Computer gurus please help! vista 2 xp

[911ctS]

First of all, I'm sorry to bother everyone with a technical computer question but I really need advice. I'm not a computer specialist in any way so dont be too hard on me.

I recently went out and bought my first laptop. It is a sony vaio that has a duo core intel 2.0 processor, 3 gigs or RAM, a 256 NViDIA graphics card, and a 250 gig hard drive. My sole purpose of buying this machine was to be able to do my business from various locations. I guess I was in need of a more powerful device than my old dell anyway.

Ok so here is the problem... Windows Vista. At first it seemed like a pretty nice program, despite it asking me three times if I was sure that I wanted to carry out any particular command, but I can live with that. I think the layout is fairly nice as it seems to be more creative and similar to a current mac than the previous windows programs were. So I began to install my engineering programs like Solidworks and AutoCAD and to my astonishment they dont seem to work with Vista at all! After contacting some people and reading a bit online I have come to the conclusion that Vista is not compatable with virtually any of the engineering programs, especially ones that are not current 2008 versions. Going out and buying these 2008 versions would not only run me thousands of dollars, but it would be redundant as the slightly older ones (05, 06, 07) work just as well. I honestly find it hard to believe that Microsoft would make such an O.S. that basically omits older programs from being compatable with it but they seem to have done just that.

So I guess my question is would you suggest backdating to a version of XP? I do own a copy of XP and would really like to install it on this new laptop. Is there any way to retain Vista on a CD in case I want to use it later? Also, how would I go about formatting the hard drive clean and doing a fresh install of XP? I have tried every way that I know and no luck so far.

Thank you for any suggestions you may have.

[island911]

We've switched most of our 64 bit quad processor machines over to Vista (business)....Specifically to enhance SolidWorks performance. No problems. Renderings and such now run about 2x faster.

[Vipergrün]

As I understand it, you are LEGALLY entitled to the OEM installation media when you purchase a computer. At very least, you should have received 'recovery' CD/DVD's to get the system back to the state as it left the factory.

On that note, XP will be very happy with 3GB of memory. If you are afraid of 'losing' Vista, simply purchase a new hard drive, perhaps a 7200 RPM drive, remove the original one, install XP on the new one.

[island911]

Oh. and "remote desktop" works much Better now.

[slodave]

What brand. Dell does not always give out a Windows CD, but will have a partition on the HD that can either create a set of restore disks.

Baring the Vista CD issue, put the XP CD in the drive, boot to the optical drive - on Dell, hit F12 a few times right after you turn (or restart) the computer. You should see a sub menu, asking what drive to boot.

If that works, the XP cd should ask you if you want to format (do a Quick Format).

Hope this helps.

Dave

[Joeaksa]

Worked with my newest Dell (2 weeks old) for under an hour, then formatted the puppy and installed XP on it. Works like a charm and does not ask for approval at all!

[mkaraoglan]

quick question. on a new laptop with vista installed, if you install XP on it do you need all the drivers that the laptop came with? i assume if you install XP it will wipe out all drivers for wifi, graphics etc...?
my ex-wife-to-be ( or is that soon-to-be-ex-wife?)is having issues with vista and wants to install XP..why i care is beyond me...i guess i'm a sucker.
tia.

[slodave]

Originally Posted by mkaraoglan

quick question. on a new laptop with vista installed, if you install XP on it do you need all the drivers that the laptop came with? i assume if you install XP it will wipe out all drivers for wifi, graphics etc...?
my ex-wife-to-be ( or is that soon-to-be-ex-wife?)is having issues with vista and wants to install XP..why i care is beyond me...i guess i'm a sucker.
tia.

More than likely, the XP CD is older than the laptop. I doubt XP will have all of the correct drivers. Thumb drives and blank CDs will help. Go to the laptop makers website and they should have drivers for XP - at least get the network card driver first, once working, you can get the rest of the drivers from the actual laptop.

[mkaraoglan]

thanks dave! i'llmake sure to tell her

[island911]

A couple side notes:

That pesky "allow/ deny" can be turned off. (and should be Imo ...maybe part of your problem)

If you reinstate Vista. make certain that the CD drive is first in line for the Boot order. it's a Vista thing.

[svandamme]

xp won't find the right sata disk driver on new pc's
then you need the good old press F6 for driver disk

better have a usb floppy around if the pc doesn't have a built in floppy
the alternatives are way to complicated (making cd with drivers built in, changing the bios and run the disk in slow compatibility mode,...)

[onewhippedpuppy]

Just a hint, you can still order Dells from the small business site with XP installed. I just ordered laptops for my mother in law and brother in law. You can also choose to leave off all of the free crap software, like Norton. $549 for a 1.4 Ghz core 2 duo laptop, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, etc. Already ordered one for the sister in law and it works well.

[911ctS]

Thanks. You guys have been a lot of help.

Island, you must have 08 versions of solidworks because from what i understand it is the only one that is compatlble with vista. I have the 06 version and vista will not even open any of the files without error messages coming up. Its really strange.

So I took the laptop, which is a Sony Vaio, into a computer service store today and found out that since it is so new of a machine that there is no physical way of formatting and going back to XP. They said that the hard drive and maybe some other components are manufactured only to reccognize Vista. Apparently this is only on current laptops and only some brands at that. I think if there was a way then they would have exploited it since I was going to buy XP from them and pay for their services.

