Windows Vista

[lonewolf23c]

Windows XP can be installed, however trying to get a computer system to do so can be tough. The best way to do so is to format the hard drive, or get a different hard drive, and do a complete install of XP on it. Windows XP runs anywere from $100-300 depending on where you get it and which version you get. Most users can get away with Windows XP Home Edition as that's what I used to use before I started liking Vista. Personally I can't see a huge difference between the 2 useability wise. I think Vista is a bit more stable though.

 

[Greg_TX]

Windows XP can be installed, however trying to get a computer system to do so can be tough. The best way to do so is to format the hard drive, or get a different hard drive, and do a complete install of XP on it.

You can still use the same drive. Formatting alone won't do it, though. The trick is to delete the partition and the master boot record and the drive will forget about any OS that was ever there. Get a FreeDOS boot disk, run fdisk.exe and follow the prompts to delete the NTFS partition where Vista lived, then escape to exit. Reboot the machine and run fdisk again with the /mbr switch (fdisk.exe /mbr) and this will blow away the master boot record. You now have a lobotomized drive, ready for whatever you want to install.

 

[dinkydow]

You can still use the same drive. Formatting alone won't do it, though. The trick is to delete the partition and the master boot record and the drive will forget about any OS that was ever there. Get a FreeDOS boot disk, run fdisk.exe and follow the prompts to delete the NTFS partition where Vista lived, then escape to exit. Reboot the machine and run fdisk again with the /mbr switch (fdisk.exe /mbr) and this will blow away the master boot record. You now have a lobotomized drive, ready for whatever you want to install.

I have never heard of a FreeDOS boot disc. Where?

 

[Greg_TX]

Try here:
Bootdisk.Com
Lots of handy things there

 

[Eli]

Wow, way to dig up an old thread! Darik's Boot And Nuke | Hard Drive Disk Wipe and Data Clearing is the preferred method for completely erasing a hard drive!
FYI: Windows XP will not work on "advanced format" drives that are now standard without doing all sorts of cool tricks! If it came with Vista, XP will probably work. If it came with 7, XP will likely not work due to advanced format drives and mother board compatibility issues.
I personally suggest Ubuntu Linux instead. I use 10.04 LTS, install the package "Ubuntu-Restricted-Extras" to get it fully functional on the 'net.

Eli

 

[zembonez]

I've installed XP on several machines that came with Win7. Never had a problem. Part of the company network requires XP as an OS because of some proprietary software that is not yet compatible with Win7.

Any version of Vista is junk... unless you are a very casual user who just surfs the net and gets email.

I still like XP as an OS, but Win7 is quite good as well.

 

[Eli]

Why are you wiping 7 to install XP? Most 7 machines have enough RAM to run XP in VirtualBox .

Eli

 

[zembonez]

Why are you wiping 7 to install XP? Most 7 machines have enough RAM to run XP in VirtualBox .

Eli

Not good enough.

These are work stations that are up 24/7 and are dedicated to our business software that only supports XP. Most major business software companies ignored Vista (understandably) but are now working on Win7 versions which should be out sometime late 2011. I have the Win7 install discs for these machines if we ever make the swap before they are due for replacement.

More than likely, we will simply do a mass upgrade of workstations if/when we make a move to Win7 compatible software.