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Any reason not to replace Vista on laptop?

Springheel

By Springheel
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Springheel

Springheel

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I just bought a new laptop that came with Vista pre-installed. I hate Vista, but I thought I'd at least give it a shot. After a week or two, I'm totally fed up with it...I can't stand the constant permission popups and hate the new interface. The last straw was when I spent half an hour trying to figure out how to get Vista to recognize a usb external drive--something that is instantaneous in XP, but is a complicated procedure in Vista that I still wasn't able to get working after reading half a dozen webpages on the subject.

 

I'm now ready to replace it with XP, but someone told me that Vista comes with drivers that the laptop hardware might need, and XP doesn't. That sounds kind of improbable to me, but I know nothing about laptops. Is there any reason anyone can think of why I would not want to format the laptop HD and load XP from scratch?

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LeatherMan

LeatherMan

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Is Vista updated to SP2? As much as I dislike Vista myself, I would recommend keeping it and setting up a dual-boot with XP or even Win7 Beta (google for instructions). Just defragment the drive and resize the Vista partition to maybe 20GB, then use the rest for XP or Win7.

 

As for drivers, it is possible that you may need to hunt down the drivers for XP (or even Win7). Many laptops do have specialized hardware that require specific drivers, and it isn't always easy finding those drivers.

 

Also, concerning warranty issues you may have, the manufacturer may require the default OS installed.

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Tushaar

Tushaar

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I thought, that i will replace the laptop (which i got) with Xp as soon as i get it. But then i realized that there is no point in messing with new drivers and stuff. And besides, you can turn off the pop-up stuff with user control or something (im drunk :P) I left vista on my laptop, don't have enough time to mess with xp :P I say keep it, but it's your choice =))

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Springheel

Springheel

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Is Vista updated to SP2? As much as I dislike Vista myself, I would recommend keeping it and setting up a dual-boot with XP or even Win7 Beta (google for instructions). Just defragment the drive and resize the Vista partition to maybe 20GB, then use the rest for XP or Win7.

 

What are the benefits of a dual-boot like that? I'm somewhat sketchy on what a dual-boot actually is, but if you literally choose on boot-up which system to load, what's the advantage of keeping Vista (since I can't imagine every using it)? Wouldn't I need to download drivers to work under XP regardless?

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HappyCheeze

HappyCheeze

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Its best to install winxp first, than vista or win 7. If you do in the reverse order, xp won't recognize vista/7 and when you reboot, it will only go into xp. You'll either have to manually change the bootloader, or you'll need to reinstall the vista's/7's boot loader,

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LeatherMan

LeatherMan

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What are the benefits of a dual-boot like that? I'm somewhat sketchy on what a dual-boot actually is, but if you literally choose on boot-up which system to load, what's the advantage of keeping Vista (since I can't imagine every using it)? Wouldn't I need to download drivers to work under XP regardless?

Dual-booting allows you to use older software/hardware that isn't optimized or have drivers for Vista, otherwise there really isn't much benefit other than OS familiarity.

 

I know a lot of people still love XP, but really, XP was originally released in 2001 and it simply can't make full use of your modern hardware. If your Vista is 64-bit then this is doubly so. Also, if your laptop was never sold with XP then it is possible there are no XP drivers for it, period.

 

I recommend just sticking with Vista. Win7 should be released later this year, so if you must use Windows then go with that later (almost everyone who has tried Win7 likes it more than Vista).

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jay pettitt

jay pettitt

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No, there aren't many reasons not to ditch Vista. You're not obliged to keep it and it is highly unlikely your laptop has Vista specific hardware - at least, I have never heard of such a thing.

 

Be wary of older XP install disks - they don't like SATA hard drives and may refuse to install, but otherwise you're good to go. Both Vista and XP have a phyiscal memory limit of 4gig in their 32bit editions which might be an issue. If you're not beyond that, then given the day in day out grief of vista, I'd sling it as quickly as possible and good riddance. You'll miss out on the non-event that is DirectX 10 also, but on balance, when faced with an unbearable OS, a few extra shiny bits in Crysis probably isn't that important. I suspect that's doubly so as laptops tend not to be the ultimate in gaming platforms in the first place.

 

Microsoft are commited to supporting XP until 2014 at the earliest and it still runs on about 65% - 70% of desktops. I don't think you'll see it abandoned any time soon.

