Fuck It.... Im downgrading.

[MAV]

Ive had this new laptop with vista home premium for about a month now.

i want to downgrade back to good ol XP.

whats a guy gotta do to make it happen? or is it just more of a pain in the ass than its worth?

[SKRI]

i would imagine just a format would do it. insert the xp cd, shut ya comp down, power it up and then initiate your setup mode (usually f8 or f10 or summat), ya might have to reformat to get good ol XP back. try XP Black ;)

[blazin]

Make/model?

Some are easier than others. I did a HP/Compaq that was effortless, but also a Sony Vaio that was a major pain in the ass finding appropriate drivers and such. Check out the manufacturers support page for your make and model and see if XP drivers are listed.

Regardless, you need to purchase XP. You can't downgrade using your vista key unless you have Business Edition. Cracked copies arent worth it IMO. XP Home OEM = $89

First off, whats troubling you with Vista?

[MAV]

Make/model?

Some are easier than others. I did a HP/Compaq that was effortless, but also a Sony Vaio that was a major pain in the ass finding appropriate drivers and such. Check out the manufacturers support page for your make and model and see if XP drivers are listed.

Regardless, you need to purchase XP. You can't downgrade using your vista key unless you have Business Edition. Cracked copies arent worth it IMO. XP Home OEM = $89

First off, whats troubling you with Vista?

i guess i should have specified this in my first post.

i have a dell inspirion 1501 with Vista Home Premium
AMD ATHLON 64 X 2 TK-55 (1.8GHZ/512KB)
1GB 533MHz DDR2 2DIMM


my problem is that a lot of programs dont work as well as id like them to.
mainly adobe audition, and windows media player.
windows media player takes roughly a minute to start playing any MP3 or sound file.

shit locks up on me constantly. (paltalk, google sidebar, webcam, etc.)

i just want a computer that works. thats all i want. i figured id give vista a shot. but maybe i dont have my settings right or something like that. im not a computer nerd so i dont know where to start.

[Myhairygrundle]

I feel your pain bro. I have Vista Business on my laptop and it was slow as fuck until I doubled the RAM and it works fine now.

Try and put as much RAM in that thing as it will take. Vista uses so much memory...

[Jambi]

I feel your pain bro. I have Vista Business on my laptop and it was slow as fuck until I doubled the RAM and it works fine now.

Try and put as much RAM in that thing as it will take. Vista uses so much memory...My first thought as well. My Vista laptop w/ 2 GB runs like a champ. If you shop around you can find deals on RAM, I happened to stumble upon 1GB laptop sticks for $40 each at Best Buy.

Edit: Also, Vista has a feature called Ready Boost which uses a flash drive like it were additional RAM. Obviously a flash drive won't perform like a memory stick, but every little bit helps. Did you get one of those free Kingston flash drives?

[MAV]

im gonna order a 2GB kit 1GBx2 from crucial.

ill throw $50 at it, maybe that will help. its as much memory as i can get right now from them.

[Jambi]

im gonna order a 2GB kit 1GBx2 from crucial.

ill throw $50 at it, maybe that will help. its as much memory as i can get right now from them.That's a sweet deal, Wade.

Also, in the meantime, turn off all the bells and whistles. By default, Vista has enabled a bunch of bullshit wizzardrry, and with a little tweaking you can free up some resources.

[MAV]

That's a sweet deal, Wayne.

Also, in the meantime, turn off all the bells and whistles. By default, Vista has enabled a bunch of bullshit wizzardrry, and with a little tweaking you can free up some resources.

fixed :D

and i have some of the shit turned off (transparent windows, etc)

anything in particular i should look into turning off?

[Beeman99]

Ive had this new laptop with vista home premium for about a month now.

i want to downgrade back to good ol XP.

whats a guy gotta do to make it happen? or is it just more of a pain in the ass than its worth?

what's wrong with it?

I have Vista Ultimate and I love it, just curious as to what problems you are having.

and to do the downgrade right, you'll need to reformat the hd and install XP

[Beeman99]

i guess i should have specified this in my first post.

i have a dell inspirion 1501 with Vista Home Premium
AMD ATHLON 64 X 2 TK-55 (1.8GHZ/512KB)
1GB 533MHz DDR2 2DIMM


my problem is that a lot of programs dont work as well as id like them to.
mainly adobe audition, and windows media player.
windows media player takes roughly a minute to start playing any MP3 or sound file.

shit locks up on me constantly. (paltalk, google sidebar, webcam, etc.)

i just want a computer that works. thats all i want. i figured id give vista a shot. but maybe i dont have my settings right or something like that. im not a computer nerd so i dont know where to start.


I see what your problem is, it's not a macbook:action-sm

[Jambi]

fixed :D

and i have some of the shit turned off (transparent windows, etc)

anything in particular i should look into turning off?Go to the control panel, system, advanced system settings, performance. Select "best performance". It will turn off all the visual effects.

