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what should i know before i downgrade my computer from vista to xp?

2K views 23 replies 11 participants last post by  Triple6 
#1 ·
like many people, i am unsatisfied with window vista.
i would like to down grade the operating system from a window vista home edition to a window xp
the main reason for this change is that my computer uses 34% of physical memory even if my computer is left idle
i did the same thing to my cousin's computer, one with window xp installed, and it uses a reasonable 2%
im planning on borrowing the window xp disk from a family member. he bought it as a stand alone disk
before i actually install the program i want to make sure i have everything prepared. i know that i need to install a number of drivers, but am not sure which kind i need
yes i am a beginner so please make all comments as easy to understand as possible
 
#3 ·
We would all hope that we used as much RAM as possible. That is why it is there and the more RAM in use, the better.

Downgrading from Vista to an OS that is almost 10-years-old could have some hurdles. There will be no native support for SATA drives, and there may not be any drivers for your hardware. You will need to find all those before even considering it.

Vista is an excellent OS and I certainly wouldn't go back to XP, if I were you. Almost anything you don't like about Vista can be changed, and it can be made to look and act almost exactly like XP. I'm running Vista on a machine with only 740 MB's of RAM and it runs fine.
 
#4 ·
Not sure why so many people think that high memory usage is such a bad thing. Vista goes by the principle that unused memory is wasted memory so why have it sitting empty when its quite a bit faster then your hard drive and instead uses it as a cache. If you look at RAM "cleaners" and "optimizers", those programs that claimed to free up your memory so you have more free memory, they were useless and counterproductive because they do what is actually the opposite of what is correct - they unload data from your fast RAM to your slow hard drive, guess what, it actually lowers performance even though you have more 'free' RAM and they finally pretty much disappear once people realized that. Hate to break it those people who think Windows 7 will change that; it works the same way so do other newer operating systems. Windows XP memory management was/is different and yes it will use less RAM and for certain things it will be faster, that alone does not make it a better O/S.

Some reading for you: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000688.html

Also you are not allow to 'borrow', aka 'pirate', software to load onto another PC if you do not own it.
 
#5 ·
Yeah, I third the memory thing, you want it occupied to a well-managed degree so that things you might need are ready to go at and instant. If its empty, the call goes out and memory says, ummm, I don't have that....hey, hard drive, you got that? The hard drive looks around and says, ummm, yeah I guess so, and sends the horse and buggy on over to memory with the package so it can start feeding it back to the processor.

Not using your memory for what its supposed to be used for is the same syndrome as the old version of the plastic-covered furniture, only for special occasions, otherwise off-limits living room of the mid-twentieth century.

That having been said, post the make and model and I'll see what I can find for drivers, or at least possible good leads. I love to nLite the SATA driver into the install disc and then I open the tray and there place the modified install disc of the computer running Vista and I shut down. Then like sending someone out snipe hunting at night, I tell the computer that if it doesn't want to get a new, better functioning OS, DO NOT close the tray when I push the power button.

And you know what? The computer is so happy, it practically slams that tray shut every time!
 
#7 ·
Keep the vista
Dont worry about ram usage.....well unless ofcoarse you need more.then worry.
Give vista a chance i switched back and forth a couple times...then ran multi boot.
I dumped it all and am using vista..
Remember when you first used an unfamiliar os,you had a little trouble finding things....you battled forward.

It truly is a nice os if you stick to it
 
#12 ·
If there are things about Vista you don't like, we can help you change them. Even UAC can be turned off. We may not think it's a good idea, but it's your machine, so if you want some help, just let us know.
 
#13 ·
Its hard for me to give up my instant search...it has me spoiled
that is the main bonus for me that xp dont have....sure you can get google desktop or windows desktop search for xp....but it just isnt the same.
for instance right now i am going to listen to a little alice cooper
I hit start... start typing in alice....i get ali typed and there it is.
this is just awesome if you have a alot of files.

I turn off my UAC when setting up an fresh installl and getting everything how I want it then turn it back on...after that it isnt to annoying..

It truly is a nice OS if you take the time to adjust to it.
and for what its worth..it has 7 beat on looks
 
#14 ·
Go to http://www.sagernotebook.com/information.php?information_id=2 and click on driver download, agree to the license agreement and then see if your model is listed on the subsequent page. If so link to the drivers of your model and see if the XP equivalents are there, either seperate or included with Vista in the same download package. I checked out a couple and it looked like both Vista and XP were represented.
 
#15 ·
The biggest problem I had when downgrading was that some of the hardware did not work because there were no XP drivers. HP now has XP drivers out there for most of their things (I have an HP computer)
My biggest suggestion is to download a program called Unknown Device Identifier. It was a great help in figuring out which devices were not working. Device manager will give you only a list of question marks with hardware locations. The other thing is to go to the system bios and turn off the native SATA enabled - something like that. I actually don't think I ever re-enabled it and I am back to Vista. Hope some of this helps.
 
