Replace windows vista with XP Pro

[Kaye]

Last year I purchased a Gateway GT5453E computer, which came with Windows
Vista Home Premium installed. I find Vista to be slow and unstable, it
freezes almost every other time I use it, very often when I attempt to use
the picture viewer (nothing fancy, just viewing photos!). I tried to work
with it, using the built-in backup utility, but after 4 tries, have been
unable to complete a backup--I get an error message that the wrong disk is in
the drive, even though it has just formatted the new DVD in the drive. I
manually backed up my photos and documents. I tried updating Vista with
service pack 1, through windows update, but that was also unsuccessful (after
tying up my computer for hours--twice!). I'm also not able to connect with
my work through VPN, as they don't support networking with Vista. Needless
to say, I'm not happy with vista. Recently my 7 year-old Dell Inspiron
laptop died, and I am wondering if I can transfer XP Professional license
from that computer and use the XP CDs to replace Vista on my home computer.
If I can't get XP on this computer, I'm seriously thinking of getting a Mac
to allow me to work with photos and videos--attempting to edit photos on this
machine is impossible!
I appreciate any advice or suggestions--
Kaye

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Last year I purchased a Gateway GT5453E computer, which came with
Windows Vista Home Premium installed. I find Vista to be slow and
unstable, it freezes almost every other time I use it, very often
when I attempt to use the picture viewer (nothing fancy, just
viewing photos!). I tried to work with it, using the built-in
backup utility, but after 4 tries, have been unable to complete a
backup--I get an error message that the wrong disk is in the drive,
even though it has just formatted the new DVD in the drive. I
manually backed up my photos and documents. I tried updating Vista
with service pack 1, through windows update, but that was also
unsuccessful (after tying up my computer for hours--twice!). I'm
also not able to connect with my work through VPN, as they don't
support networking with Vista. Needless to say, I'm not happy with
vista. Recently my 7 year-old Dell Inspiron laptop died, and I am
wondering if I can transfer XP Professional license from that
computer and use the XP CDs to replace Vista on my home computer.
If I can't get XP on this computer, I'm seriously thinking of
getting a Mac to allow me to work with photos and
videos--attempting to edit photos on this machine is impossible!

No. If Windows XP came pre-installed on said laptop - the license dies with
the laptop - as it was 99.999% likely to be an OEM licensed copy.

As far as Vista not working on said computer - you really should complain
loudly to those you purchased it from - particularly if it is under
warranty. If you 'played around' until the warranty on your computer
expired - that's unfortunately 'your bad'. :-(

The computer itself may or may not be able to run Windows XP - dependent on
the manufacturer's decision on what to support/provide in the way of
drivers.

 

[Anteaus]

Chances are it will work, provided you set the SATA interface to use 'legacy
mode' in the BIOS. Otherwise the XP installer may fail. Before you remove
Vista, get a list of the driver types from Device Manager, this will aid you
greatly in finding the right XP drivers.

As for licensing, you may have to activate via telephone. It is not strictly
correct to transfer an OEM copy but in the circumstances I don't see who you
are robbing. If anything, it is you who are being robbed of something that
you have paid for!

While I'm not a fan of Vista, might also be worth noting that a frequent
cause of troubles often blamed on Vista is Norton Antivirus. If this crock of
sh*t was preinstalled by the supplier, then the OS will NOT work reliably,
regardless of whether it is Vista or Windows 3.1! If so try removing it and
getting AVG, Avira, etc. You may then find that Vista works acceptably, if
somewhat more slowly than XP.