.

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on 19 Jun 2008 @ 18:02:59 IST #
  3. knoppix/other live CD?

    Comment by (visitor) on 19 Jun 2008 @ 20:02:45 IST #
  4. I tried Knoppix and Ubuntu, but both wouldn't work properly. Knoppix didn't recognize the hard disks (probably because the version is too old to recognize SATA) and Ubuntu didn't boot at all.

    So I downloaded the Super GRUB recovery image and used that to restore GRUB. This one really works and is a lifesaver.
    http://www.supergrubdisk.org/

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on 19 Jun 2008 @ 20:25:59 IST #
  5. I was going to congratulate you on your UPGRADE, but I see that you've come across a snag. Have you tried HP for support on this improvement to your machine? Your XP installation might be snagged as there might be a driver that HP needs to provide.

    Comment by MrCorey (visitor) on 20 Jun 2008 @ 00:09:19 IST #
  6. HP won't even hear about it. The service center deals with nothing other than hardware complaints and their customer care is even more poor as they refer me to Microsoft in case I use the word "Windows" even once.

    Their laptops are fairly inexpensive, but the after-sales service is downright cheap. I shudder to think how they'll response if I have a bigger problem.

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on 20 Jun 2008 @ 08:40:50 IST #
  7. And this, Hari, is precisely why I'll never buy Vista. At least here in the Philippines, you have to buy the OEM version separately unless you buy the name brands.

    Comment by RT Cunningham (visitor) on 20 Jun 2008 @ 08:50:56 IST #
  8. RT, although that's true, I see it becoming more and more difficult to restore Windows XP as the hardware changes over the last 5 or 6 years have ensured that XP doesn't even install properly, let alone work optimally.

    OEM or not, I see Vista being forced down our throats.

    I have about 1.5 GB of RAM on my laptop and Vista still laps up around 44% of that memory while sitting idle. And this after I have disabled all the glitzy desktop visual effects and the Aero theme and removed many services which I considered unnecessary. Vista on my laptop currently looks like Windows 2000 but is at least 4 or 5 times as memory hungry.

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on 20 Jun 2008 @ 08:55:28 IST #
  9. Wow. It really makes you feel good to run Linux, doesn't it wink That is far too memory intensive - I wonder if this is a case of rushing Vista out of the door before it's ready and hoping to apply fixes via Service Packs. Who knows - in 2 or 3 years time it might even be usable!

    Comment by ray (visitor) on 20 Jun 2008 @ 14:09:59 IST #
  10. Wow, I didn't know that the personal market wasn't important to HP. Our company went with HP because of the after purchase service, rather than Dell or another. Perhaps they purchased a SLA. That sucks.

    Comment by MrCorey (visitor) on 20 Jun 2008 @ 14:53:24 IST #
  11. Ray, absolutely. The only reason I want Windows on my laptop is for gaming (and a few games at that).

    MrCorey, the HP laptop didn't even come with a Vista OEM CD or even a full recovery disk set. I had to create these disks myself using the utility they had provided. HP cuts costs by skimping on these essentials and providing just the "recovery partition" as a measure against problems.

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on 20 Jun 2008 @ 20:01:43 IST #
  12. Oh yes... Windows exists on my laptop also just because of a few games and because the mic on my particular toshiba laptop refuses to work. Too bad to know about your snag in even downgrading. I know a lot of people are waiting for Windows 7 to come out.

    Comment by Sudipta Chatterjee (visitor) on 21 Jun 2008 @ 01:43:03 IST #
  13. Sudipta, I am not waiting for any future versions of Windows...

    For all I know Windows 7 might be worse than Vista.

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on 21 Jun 2008 @ 11:36:06 IST #
  14. Thing is, everyone was waiting for Vista to come out and show us what an OS was supposed to be and now they're all waiting for Windows 7 and then it'll be waiting for Windows 8 and so on. Microsoft could have made great strides if they'd simply improved the various versions until it was time to create a new release - in the same way the Linux does. Although it's nice to see a big splashy release, the vast majority of users just want their system to work. They don't care about the OS as long as it's usable and it works.

    Is it the SATA drivers that you need? Can you create a disk with the drivers on and then install them during the XP install?

    Or you could go back to Vista and look at ways to speed it up...
    http://www.windowsvistamagazine.com/UK/4352741769746825868/50-ways-to-speed-up-your-pc-part-1.html
    http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/83ec0ffe-ee04-4d53-8b87-25d1f05c954e1033.mspx
    http://www.winvistaclub.com/t1.html
    http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=make+vista+faster&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
    May be of help.

    Comment by Ray (visitor) on 21 Jun 2008 @ 16:40:11 IST #
  15. Ray, I'm pretty sure it's not a SATA problem. Otherwise it would have thrown up a "hard disk not found" error. No, it's something else.

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on 21 Jun 2008 @ 19:01:33 IST #
  16. XP is always best!;D

    Comment by Logesh TamilSelvan (visitor) on 24 Jun 2008 @ 22:38:13 IST #
  17. Logesh, have you used Vista yourself?

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on 25 Jun 2008 @ 09:47:20 IST #
  18. Funny, but I've always considered it too be an upgrade when going from Vista to XP. Suppose that might just be me though...

    Comment by B. Durant (visitor) on 29 Jun 2008 @ 11:40:53 IST #
  19. Yes. It is an upgrade. Unfortunately the hardware manufacturers don't think so. confused

    Comment by hari (blog owner) on 30 Jun 2008 @ 17:45:08 IST #

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