I bought a HP Laptop a while back and have been trying to like Vista. My main problem is having so much of the software I use regualrly NOT work with Vista, or only work after I have found a registry hack to make them work. It is to the point where the frustration is outweighing the benefits.

I was doing some reading online and it does not seem as simple as throwing in my XP install disk and doing a clean install.

Any advice from the vetrans out there?

I've already created my system restore discs (just in case I reall f-things up), downloaded all the drivers I could find on the HP website, and backed up all of my data... so that is all good to go.

 

I'd have thought it would be that simple. Just format drive C, then it's a blank slate no different than any other computer that runs XP. Why do those sites say it's more difficult?

 

Most HP laptops that ship with vista can NOT be downgraded thanks to a custom BIOS that will only allow vista. formatting the hard drive will not help, you will still only be able to install vista on it.

I have a HP Pavilion dv9500t and that's the case with mine. It is impossible to install XP on it, and the second hard drive can't boot an OS either.

 

You may also find hardware lacking drivers for XP. If they are only shipping it with Vista, they really won't support older OS drivers.

What software are you having problems running with Vista? Of the 78 pieces of software my company had, all but 2 were able to be run without problems using some combination of admin rights or compatibility mode. Realistically, if any of these software products have been following Microsoft best practices since windows 2000, the software will work. I find most problems are when programs are simply programmed poorly and writing to areas of the Hard drive they have no business accessing simply because the developers were lazy and still programming like windows 98.

Your other option if you are willing to upgrade is to run Virtual PC. Works great.

 

QFT! Try running compatibility mode and/or playing with the admin rights. I am really let down that it seems that so many people give up on Vista so quickly. So far it has been such a great OS as far as I'm concerned. People are so quick to blame MS for poorly coded 3rd party software.

Do you know if you can run Linux? I now fear that I may have to scratch HP off my list of possible laptops if I can not install another OS.

 

that is so obvious bullshit.

as a matter of fact, if you go to a store and buy a laptop (any) you can petition Micro$oft to return your $120 (the cost of Vista) if your return the disks and documentation for Vista or even XP.

Vista is still better than XP , although the user interface is bull.

Just turn of the Aero Glass interface and modify the UAC settings and you will be as close to XP with the look and feel as you'll want to be

 

Not true.

http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/productrefund/refund.mspx

You cannot get a refund from Microsoft if your software is pre-loaded by the manufacturer.

 

Once you turn off all the extraneous crap Vista really isn't that much of an upgrade over XP though. And so far I've found it less stable and with a serious hate for most of my older (ie early 2000 era) games. Once SP1 comes out I'll be happier, but at this point I find XP a superior OS. Given time Vista has potential, it just doesn't live up to it yet as far as I'm concerned.

 

I actually heard that SP1 should be coming out soon for Vista.



Still won't get me to buy it though.

 

I spoke to HP customer support, and although they did not recommend installing a different O/S... they did say it could be done if you disable the SATA setting in the BIOS.

For me with Vista, it is not a full on hate... more of just a frustration. I had to hack the registry to get Microsoft Office to stop popping up the license agreement everytime I started up word/excell/outlook (even after accepting it... every time). My version of pcAnywhere is incompatible, making it hard to connect to the office computer from home (major issue for me). My version of Nero is unsupported by Vista (not a big deal, but I like nero). My Practice Management Software is buggy at the best of times, but is really cranky on Vista (BIG issue). Finally getting my version of Quicken to work was an exercise in frustration (finally did figure out the compatability mode on that one).

 

I'll have to disagree with that. I'm a computer tech for a school system and we use HP computers almost exclusively. I've not had an issue with downgrading to WinXP on any of the laptops we've bought since the switchover so far. As a matter of fact the only issues i've had are with finding Broadcom 57xx nic drivers for Linux so I can image the machines. Given i'm imaging these laptops over the network, XP is still being installed.

After a quick search looks like the sata setting is what's causing your problem, but there are ways around that issue so to say it's impossible is a bit of a stretch.

 

Does anyone here have a problem with their HP lap top just seemingly extremely slow on vista? My friend has one and it just takes forever to load up or do anything and he really doesn't have anything on his hard drive yet the restore hard drive is almost full yet there are no restore points. Is there any way to delete the stuff of the recovery hard drive or clean it up to let it run faster?

 

Any tips or links for cleaning up/turning off un-needed Vista features?

 

Vista burns my ass...... Slow file transfer speeds are making me loose my hair.
Sure hope SP1 fixes that.

 

Im not familiar w downgrading vista, but Im a friggin pro at formatting hard drives and installing Xp.

These guys that say its impossible to install XP on a vista preloaded comp has GOT to be pure bs.

Disable your SATA in BIOS? You don't want to do that, if you have a SATA HD.

You have to find a way to "boot from CD" or make your CD/DVD drive first on the list of the "boot order" to get the XP setup disc to run.

If your absolutely positive you have all the drivers for your Hardware, I would say its a no brainer.

You Internet card should be high priority, just in case XP doesnt recognize the particular Internet Hardware you have on the motherboard.

Partition your HD, and DUAL BOOT your HD with XP if you dont want to format C: altogether. And then, see if you can install XP, and your drivers before you format entirely.

 

I'm glad I don't plan on buying a new computer for at least another two years. Vista's like a Seaking helicopter. It's seeking the ground.

 

Speed is another issue I noticed. Over all this laptop seems slower to load just about anything (comparing to my Dell which is few years old). When I went into safe mode though it was lightning quick. Me thinks my Vista is a tad bloated.

 

I'd love to buy a new computer for additional ram/internal hard drive space. But I have Premeire Pro on my current tower. THere's no downloads to make it compatible for VIsta...so I don't know if I can run it on a Vista computer. And I really don't want to spend the money to buy version 3.

Sooooo I'm sticking with my 5 year old computer for a while longer.

 

Do people honestly Dual boot anything anymore?

Most of the professionals have moved onto virtualization technology which honestly blows dual-booting to garbage.

 

VM's are nice but suck for gaming.