JustMike said:
I have a new computer with Vista pre-installed, as others have stated I
have
no CD that came with it,.
There manufacturer is required to provide some means to restore the
computer, either an installation CD, a recovery CD/DVD or a partition on the
hard drive with an image of the drive as received from the factory. If you
don't know what the recovery process is check the documentation or check
with the computer's tech support. I suggest you become familiar with this
before making any significant changes.
I would like to wipe out and reformat with my XP home version. Can I do
that
without creating more problems
Impossible to say - sorry but the old crystal ball is in the shop. Of
course at the very least the XP version you have needs to be a retail
version, or if it's a generic OEM it can't have been installed on any other
system. Retail versions are transferrable, if removed from the computer on
which it is currently installed. OEMs are not transferrable.
....is it compatible with these new computers that have pre-installed
Vistas?
That depends. You have to check on the computer manufacturer's web site for
XP drivers for the computer chipset and hardware. You haven't said what
computer it is or if it's a desktop or laptop. Laptops in particular are
highly proprietary. If the computer manufacturer doesn't have XP drivers
for it, then XP won't run on it. I know this is the case for several new
laptops from several different vendors as reported by other posters to these
newsgroups.
Also consider you might void your warranty or any chance of tech support on
the software or hardware by installing a different OS than what was
preinstalled.
Do some research before you make any changes. It would have been a good
idea to research this before making the initial purchase.
