nerds: how do i go back to xp?
 

the skinny: laptop came with XP, they sent me a vista upgrade for free, got bored, installed disc and now i am suffering the consequences. is there a way to go back without losing my music and such that i have uploaded since then?

copying your stuff to DVD or another shared pc then going back to xp.

yea i got the free upgrade when i bought my PC but i never bothered with it....

backup all of your stuff that you want to keep. format the drive. install XP. unfortunately, there is some kind of hiccup in windows software that doesn't allow you to go backwards.

your other option is a dual boot situation, where XP and vista both reside on the hard drive. when the system boots, it gives you 30 seconds to choose which opsys you want to run. just never choose vista. you do this through the XP install disc. when it asks what kind of file system you want to install, choose the option that leaves the current file system (no need to backup your files with this one). personally, this is how i would've installed vista, having had so many problems in the past with fresh releases of microsoft software.

to be honest, i don't like that idea. i'm gonna just format it. i just gotta find someone with xp now...

WinMX FTMFW.

google Partition Magic, find the free download, free up a few GB of space, toss all your stuff on there, then format C:

it's no hicup it's intentional.

:werd:

Partition Magic will solve your problems.

- Justin

i got a friend with vista ultimate which is 546865765 times better than the upgrade...i have the xp pro cd if u wanna borrow it.

i might take you up on that. i dont know how to format or any of that stuff so i gotta see when my friend mario is free (i.e. when the giants are away and during a commercial)

depending on where yer at, i can bring my external harddrive and the disc and u can save everything to the harddrive and then we can put xp on yer computer and then just copy it back to yer computer

wow, that's a helluvan offer. better take him up on that before he changes his mind... :willy:

where do you live by? :)

im in columbia....exit 4 off rt 80

crap thats mad far.... i appreciate the offer but im not sure its that serious :)

jake, if you're still looking to do it when i'm around for a weekend i'll help you out

i have an external HDD and XP pro cd IIRC

This will probably still work, they haven't changed their return policy (I think):

1.) Go to Staples
2.) Buy external HD
3.) Unpack HD but keep the packaging very nice
4.) Back up files
5.) Reformat
6.) Move files back to your computer
7.) Delete files from HD
8.) Pack up HD
9.) Return HD to Staples

i will most likely be in wildwood this weekend if thats close? send me yer zip so i can do mapquest

not even close, I can already tell you that. Jake how much stuff do you need to save? I have an external HD also...I have two actually but the 300 gig one isnt working right. I just have a 40 right now.

i have a 3GB IDE Hard drive u can just have, just pay for shipping...if intrested

im sure i can work it out. i'll ask my friend mario this weekend if he has a win xp disc and i'll have to him do it. i'm just glad it can still be done. he does this for a living. thanks guys

There's no need for the HDs.. just Partition Magic it, make a 30~ gig partition, throw all your crap on there and format the other partition. Thats what I do to keep my music backed up.