The Vista To XP License?

Ive bought a Vista Business laptop but I dont like Vista. Somebody told me that Microsoft allows you to install Windows XP Professional if you own a Vista Business laptop but the code on the bottom doesnt work when installing XP. Am I doing something wrong or can you not do this at all? Id like to be able to go back to Vista in the future but right now I would prefer to use XP. Its a Dell and I could get a Dell XP CD off someone I know but the code didnt work the first time I tried so is there any point in trying a Dell XP CD? What am I doing wrong?

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Comments

ladiesman217

hetty wrote:

Ive bought a Vista Business laptop but I dont like Vista. Somebody told me that Microsoft allows you to install Windows XP Professional if you own a Vista Business laptop but the code on the bottom doesnt work when installing XP. Am I doing something wrong or can you not do this at all? Id like to be able to go back to Vista in the future but right now I would prefer to use XP. Its a Dell and I could get a Dell XP CD off someone I know but the code didnt work the first time I tried so is there any point in trying a Dell XP CD? What am I doing wrong?

the code under your laptop is the product key of the vista OS installed. to be able to use XP you need to aquire a license windows xp. you can also use dual booting if you want to use xp and vista on your laoptop.

garv221

hetty wrote:

Ive bought a Vista Business laptop but I dont like Vista. Somebody told me that Microsoft allows you to install Windows XP Professional if you own a Vista Business laptop but the code on the bottom doesnt work when installing XP. Am I doing something wrong or can you not do this at all? Id like to be able to go back to Vista in the future but right now I would prefer to use XP. Its a Dell and I could get a Dell XP CD off someone I know but the code didnt work the first time I tried so is there any point in trying a Dell XP CD? What am I doing wrong?

This is only for Open License. You buy a Vista Pro license and you get the XP license but you would then need the Open License CD. Be careful about the SATA drivers for XP.

I agree Vista is horrible.

dynamik

These links might help:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=543
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9040318

It's really the little things in Vista that kill it. I actually like the new interface and a lot of the new features. Unfortunately, there's some problem between my on-board Intel raid, Vista, and iTunes that will leave me at a blue screen anytime I try to use iTunes. On my machine at home, there is still not a driver for my printer, which is still sold new in some stores.

Vista was driving my wife nuts the other day. She couldn't update WoW. She screwed with it for about an hour before she realized she had to right-click the updater and "run as administrator." I'm just proud she figured it out on her own

JDMurray

garv221 wrote:

I agree Vista is horrible.

Run Vista on modern hardware with lots of RAM, with no peripherals whose drivers are incompatible, turn off Aero and UAC, and you'll have what the next major release of XP should have been. Vista can be a good, usable, productivity platform, but you sure have to run it with a narrow hardware and software configuration to do so.

dynamik

JDMurray wrote:

Run Vista on modern hardware with lots of RAM, with no peripherals whose drivers are incompatible, turn off Aero and UAC, and you'll have what the next major release of XP should have been. Vista can be a good, usable, productivity platform, but you sure have to run it with a narrow hardware and software configuration to do so.

Might as well get a Mac at that point

Schluep

I use a 64 bit Vista laptop and have had no problems with it. I have used IIS and the Visual Studio 2008 beta (Orcas) succesfully. I was able to get all of my software working by running it in compatibility mode or using an x86 installation. Even when you are logged in on an Administrative account it will prompt you for permission to make changes or perform installations. Some programs need to be enabled to run as Administrator. Overall it was designed with a much great focus on Security, which I view as a positive, not a negative. I have an older printer/scanner/copier fax connected to an XP machine on my home network and the Vista computer can easily print to it and share files with the other PC's on the network. A simple change of firmware on my Linksys WRT54G allowed it to connect wirelessly.

It takes a little getting used to since it is different from XP which turned out to be very stable compared to previous versions of Windows, however Vista at its current starting point is FAR above what XP was when it first came out. I kept Windows 2000 for a little while at first due to the even more massive increase in system resource usage that came with XP (without as large of a hardware upgrade to support it compared to the hardware commonly available for Vista). There were far more security vulnerabilities being discovered on a regular basis with XP when it was first released to the point I feared it could become another ME. Most of the options in Vista you find to be annoying or unneccessary can easily be disabled.

I have gotten calls from a number of family members/friends insisting that their software they use does not work on Vista, however after walking through some simple steps with them I have found in every case that I was able to get it working.

There are numerous performance tweaks and suggestions all over the internet for ways to reduce system resource usage down to the level of what XP ran with if that is your concern. The only compatability issue you will really have to worry about are hardware drivers for peripherals not being supported by the manufacturer. Most new systems people are buying have 2 GB or 4 GB of RAM and with the low price of RAM it really isn't much of an issue.