#16 ·
Hello, I didn't get on here to make Windows Vista look and act more like Windows XP, but I have tried and tried, and I just don't like WV. I bought a Dell with WV 32-bit (which should have been 64-bit but I didn't know this), and I've tried to get used to WV. I would also liked to know how I can make my WV look/feel more like Windows XP, and to be honest, I have had a lot of problems with WV than I ever did with Windows XP. I don't know if that's a coincidence, but for starters, we had to buy extra RAM, it didn't' even come with a spellchecker, and I had to buy Norton 360, which a cousin of mine said all of these things were already loaded on her new Hewlett Packard computer, as her Dell computer was always having problems too.
How hard will it be to make my computer more like Windows XP. I don't have a lot of time, but it would be nice to make it look more like XP. I think I also bought a lemon of a computer, as there is always something going wrong, too long of a story to tell here.
Thank you,
Corinne
 
#18 ·
ya just make vista look and act more like xp. i love vista, i had it running on an 850mhz P3 w/ 512 mb of ram and it ran great! the only reason i took it off, was because there are windows vista drivers for the video card on than that laptop.
 
#19 ·
Problem with making vista act like XP is you lose all the (few) things that make vista worth using. You have to go to the control panel and change everything to classic view. If your programs will load, go to the program icon, right click, go to the compatibility tab and click on the "run this program in compatibility mode for" Window XP. You may also want to check the run as administrator box. I find a lot of the programs run better that way. My issue was that I have a lot of programs that won't load on Vista. Most I was able to replace inexpensively, but not all. Don't know how much help this is.
 
#20 ·
The problem is I don't know how to make WV look like XP. Does anyone have sort of a list of what I can do to make these changes. Also, I just posted a question on here about having a font problem, and when I posted my question, the font looked dark; now, as I'm typing this, the font now looks "thin" and lighter colored; this is what I cannot fix. Why was my font darker in my post, but in replying to this post, my font looks thinner. Thanks again as I know all of you donate your time and KNOWLEDGE, which is priceless. Corinne
 
#21 ·
to have a nice vista machine
Dump nortons..it comes preloaded on many machines..its like trying to run while pulling a VW car...just isnt to easy.
Disable the side bar

Leave the pc run rather than shut it off...put it to sleep or hibernate instead of shutting down.

after coming out of hibernation..let the pc sit a while..about 3 minutes while it is busy grinding the hard drive.

Turn off automatic updates and go check them manually every few days...or daily for that matter.

leave the services alone.......it just dont work on vista...you wont gain anything...its to complex and you will slow it down.

I have tried every service combination there is. I see no gains.
Also.
I dont even bother with trimming down my startups anymore.

I have worked on some machines with 512 and vista and trimming start up and shutting down services helped.....this is only because it is keeping them from paging all the time.

2 gigs of ram and vista...runs nicely even for a fairly hard user.
No attempted tweaking needed IMO..

Its just a matter of getting used to vista....and before you know it you will flying all around the OS just as one did with XP after some experiance
 
#22 ·
If my only option were be the XP-look-ish (emphasis on ISH!) tools available in Vista, I don't know what I would be using but it wouldn't be Vista, and if XP wasn't so infinitely and easily customizable, it wouldn't be XP either.

I've found that most who like Vista found one or two features that XP doesn't have native and they virtually ignore the plethora of inadequacies or just don't encounter them due to specific use habits. When the next generation OS comes along it should include the best of past OSes and include new features previously missing. Microsoft hit some and missed many on both sides of that, and what's worse, many old protocols do not work as well in Vista as they do in XP, and at the same time Vista was both "dumbed" down and it is more difficult to use in many respects; a seemingly difficult task to accomplish.

I think the one shining aspect of Vista is that it is indeed significantly more infection-resistant than XP and that's very good, but it must also be noted that increased security means increased difficulty of use; that's security's job, to prevent unauthorized use.

For your font question, the web site's formatting takes your settings and processes them to its settings. If I had a Vista system still running, I'd work with you right away on how to change them to be more alike. It might depend on what view size you have for the text set to in your browser as far as how dark and wider the font looks as well.
 

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#23 ·
I did downgrade my laptop from Vista to XP. Fortunately I was able to get the drivers from a laptop forum. However it was a pain in the keaster. The performance is so so and Microsoft isn't putting out anymore updates for XP I believe. Svc Pack 3 was suppose to be their final todo with XP and I have had more problems with SP3 than with SP2. With Windows 7 about to be released, why not wait and just upgrade to that? Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I have heard Windows 7 is suppose to be a huge improvement over Vista.

So this is my 2 cents worth. Not even sure if it worth the 2 cents but I figured I'd put it out there anyways. :p
 
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