 

(and of course there is Windows 7 around the corner which many people are making positive noises about. Though it does look rather a lot like Vista to me. I think there's plenty to recommend sticking XP on your machine and waiting to see how 7 turns out)

Edited by jay pettitt
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New Horizon

New Horizon

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Vista is known to run horribly on laptops...or just about anything really. It's a bloated hog. Get rid of it. If you can, install Windows Server 2003 sp2 and then run the server 2003 to xp conversion pack. http://www.jcxp.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9290

 

That way you keep the stability and speed of 2k3, but the OS is then identified as XP...meaning no programs will refuse to run on it. ;)

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HappyCheeze

HappyCheeze

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Also a thing to note:

 

When you install Windows 7, if you have vista pre-installed, it will be a seamless transition. I had vista on my laptop, installed the windows 7 beta and I had all my original settings, wallpapers, account name/password. It was like nothing really changed, except it ran better :)./

 

 

Also, about sata drives, if you have a Windows XP SP2 (service pack 2), it will detect sata drives.

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Springheel

Springheel

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When you install Windows 7, if you have vista pre-installed, it will be a seamless transition. I had vista on my laptop, installed the windows 7 beta and I had all my original settings, wallpapers, account name/password. It was like nothing really changed, except it ran better smile.gif./

 

Really? That sounds rather enticing. From what I've been able to see, here and elsewhere, I'd have to locate a lot of drivers in advance and format my drive to switch back to XP, and the less I have to fuss with this, the better.

 

Can anyone else vouch for the 7 beta?

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jay pettitt

jay pettitt

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Really? That sounds rather enticing. From what I've been able to see, here and elsewhere, I'd have to locate a lot of drivers in advance and format my drive to switch back to XP, and the less I have to fuss with this, the better.

 

Can anyone else vouch for the 7 beta?

 

Don't quote me, but I think the Betas stop working (to some greater or lesser extent) once 7 hits the shops in October.

 

Though frankly Vista users deserve 7 as compensation or at the very least at a greatly reduced upgrade price. Poor bastards.

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HappyCheeze

HappyCheeze

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Can anyone else vouch for the 7 beta?

 

I believe aluminum haste is. Hes the one that told me about it.

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Tels

Tels

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I believe aluminum haste is. Hes the one that told me about it.

 

It is a beta. Only fools trust their data to the beta version of an operating system, esp. when it is one from MS...

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." -- George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

 

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New Horizon

New Horizon

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It is a beta. Only fools trust their data to the beta version of an operating system, esp. when it is one from MS...

 

Normally, I would agree, but this has surprisingly been the most release ready beta MS has put out in a long time. I know people who have been using it for ages with absolutely no issues. It's as stable as it's going to get.

 

@Spring: What type of laptop do you have? The laptop manufacturer should have all the drivers for XP on there.

 

I would be hesitant to upgrade vista to Win 7 since Vista is such a hard drive hog. Would all those extra files be removed upon the upgrade?

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Springheel

Springheel

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@Spring: What type of laptop do you have? The laptop manufacturer should have all the drivers for XP on there.

 

It's an HP laptop...apparently they do have XP drivers available, but I haven't had time to look for them yet. The next two weeks are going to keep me pretty busy with marking exams and doing report cards, so I won't likely go ahead until after that.

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Dram

Dram

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You may want to search for a guide online to replace Vista with XP on your specific laptop. I know my laptop - a Gateway one, came preinstalled with Vista (which I hate with a cause...ironic that I must now use it at the company...gyah..), so my brother suggested a guide to installing XP on it instead, a step-by-step guide with links to working drivers. I did so, and although it took a while to do, it was definitely worth it.

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Ishtvan

Ishtvan

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On a related note, does anyone know exactly how big the dvd image is for Windows 7 RC? I need to download it and burn it for the new system, but don't think I have the HD space on my old system. I wonder if I could download it to and burn it from a flash drive, but that sounds really slow.

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AluminumHaste

AluminumHaste

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I've done the Tri-Boot XP/Vista/Win7 thing for 3 laptops now, and haven't had any issues. The install order is important though. Oldest OS first, is pretty much the gist of it.

 

Also, EasyBCD is your friend :)

And Vista sucks ass, even if everything is shut off, it's still slower than XP in almost every way. Now Win7 on the other hand, is a great candidate for XP replacement.

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I had to slipstream my raid controller drivers onto my XP disc as XP wouldn't recognize my raid.

I always assumed I'd taste like boot leather.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Springheel

Springheel

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Ok, I've decided to wipe Vista off my laptop and install XP. I've contacted the HP people and got ahold of all the XP drivers that I'll need (hopefully).

 

The only last question I have is about installing XP onto an SATA drive. When I installed it on my desktop, I just had to make sure my bios setting had my onboard SATA chip (or something close to that) set to "native mode".

 

My laptop doesn't seem to have anything like that in the bios settings. Does that suggest I'll need to get sata drivers on a floppy?

 

Also, what is the best way to go about the actual process? What's the best way to get rid of Vista? Should I just format the drive entirely?

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Video Series:   Springheel's Modules  *  Speedbuild Challenge  *  New Mappers Workshop  *  Building Traps

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