It is my belief that Vista will far surpass XP once some service packs are released and some of the minor issues are worked out. I would even venture to say it is already a better and safer bet at this point for many users due to the addition of many security features (that most users who don't recognize what they are find to be very frustrating). I would NOT recommend converting your entire company network to Vista and having problems erupting all over the place like some companies have tried to do, but for personal use if you are getting a new system to me it makes sense to start learning Vista now. Using a 64 bit OS will definitely work better for your new hardware as well.

Plantwiz

dynamik wrote:

JDMurray wrote:

Run Vista on modern hardware with lots of RAM, with no peripherals whose drivers are incompatible, turn off Aero and UAC, and you'll have what the next major release of XP should have been. Vista can be a good, usable, productivity platform, but you sure have to run it with a narrow hardware and software configuration to do so.

Might as well get a Mac at that point

Yes I did!

****

Lenovo products will shipping with Vista on them will also include media for XP until Jan 2009. You may need to ask if it is provided...as the warehouses rotate through stock levels, but soon all will ship with Vista installed...XP available. FWIW

JDMurray

Schluep wrote:

I have gotten calls from a number of family members/friends insisting that their software they use does not work on Vista, however after walking through some simple steps with them I have found in every case that I was able to get it working.

The most common "Vista fix" I have used is to install or run the malfunctioning program as true administrator. Vista standard users are prevented from writing to areas fo the file system and registry that some programs must use, especially for software activation and copy protection features.

Schluep wrote:

It is my belief that Vista will far surpass XP once some service packs are released and some of the minor issues are worked out.

Actually, the reverse will sooner be true. Windows XP SP3 is suppose to add several of the security features that are present in Vista, and allow XP to perform even faster than Vista SP1 on equivalent hardware.

Schluep

JDMurray wrote:

Actually, the reverse will sooner be true. Windows XP SP3 is suppose to add several of the security features that are present in Vista, and allow XP to perform even faster than Vista SP1 on equivalent hardware.

Wow, I was not aware of the performance increases planned for XP SP3. Thanks for posting that article. The other interesting thing I gained from it was the Microsoft response regarding the test of Vista SP1 which is currently also in beta:

PC World Article ID 139911 linked by JDMurray above wrote:

While Microsoft was not available for comment over the weekend about XP's performance, it defended Vista SP1 after Devil Mountain's first round of tests. "We appreciate the excitement to evaluate Windows Vista SP1 as soon as possible. However, the service pack is still in the development phase and will undergo several changes before being released," a spokeswoman said in an e-mail.

It almost makes me wonder what other surprises they plan to include in Vista SP1 or if it is just Microsoft being tactful with the media. Hopefully some other performance increases will also be in store.

garv221

JDMurray wrote:

garv221 wrote:

I agree Vista is horrible.

Run Vista on modern hardware with lots of RAM, with no peripherals whose drivers are incompatible, turn off Aero and UAC, and you'll have what the next major release of XP should have been. Vista can be a good, usable, productivity platform, but you sure have to run it with a narrow hardware and software configuration to do so.

haha..Take that 89' civic, remove the doors, windows, interior, body, chassis and motor. Now replace it with an 07 BMW M6 doors, windows, interior, body, chassis and motor. Now that dog will hunt.

garv221

Schluep wrote:

It almost makes me wonder what other surprises they plan to include in Vista SP1 or if it is just Microsoft being tactful with the media. Hopefully some other performance increases will also be in store.

I know what the surprise is......After the service pack is installed, the system reboots and *presto* XP is fully installed and working with all your settings and data. Merry Christmas to all Vista users and good night!

ally_uk

Hey what's the point in turning off all the eye candy? I thought the whole point of updating yourself to Vista was to get the whole Vista new shiny interface experience.

Alot of people who intend to buy Vista are not going to spend time shutting off features to get there system stable face it Vista was rushed out the door and is buggy as a compost heap.

It's also a resource Hog truthfully I couldn't care less about the whole new Eye candy aspect of Vista personally I thought it was unnecessarily to include Aero . Give me speed and stability over eyecandy any day of the week.

I'll be running XP over Vista until at least service pack 2 arrives

Infact if I had my way and Linux had better game support that would be the way to go because it storms windows in terms of reliability and speed.

Schluep

ally_uk wrote:

Infact if I had my way and Linux had better game support that would be the way to go because it storms windows in terms of reliability and speed.

After making some modifications to improve my boot speed I actually have Vista booting up substantially faster than Debian on my laptop configured for dual boot. Since I have never had XP on this laptop I cannot provide a comparison with it however.

I actually have Aero turned on right now since my laptop has more than enough resources to cover the tasks I am performing without any loss of performance.

JDMurray

Schluep wrote:

I actually have Aero turned on right now since my laptop has more than enough resources to cover the tasks I am performing without any loss of performance.

The biggest problem with Aero is that it's a major drag on many older graphics cards.