How can I uninstall windows vista

[Kroze]

I hate vista and would like to remove it (preinstalled w/laptop) and install windows XP. Whenever i put the windows xp cd with windows running, it said i can't install it because vista is a newer version of windows. When i boot it with the windows xp cd in, it said i don't have a hard drive....

 

[Jeff7181]

Probably need the drivers for your SATA controller. Not sure how easy it'll be to get WinXP to pull them off a flash drive though since I doubt you have a floppy drive in your laptop.

 

[thestain]

here is my suggestion..

take out the windows hard drive.. and save for rainy day in case you want to use windows vista again.. buy a nice hard drive in its place and.. you should be good to go.. install xp to the new hard drive.

If you hate windows so much you want it off that hard drive.. format it, write zero's to it.. write zeros to the master boot record.. etc. to remove it completely and whether you have a new hard drive or a cleaned up one.. you should have no problems installing xp.. but you will need to get the needed drivers for various parts on your pc first before you do any of this.


Mike

 

[BlueWeasel]

Download the drivers for your SATA driver or chipset and use Nlite to integrate them on a bootable XP CD. You could also integrate SP3 on the CD and other drivers on the CD if you wanted.

Nlite is the easiest way to get XP to see your drives without having to use the F6/floppy method.

 

[Billb2]

I would guess that the "hidden" manufacturer's restore partition is preventing Windows Install from seeing your HDD.
If you can boot from a CD, a DOS based format program or Fdisk would probably get rid of it.

Perhaps the manufacturer has a utility for "downgrading" to XP.

 

[Trashman]

i like the option mentioned above buy a 2nd drive, keep vista intact, incase you want to try vista later or you decide to sell. unless u have a restore disk, if you format, vista is gone 4ever.

 

[RebateMonger]

Your best shot is to create a slipstreamed XP Install CD using at least XP SP2. Use NLite to add the manufacturer's drivers for your SATA controller in your laptop. The XP Install routine should now be able to recognize the hard drive controller and install the drivers and let Windows "see" your hard drive.

Before starting, be sure that you have access to all XP drivers necessary to run your PC. Also, make screenshots of the Device list in the Vista install. It can be tough to identify the devices (and find the needed drivers) if you don't have that list.

If it's a Dell (and maybe other big OEM makers) AND if you have Vista Business or Vista Ultimate installed from the factory, then first contact Dell and see if they will help you with the "downgrade" (which would be free).