I even tried booting from CD but I cannot even get into the BIOS. Its like nothing I've ever seen. I got the short end of the stick and its getting returned to Circuit City tomorrow.

Doing some further reading into Vista I found these statements:
Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system is a giant step backward for your freedoms.

Usually, new software enables you to do more with your computer. Vista, though, is designed to restrict what you can do.

Vista enforces new forms of “Digital Rights Management (DRM)”. DRM is more accurately called Digital Restrictions Management, because it is a technology that Big Media and computer companies try to impose on us all, in order to have control over how our computers are used.

DRM gives power to Microsoft and Big Media.

* They decide which programs you can and can't use on your computer
* They decide which features of your computer or software you can use at any given moment
* They force you to install new programs even when you don't want to (and, of course, pay for the privilege)
* They restrict your access to certain programs and even to your own data files

DRM is enforced by technological barriers. You try to do something, and your computer tells you that you can't. To make this effective, your computer has to be constantly monitoring what you are doing. This constant monitoring uses computing power and memory, and is a large part of the reason why Microsoft is telling you that you have to buy new and more powerful hardware in order to run Vista. They want you to buy new hardware not because you need it, but because your computer needs it in order to be more effective at restricting what you do.

Microsoft and other computer companies sometimes refer to these restrictions as “Trusted Computing.” Given that they are designed to make it so that your computer stops trusting you and starts trusting Microsoft, these restrictions are more appropriately called “Treacherous Computing”.

Im not one to believe everything I hear or read, but all I know is that this thing has been a royal pain in the ass and a waste of time. Just wanted a portable version of my desktop and the ease of using my already purchased programs on it. The whole Vista thing kinda creeps me out anyway, like my privacy and decision making privledges are in jeopardy.

Im looking into the business Dell versions now since they are one of the only companies left that are still offering XP.

Or the new Macbook Pro's look really cool since you can run both XP and the Lepard O.S. switching back and fourth at will. However, these are also $2K+ which I really cannot afford at this time.

Thanks again.

[Joeaksa]

Clint,

Sorry but you are being given incorrect information.

"there is no physical way of formatting and going back to XP" Simply not true. The people you were working might not know how to do it but I sure did it at home.

Talk with SloDave and see what he can do for you.

Joe

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Clint,

Sorry but you are being given incorrect information.

"there is no physical way of formatting and going back to XP" Simply not true. The people you were working might not know how to do it but I sure did it at home.

Talk with SloDave and see what he can do for you.

Joe

Joe, although I'd be tempted to call BS as well they may be correct.

He was told it was not possible with his particular machine.

Apple employ a chip on their MB's, without it OS X will not (without a hack) install on a an Intel based machine.

They did that to specifically prevent people from buying a copy of OS X and installing it on a Dell, Gateway etc...

So while the guys may not have known their a55es from their elbows it is plausible.

[island911]

Originally Posted by 911ctS

Thanks. You guys have been a lot of help.

Island, you must have 08 versions of solidworks because from what i understand it is the only one that is compatlble with vista. I have the 06 version and vista ...

.....Or the new Macbook Pro's look really cool since you can run both XP and the Lepard O.S. switching back and fourth at will. However, these are also $2K+ which I really cannot afford at this time.

Thanks again.

Yep, sorry about that, I should have read your original post more closely. And yeah, you need SWx 2007 sp 4, or higher for SWx & Vista. --I am running 2008, as is the rest of the office, but I'm actually the last hold-out with XP on my main.

SWx will see about a 50% performance hit if you run it on a Mac. (We've got a guy here who keeps trying to find a way to make SWx work well on Mac.) Of course the Mac guys will tell you everything will be fine running on a Mac . . some even insist that Mac's will run any Windows app faster than Windows. Yeah, wishful thinking at your expense.

[Joeaksa]

SM,

Ok, I stand corrected. Guess that takes the Sony off of my list of products to ever buy in the future.

I would take it back. Any product that tells me what its going to allow me to do with it, can stay at the dealer.

Joe

[slodave]

I found one reference, saying that there may be some newer hardware that just does not have XP drivers written, since MS wants to shelve it. Sooner or later, the desktop users will either have to switch to Vista - hopefully there will be a service pack that will get rid of some of the Vista junk or switch to a different OS.

Dave

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by slodave

I found one reference, saying that there may be some newer hardware that just does not have XP drivers written, since MS wants to shelve it. Sooner or later, the desktop users will either have to switch to Vista - hopefully there will be a service pack that will get rid of some of the Vista junk or switch to a different OS.

Dave

Or we all give up and go with Linux. (or join the dark side Mac!)

[onewhippedpuppy]

Clint, go to the Dell site and click on "Solutions for Small and Medium Business" on the right side of the screen. I think all of those models will allow you to order with XP installed, and without all of the free stuff that is borderline spyware. I know the 3 Vostro laptops I have ordered do. Not in any way affiliated, just a happy customer. Between the family and myself I've ordered 6 desktops and 4 laptops from them in the last 5 years or so, always been very pleased with the products.