Can this be done :)

[Littlefoot99]

I have a newer HP slimline PC

The PC is preloaded with Vista premium with a Restore partition:

I want to remove the Vista operating system on the C: drive - And want to leave the Vista restore partition intact:

What I want to do is remove vista and install XP Pro.

What is the easiest way to do this.

Thanks for any help..

 

[Malak]

Why bother keeping the restore if you aren't going to use Vista?

 

[Littlefoot99]

I am working on this PC for a friend of mine and she wants to keep the Vista restore Partition just in case she messes up XP - So if she messes XP up all she has to do is turn the PC off and back on and boot into the restore partition and reinstall Vista so she will have an operating system just in case. .

Kinna smart idea if it can be done

 

[Skyzoomer]

Originally posted by: Littlefoot99
I am working on this PC for a friend of mine and she wants to keep the Vista restore Partition just in case she messes up XP - So if she messes XP up all she has to do is turn the PC off and back on and boot into the restore partition and reinstall Vista so she will have an operating system just in case. .

Kinna smart idea if it can be done

If her hard drive is large enough, maybe think about leaving the Vista partition, keeping the restore partition and making another bootable partition for WinXP. An inexpensive way to do that is to buy a copy of BootIt NG (BING). BING can do anything concerning partitions including making backups and has a boot manager for multiple bootable OS'.

What I like about BING is that it always makes the booted partition the C: partition. So the Vista partition will be C: and when the WinXP partition is booted it will be C:. The advantage of that is if your friend decides to definitely get rid of Vista, she just has to copy the WinXP partition to the Vista partition using BING and WinXP will still work perfectly. Then she can merge the old WinXP partition with the data partition for one big, contiguous data partition.

This is unlike the Microsoft way of having a second bootable partition. The Microsoft way is to make the 2nd bootable partition D:. Because of the drive letter reference, the 2nd bootable partition can never be used as a C: partition.

Check out BING at:
terabyteunlimited.com

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Support" to see videos on how to use BootIt NG.

EDIT:
If her HDD is currently partitioned as one big Vista partition plus the Restore partition (and maybe a manufacturer's partition), the above can still be done. I have a Dell laptop that came partitioned like that. I used BING to make the Vista partition 60GB, a second bootable partition 60GB, kept the restore partition and the Dell utility partition and made the balance a data partition. All data goes into the data partition so it is easy to do data backups.

Sky

 

[mpilchfamily]

Don't leave the partition. Use the disk utility and burn the restore disks that the partition can create. Then if you have to restore Vista you have the disks to do so.

 

[corkyg]

I would just get another HDD. Leave the original as is and install XP on the second HDD. If you use a mobile rack with two trays, you can easily create a hardware dual boot system. Add another and you can do Windows 7 as well.

For a practical software solution, follow mpilchfamily's suggestion. I personally find hardware solutions more reliable than software.

 

[bruceb]

I tend to agree. A second hard drive is the easiest way to do this. That way, if you ever want to go back to the way it is right now, just swap the drives and power up.

 

[techs]

I've actually done that and had no problems.

I was still able to do the restore to Vista later on.
I think that the hidden partition is not accessed thru the mbr and only thru the bios when you choose to boot to it.

 

[GaryJohnson]

I think that the hidden partition is not accessed thru the mbr and only thru the bios when you choose to boot to it.

YMMV. I had a dell that I worked on where the hidden partition wasn't bootable. The restore programs were launched from some kinda boot loader on the primary OS partition.

 

[corkyg]

. . . but, if you have a hard drive failure, that hidden partition is not going to do you any good. Image it to something external and then don't worry about it.

 

[RebateMonger]

Another option is to make an image backup of the disk. That way you'll have backups of any current data and can restore the entire computer, complete with currently-installed applications, data, and drivers, at will.

Whoops. corkyg already said that.

 

[techs]

Originally posted by: GaryJohnson

I think that the hidden partition is not accessed thru the mbr and only thru the bios when you choose to boot to it.

YMMV. I had a dell that I worked on where the hidden partition wasn't bootable. The restore programs were launched from some kinda boot loader on the primary OS partition.

Agreed. But HP does it differently. Or at least they did on my lappy about 2 years ago.

 

[Littlefoot99]

All done. I saved the partition and installed XP Home

But only 1 problem exist now..

The Nic that is installed RTL8201N I am getting limited access erros with it: Worked on it 5 hours last night and no avail.

I have tried repairing, removing, Upgrading, getting web help no avail (LOL)

Any idea

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: Littlefoot99
All done. I saved the partition and installed XP Home

But only 1 problem exist now..

The Nic that is installed RTL8201N I am getting limited access erros with it: Worked on it 5 hours last night and no avail.

I have tried repairing, removing, Upgrading, getting web help no avail (LOL)

Any idea

per realtek

# Q9: Why don't I find RTL8201x driver on the website?

A9:
RTL8201, RTL8201BL, RTL8201CL, RTL8201CP, RTL8201N and RTL8211B(L) are all PHYceiver. That is a driverless hardware device. Software driver are relative to Network controller ( MAC ) which is integrated into chipset in such case mostly. Please contact your mother board maker or chipset manufacturer to obtain proper driver support.

so wish to list which hp slimline you working on ?

 

[Littlefoot99]

I am working on the s5120Y - U guessed it was a slim line// Myself I would have never bought one.. I tell everyone stay with a standard case. Yes it saves a very little amout of room over a reg sized PC case. Plus when it comes time to upgrade anything - Its almost impossible..

 

[techs]

Link to it on NewEgg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...16883147035&Tpk=s5120Y

It looks like it has the nForce 430 chipset.
Get the drivers here:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/n...inxp32_8.26_11.09.html

 

[Littlefoot99]

Thanks I will give it a shot

 

[Kiba Bailey]

Can someone tell me how to make a topic?

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