Xp over Vista

I ahve Vista Home Premium on my Dell 530. I am disenchanted with Vista.
(DUUHHH) My wife has XP Pro on her Dell laptop. I got a Windows XP Pro cd
from Dell and am thinking of reformatting my Vista drive with XP. The cd I
got from Dell says not to use on a new computer. Do they (Dell) really know
more than you folks? Can I really use this cd to reformat my PC and get rid
of Vista? I would, of course, have to reinstall all my drivers. Would that
be a problem seeing that they have been working on a Vista machine?
As always, any help and information is greatly appreciated.

The XP Pro CD you have from Dell, is it the same one that is installed on
your wife's computer. If so and you attempt to install it on your Dell you
will violate the EULA for the product.

Sure the CD said "not to use on" and that it did not say "for use on a new
computer"? If it said the later it is an OEM version and can only be
installed and used on the first computer it is ever installed on according
to the EULA.

Make sure that Dell has all the drivers for XP as they are in all
probability different than the drivers for Vista.

If this is a retail purchased XP Pro and it's activation key has not been
used on any other computer actively being used and you can fill all the
proper drivers for XP for your system boot with the XP Pro CD, delete any
partitions and install XP Pro using the XP drivers you have already
downloaded and put on a CD. (Make sure you have all the recovery
information, disks, etc to be able to return your system to Vista if you
ever need to.)


"David" <David@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
newsF570452-380D-4699-8806-AD701EF1EAD4@microsoft.com...
>I ahve Vista Home Premium on my Dell 530. I am disenchanted with Vista.
> (DUUHHH) My wife has XP Pro on her Dell laptop. I got a Windows XP Pro
> cd
> from Dell and am thinking of reformatting my Vista drive with XP. The cd
> I
> got from Dell says not to use on a new computer. Do they (Dell) really
> know
> more than you folks? Can I really use this cd to reformat my PC and get
> rid
> of Vista? I would, of course, have to reinstall all my drivers. Would
> that
> be a problem seeing that they have been working on a Vista machine?
> As always, any help and information is greatly appreciated.

you want to go to XP from vista, good for you, now (if you can) purchase a
new copy of XP and be legit, don't try to use a copy from someone else's
computer.
You could invalidate their install.

"David" wrote:

> I ahve Vista Home Premium on my Dell 530. I am disenchanted with Vista.
> (DUUHHH) My wife has XP Pro on her Dell laptop. I got a Windows XP Pro cd
> from Dell and am thinking of reformatting my Vista drive with XP. The cd I
> got from Dell says not to use on a new computer. Do they (Dell) really know
> more than you folks? Can I really use this cd to reformat my PC and get rid
> of Vista? I would, of course, have to reinstall all my drivers. Would that
> be a problem seeing that they have been working on a Vista machine?
> As always, any help and information is greatly appreciated.

Call Dell and ask for downgrade (to XP) setup CD.

"David" <David@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
newsF570452-380D-4699-8806-AD701EF1EAD4@microsoft.com...
>I ahve Vista Home Premium on my Dell 530. I am disenchanted with Vista.
> (DUUHHH) My wife has XP Pro on her Dell laptop. I got a Windows XP Pro
> cd
> from Dell and am thinking of reformatting my Vista drive with XP. The cd
> I
> got from Dell says not to use on a new computer. Do they (Dell) really
> know
> more than you folks? Can I really use this cd to reformat my PC and get
> rid
> of Vista? I would, of course, have to reinstall all my drivers. Would
> that
> be a problem seeing that they have been working on a Vista machine?
> As always, any help and information is greatly appreciated.

"David" <David@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
newsF570452-380D-4699-8806-AD701EF1EAD4@microsoft.com...
>I ahve Vista Home Premium on my Dell 530. I am disenchanted with Vista.
> (DUUHHH) My wife has XP Pro on her Dell laptop. I got a Windows XP Pro
> cd
> from Dell and am thinking of reformatting my Vista drive with XP. The cd
> I
> got from Dell says not to use on a new computer. Do they (Dell) really
> know
> more than you folks?

Dell and MS work together. The license on the Dell install is for a
specific Dell system.

The origin of that XP CD is not clear. Did you get it specifically for
this system? If so, that would be a valid license. If it's from your
wife's system, the license is not valid on your system.


> Can I really use this cd to reformat my PC and get rid
> of Vista?

Regardless of the CD, you will have to wipe the drive to install XP. I
would suggest removing and recreating the partition to be sure you are on
clean ground.

> I would, of course, have to reinstall all my drivers. Would that
> be a problem seeing that they have been working on a Vista machine?


Vista drivers are not XP drivers. You will have to get the XP drivers, the
Vista ones will not install or work.

If Dell does not offer XP drivers, *do not change the OS* as you will only
disable components of your system. Check *first*.

HTH
-pk


> As always, any help and information is greatly appreciated.

"David" <David@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
newsF570452-380D-4699-8806-AD701EF1EAD4@microsoft.com...
>I ahve Vista Home Premium on my Dell 530. I am disenchanted with Vista.
> (DUUHHH) My wife has XP Pro on her Dell laptop. I got a Windows XP Pro
> cd
> from Dell and am thinking of reformatting my Vista drive with XP.

Is this "your wife's CD " ? Or did you order CD specifically for YOUR PC ?
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...=MLB1277&s=biz
Strange cost more $$ to downgrade to xp ?
Genuine Windows Vista ® Business Downgrade, XP Pro Installed, English [add
$60]
Genuine Windows Vista ® Ultimate Downgrade, XP Pro Installed, English [add
$115]

> The cd I got from Dell says not to use on a new computer.
> Do they (Dell) really know more than you folks?
> Can I really use this cd to reformat my PC and get rid
> of Vista? I would, of course, have to reinstall all my drivers. Would
> that
> be a problem seeing that they have been working on a Vista machine?
> As always, any help and information is greatly appreciated.

If you ordered CD- what is part number? As for "not on new PC", might it
contain ONLY program to "restore what's on your current hard drive ?" (
QuickRestore CD ) , in which case " the cd by itself" is not enough to
"get windows working", or might be licensing issue. Without knowing the
p/n - can't tell. Have to call Dell - they don't publish a lot of tech
info . YOU can connect and have it scan PC - then proceed. I've tried to
help out on relatives PC's - no can do without buyer name, s/n etc.
Good luck.

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...temID=LAT_D530

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...chassisid=8268