Help!

[RobertHDD]

I want to migrate from 7 to XP but when i load from disk it just goes back to Windows 7 loading screen

[Xlphos]

Hello,

If your struggling to install XP as in it isn't trying to boot from CD you will have to select the CD/DVD drive as the boot device or set the CD/DVD drive before the HDD in the boot order within the BIOS.

[RobertHDD]

when running it from usb this error occurred.
A read write error occurred press Cntrl-Alt-Delete
on running it within 7 the installation button is greyed out so i cant click it

[Xlphos]

Hello,

Maybe something is wrong with the USB drive or HDD, I've only installed a fresh install of XP from the CD perhaps try using the CD instead.

Is there a reason your going back to XP?

[RobertHDD]

Yeah there is a reason im going back and its because i dont like the new operating systems
I managed to get to installation screen went black then said remove all media and try again. Weird Ive got it on USB and everything is removed

[rch1231]

Hello,

If I remember correctly XP was one of the OS's that Microsoft hard coded to install from Floppy or CD/DVD only but there are ways around it. I ran into issues when trying to add a XP installation to the PXE Boot server I setup for OS installations when working for a Managed Hosting Provider. You will loose all of the data on the primary drive when you go back to XP from 7. What I have found is that you need to backup all of your data, delete that current partitions on the HD and recreate a single NTFS partition for XP to use as C: then try installing again. Here is a link I used to go over figure out how to get some of it working and has a good discussion.

http://www.poweriso.com/tutorials/how-to-make-winxp-bootable-usb-drive.htm

[Reverend Jim]

It is not necessary to delete all of the partitions on the drive. I always recommend two partitions, C for the OS and apps, and D for user files (I make them both Primary). If you already have this setup then you need to reformat only the C partition - after backing up any files from C that you might want to save.

[rch1231]

Jim is almost correct but he is not taking into acount that Windows 7 creates a boot partition that is 100MB and is at the beginning of the drive. If you don't delete it then you would get symptoms close to what you are seeing as the system initally boots windows 7 from the 100 MB partition then attempts to move to the c: drive to continue the boot.

However he is correct that you don't have to delete all partitions and you can create separate OS and data partitions and it is a good idea.

[RobertHDD]

Bit risky though if i delete partitions then i wont be able to boot from anything if installation fails which in case cause bad BSODs Thats why I got a USB in handy

[Reverend Jim]

Windows 7 creates a boot partition that is 100MB and is at the beginning of the drive.

Not on the four machines that I've installed it on. My current laptop came from Dell with three partitions. I resized C and made D. The first partition is Dell Diagnostics. The second is the Recovery partition.

The machines I set up from scratch (from Windows 7 install CD/USB) have only C and D. Since I built recovery disks from the Recovery partition I could always delete the first two partitions but I don't need the space so I'm leaving them as they are (at least until the warranty runs out).

[rch1231]

Yea Dell does that and includes the recovery disk ISO in the partition so they don't have to provide DVD's. HP does almost the same thing. However if you install Ultimate or Professional from the DVD or via RIS you get something like this:

If you notice on both your snapshot and mine the active partition is not C: but the Recovery Partition on yours and the System reserved on mine. The system boots from the active partition and then in Windows 7 they switch you over to the c: drive afterward.

But the issue Robert discusses is that he wants to go back to Windows XP from Windows 7 and it is not supported by Microsoft. They require that to upgrade from XP to 7 you have to install Vista first then upgrade Vista to 7. I know this because I have two clients that wanted to go to 7 from XP without backing up or using the Files And Settings Transfer Wizard (A doctor and a Lawyer). If Robert does not address the current active partition and either remove the Boot or recovery partition or make it no longer the active partition the system will attempt to boot from it.

I guess what we really need to know Robert is did this computer have XP on it originally? If so what did you do to get to 7? Microsoft allows you to upgrade one version at a time and provided you keep the files for downgrading you can go back to where you were (about 60% of the time). But once you upgrade a second time the chances of you going back two Versions is slim to none.

Another thing to consider is that Windows 7 does have an option for running specific applications in Windows XP compatibility mode but is controlled on a program by program basis.

[RobertHDD]

I did not try that and no it didnt have XP installed originally where i got my copy of 7 was from microsoft its ok though i tried everything so I just stick with 7 i did manage to go back to vista on my laptop and 7 on my desktop