New laptop has Vista. I want to format and install WinXP. Should I anticipate any issues like missing drivers for the cd/dvd drive or any other oddities?

Anything you can think of that I need to bear in mind before I take the plunge?

Thanks.

As XP is mature you should be fine.
My Dell XPS came with Vista, so I nuked it and installed XP Pro with no problems.

Obviously once you have XP installed make sure it is fully patched and the drivers are updated.

Side note: I am currently double-booting Ubuntu and XP. I have attained a new level of geekness. :)

Keep going NK.
My desktop has XP Pro, Vista Business and Fedora Core ;)

Stumped already. I inserted the xp disk and have 3 options.

1. install xp
2. perform other tasks
3. check compatibility

#1 is grayed out so I can't click it. #3 just points to windowsmarketplace.com, which is no help.

Can you point me to the idiots guide to installing windows xp? It's been ages since I've used anything other than a manuf. Restore disk...

Geez... I see I'm not alone, and the solution does not seem simple:Vista uninstallation - CNET Windows Vista Forums (http://forums.cnet.com/5208-12546_102-0.html?forumID=133&threadID=221659&messageID=2338569)

Ben, is there an easy way to do this?

... the more I read the more I see that I may not be geeky enough to do it :(

Keep going NK.
My desktop has XP Pro, Vista Business and Fedora Core ;)


Doesn't it fill up your hard drive? I have not had much problem with Vista, only that some devices and software will not work. Not much but a couple of things. So for this I had to get out the old desktop, (what a drag.)


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Matt,
My Ubuntu OS take much less room than I anticipated, in fact I need to free up it's partition I allocated and give it back to Windows. I have a second hard drive (120GB) so space isn't an issue. I can see where having XP and Vista would be an issue though.

Matt,
My Ubuntu OS take much less room than I anticipated, in fact I need to free up it's partition I allocated and give it back to Windows. I have a second hard drive (120GB) so space isn't an issue. I can see where having XP and Vista would be an issue though.

Yes Vista is a real hog, on all the system resources. What's the Ubuntu used for?

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Rick, it's really simple.
You need to boot on to your XP CD and go from there.
Make sure you delete the current partitions and format.

Once I get my Vista desktop completely setup, I plan on using Virtual PC to install XP if I need backwards compatibility. So far I've been pretty happy with Vista. I've had some minor problems with freezing if I try to do too many things at once, but that's mostly impatience.

Matt, I don't want to hijack Rick's thread with a different discussion (my bad). I have a Ubuntu thread here (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/other-operating-systems/anyone-have-any-experience-installing-ubuntu-windows-machine-84962.html). Suffice it to say that I want to expand my knowledge and maybe go uniquely with Linux on a machine in the future (it would be the kid's computer).

Glad you guys are "trying" Vista.I'd read so much negative press about it,I thought it can't be that bad can it?
As I've posted elsewhere,I have the business edition.All I needed to find was a sound driver,disable the useless,system hoging Sidebar,and disable Windows Firewall,for a good third-party one.Install a few other things,and so far all's well.
(cough cough) Still using XP Pro on my laptop (er,Sally's),Linux Mandrake,on my old "reserve" desktop,and have had a web site read of Ubuntu.Now if only I could afford an iMac... :D

I've decided to stick with it since I will eventually have to use it anyway since I'm not as geeky as I'd like to be.

I'm happy to change the name of this thread to chat about Vista if you like :)

Off to do the noob thing...

I've decided to stick with it since I will eventually have to use it anyway since I'm not as geeky as I'd like to be.

I'm happy to change the name of this thread to chat about Vista if you like :)

Off to do the noob thing...

Welcome to the scene!

::: ducking ::: :D

Just on the off chance.Any thoughts on using a third-party firewall,as opposed to the Windows Firewall one? The main reason I suppose is correct configeration,without having to read through a "degree style" manual-download. :(
I'm currently using PC Tools Firewall Pro.

Nez,
How about going the hardware firewall route? Get a gateway/router with good firewall features. Unless your main goal is to monitor individual applications accessing the internet then the software ones do that job better I believe.

Need,I tried to rate your answer,but no can do.Must be a software glitch :D

I will probably do what you suggest,when funds allow.Then I can go back to Windows Firewall,and configure it the best I can.