[thelord68]

Disable the UAC (user account control). Also what antivirus/antispyware are you runnning? If its Norton or McAfee, dump it an use AVG. Norton is a system killer and McAfee is a joke.

If Norton did such a great job, the system hit would be tolerable, but I've run AVG on too many systems that Norton said were clean and reality weren't.

[MAV]

Go to the control panel, system, advanced system settings, performance. Select "best performance". It will turn off all the visual effects.

that makes it look like windows 95 :haha7:

ill keep some things i guess

[Jambi]

that makes it look like windows 95 :haha7:

ill keep some things i guessIt's only temporary til your memory sticks arrive. ;)

[MAV]

Disable the UAC (user account control). Also what antivirus/antispyware are you runnning? If its Norton or McAfee, dump it an use AVG. Norton is a system killer and McAfee is a joke.

If Norton did such a great job, the system hit would be tolerable, but I've run AVG on too many systems that Norton said were clean and reality weren't.
im using McAffee currently

It's only temporary til your memory sticks arrive. ;)

well, i had to change the virtual memory settings also. and i just customized the shit i didnt want for now. the new sticks will be here tomorrow afternoon :D

[Your_Moms_Box]

Norton and Mcafee can suck my limp dick.

AVG and spybot/AAW FTW

[Arc Lite]

I gotta similar set up with my laptop and am loving Vista. It helped me a lot to do a little cleaning up (crap that runs at startup I don't need, etc). I turned off the transparent windows and some other effects but kept the vista look.

I found a good site after I first got my laptop for speeding vista up, but can't find it. This might help a little though.

http://tweakhound.com/vista/tweakguide/index.htm

May or may not help. That 2 GB of RAM sure will though.

[martianvirus]

Don't go back to xp, vista is so much better. I wouldn't go back even if you paid me 10000 dollars to do it.

[MAV]

then make it work!!!!!!

:arrrh::arrrh::arrrh::arrrh::arrrh::arrrh::arrrh:

[martianvirus]

It works for me on every program, maybe your problem was getting a Dell. It could be the hardware.

[blazin]

As far as downgrading without having to pay for XP:

So, what downgrades does Microsoft allow? Owners of the OEM editions of Vista Business and Vista Ultimate can downgrade to Windows XP Professional, including Tablet PC Edition and x64 Edition. Only the OEM editions qualify for a downgrade, so if you purchased a new PC with either Business or Ultimate preinstalled, you're in like Flynn.

Those who aren't: All users of Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium, and anyone who upgraded to Vista using a retail edition of any of the operating system's SKUs. You are, as they say, SOL.



http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9040318


Also, Dell has all the drivers you need for XP on their site under your model.

[sil3nt8o8]

forget vista and xp.

use ubuntu.

it's FREE. just download it, burn to a disc and boot off it to install.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

[martianvirus]

forget vista and xp.

use ubuntu.

it's FREE. just download it, burn to a disc and boot off it to install.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

Good luck with that. I happen to know MAV uses Adobe Audition and Flash, neither will run on that shit.

Im also sure that Paltalk don't work on it either.

[MAV]

forget vista and xp.

use ubuntu.

it's FREE. just download it, burn to a disc and boot off it to install.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

well, i paid to have windows on my laptop, not going to replace it with a free program.

as martian said, i use adobe programs alot, if i cant run em, im not even gonna bother checking it out.

[your dads a pedo]

Don't go back to xp, vista is so much better. I wouldn't go back even if you paid me 10000 dollars to do it.

Sure you wouldnt.

[blazin]

Ubuntu is cool and all, but its definately not a primary operating system. It lacks the programs us Windows users have grown to love.

Unless you run them through Wine, blah.

Desktop 3D effects are cool though, thats about it.

[martianvirus]

Ubuntu is cool and all, but its definately not a primary operating system. It lacks the programs us Windows users have grown to love.

Unless you run them through Wine, blah.

Desktop 3D effects are cool though, thats about it.

Stardock has 3D effect sorry Windows. The newest version supports vista, but its still buggy with my cruddy old graphics card. The final version should be out soon. Its called something FX. I'll look it up from my PC when I get to the office.

[LilJimmyRbinson]

Any idea on when a service pack will be out for Vista? I want to hold off on a new laptop until then, but my desktop is from 2002 and needs to be replaced. I was gonna use my tax refund on a laptop, but I may get it with XP.

[Razor Roman]

Go to the control panel, system, advanced system settings, performance. Select "best performance". It will turn off all the visual effects.

no matter how fast your computer is you should do that. I'm sorry anyone who uses the computer before that setting and then after that setting (even running XP) and prefers the "look" before to the speed after is queer.