Hi, I have just bought a new laptop with Vista Business installed. I want to Downgrade to Windows XP Professional as some of my programs will not run under Vista.

Do I have to buy a Windows XP OEM or can I use the CD I bought with another computer ?

I think I read you can install it with an existing copy of XP Pro but you cannot activate it on the internet but you must do it over the phone.

Do I have to Fdisk and Format the Hard Disk to install XP or is there an option in Vista to downgrade it ?

There is no option to downgrade vista to XP. they are entirely different os's.

and yes, you can activate it over the phone. there are ways to circumvent registration as well, but try to get it activated legally first.

and yes, you will have to format the drive to install XP, there is no downgrade option I am aware of.

I think I know you can install XP Pro but how do you remove the vista first.

Right on vista right click my computer then click manage then click on disks then click on your main hard drive and then shrink the volume. If you will use xp more put vista down to a smaller size no smaller than 15 gb. Now you have two seperate partitons so you can have both xp and vista I would strongly recomend you keep vista it is the way forward and pretty much all apps will work on vista which ones dont?

Then get a copy of xp (by however u want preferably legally) and install it on the other partition.

what they all arent telling you is that its hard to find the right driver you need for xp. the vendoors don't make it ease for you either. when u roll back you will have to substitute drivers to make ur system works. some might work find and other might be a pain. it just might be more of a head ache than you think. i think we all just need to get use to vista, its a much more powerful program.

thats not true you can pretty much find any driver for anything these days and most will be out there and a simple google or forum request will help you find them. And the most important drivers will work ie screen usb wireless. Plus if you do a dual boot u will still have vista so if there is something that doesnt work and u miss you can use it.

Also most vendors are pretty good at backwards compatability eg hp provide drivers for vista xp and windows server 2003 for 85% of thier products and the ones that aren't included can be downloaded from thrid party websites.