It's possible to install XP, but you don't have a license or a product
key. To be legal, you would have to buy a copy of XP (non-HP generic,
presumably).


probin@hotmail.com wrote:

It's possible to install XP, but you don't have a license or a product
key. To be legal, you would have to buy a copy of XP (non-HP generic,
presumably).


probin@hotmail.com wrote:

His computer came with a Vista product key. If he gets a CD from
another computer, while the media could be (legally) used, the product
key belongs to that other computer and cannot legally (or, most likely,
due to PA & WGA, practically) be used on two computers.

John Doue wrote:

His computer came with a Vista product key. If he gets a CD from
another computer, while the media could be (legally) used, the product
key belongs to that other computer and cannot legally (or, most likely,
due to PA & WGA, practically) be used on two computers.

John Doue wrote:

I just purchased a HP DV6000 notebook and it came with Vista Home Premium.
Is it possible to do a new install of XP Pro from a CD of HP XP Pro SP2, and
eliminate Vista completely?

The HP support site has all the drivers for XP Pro, so hopefully these can
be used to provide XP drivers for all the hardware devices on the DV6000.

Any and all advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

probin@hotmail.com wrote:
I do not see why there would be the slightest problem.

You first want to download all the necessary drivers and burn them onto
a CD or copy them to a secondary hd if you have one. Download them
before you install XP since establishing an Internet connection after
the XP install might be difficult if some network drivers are not installed.

- Make sure you can boot from your XP disk, and adjust the boot sequence
in Bios so that your dvd drive is the first device in the boot sequence.
Do not proceed any further until you are positive you can boot from your
XP CD.

- I would then suggest removing the hidden (restore) partition (I am
assuming there is one, but I do not know your specific machine). To do
this, you may need to use Partition Magic or an equivalent tool since
these hidden partitions cannot usually be deleted by usual means. Of
course, you might want to consider keeping the partition in case you
change you mind.

- If you have Partition Magic or equivalent, use it to delete all
remaining partitions on your disk. As some point, after deleting all
partitions, you will need to boot from your XP disk since your machine
will not (of course) find any system files on the drive.

- If you do not have Partition Magic, things are more difficult, since
XP will refuse to install over Vista. I do not know of any way to
override the error message you will get if you try to do that, which
does not mean there is none. Basically, you need to boot from a CD
containing Fdisk or equivalent to reformat/remove the partitions on your
hard-drive. Ideally, I personally use an USB diskette drive and a Win 98
startup disk. There are many ways to create the equivalent on a CD: one
place to look is http://www.bootdisk.com. Once you have such a tool,
reformat c: and optionally remove any other partition. Then boot your XP
disk and install XP.

- While XP installs, or when it has finished installing, install the
missing drivers. I assume you will know how to do that, if not, just ask.

Good luck.
--
John Doue

probin@hotmail.com wrote:
I do not see why there would be the slightest problem.

You first want to download all the necessary drivers and burn them onto
a CD or copy them to a secondary hd if you have one. Download them
before you install XP since establishing an Internet connection after
the XP install might be difficult if some network drivers are not installed.

- Make sure you can boot from your XP disk, and adjust the boot sequence
in Bios so that your dvd drive is the first device in the boot sequence.
Do not proceed any further until you are positive you can boot from your
XP CD.

- I would then suggest removing the hidden (restore) partition (I am
assuming there is one, but I do not know your specific machine). To do
this, you may need to use Partition Magic or an equivalent tool since
these hidden partitions cannot usually be deleted by usual means. Of
course, you might want to consider keeping the partition in case you
change you mind.

- If you have Partition Magic or equivalent, use it to delete all
remaining partitions on your disk. As some point, after deleting all
partitions, you will need to boot from your XP disk since your machine
will not (of course) find any system files on the drive.

- If you do not have Partition Magic, things are more difficult, since
XP will refuse to install over Vista. I do not know of any way to
override the error message you will get if you try to do that, which
does not mean there is none. Basically, you need to boot from a CD
containing Fdisk or equivalent to reformat/remove the partitions on your
hard-drive. Ideally, I personally use an USB diskette drive and a Win 98
startup disk. There are many ways to create the equivalent on a CD: one
place to look is http://www.bootdisk.com. Once you have such a tool,
reformat c: and optionally remove any other partition. Then boot your XP
disk and install XP.

- While XP installs, or when it has finished installing, install the
missing drivers. I assume you will know how to do that, if not, just ask.

Good luck.
--
John Doue

Barry Watzman wrote:
Barry,

Why do you assume the OP does not have a product key? What would be the
use of such a disk with a key?

--
John Doue

Barry Watzman wrote:
Barry,

Why do you assume the OP does not have a product key? What would be the
use of such a disk with a key?

--
John Doue

Re: "Vista being considered an upgrade from XP, and since the OP would
not be using Vista, he might not meet the letter of the eula but what
the heck, in all fairness, it still would be "morally" ok with me"

But XP won't accept the Vista product key, so in terms of product
activation and WGA, the morality of the situation is irrelevant.
Similarly, PA (which might not be required if he has an HP media) and
WGA won't allow use of the same [XP] product key on two different computers.


John Doue wrote:

Re: "Vista being considered an upgrade from XP, and since the OP would
not be using Vista, he might not meet the letter of the eula but what
the heck, in all fairness, it still would be "morally" ok with me"

But XP won't accept the Vista product key, so in terms of product
activation and WGA, the morality of the situation is irrelevant.
Similarly, PA (which might not be required if he has an HP media) and
WGA won't allow use of the same [XP] product key on two different computers.


John Doue wrote:

Barry Watzman wrote:
wants to use the CD on two different computers at the same time and
here. Even if he did, Vista being considered an upgrade from XP, and
since the OP would not be using Vista, he might not meet the letter of
the eula but what the heck, in all fairness, it still would be "morally"
ok with me.

I think the OP is more interested in the technical aspects of such an
install, where your expertise (outside the legaleese) would come in much
more handy. And yes indeed, there might be a practical issue but worth a
try since both the disk and the machine are HP. Keeping the restore
partition might be a good idea until the results are satisfactory.

Best regards

--
John Doue

Barry Watzman wrote:
wants to use the CD on two different computers at the same time and
here. Even if he did, Vista being considered an upgrade from XP, and
since the OP would not be using Vista, he might not meet the letter of
the eula but what the heck, in all fairness, it still would be "morally"
ok with me.

I think the OP is more interested in the technical aspects of such an
install, where your expertise (outside the legaleese) would come in much
more handy. And yes indeed, there might be a practical issue but worth a
try since both the disk and the machine are HP. Keeping the restore
partition might be a good idea until the results are satisfactory.

Best regards

--
John Doue

probin@hotmail.com wrote:
My advise is to stick with Vista. I know it is terribly difficult to
navigate within Vista as easily as we have all done in Windows since
Win95, but IMO Vista is a step forward in security for users. Now, I do
not think that Vista security for DRM is a step forward for anyone but
the rights holders. That is of little consequence for those who use
only legal media.

I'm of the opinion that if your computer was designed for Vista, you
will have superior performance (even if just a little bit) compared to XP.

If you need warranty support for your computer, it will need to have
Vista installed. A downgrade to XP will violate your warranty, I suspect.

Q

probin@hotmail.com wrote:
My advise is to stick with Vista. I know it is terribly difficult to
navigate within Vista as easily as we have all done in Windows since
Win95, but IMO Vista is a step forward in security for users. Now, I do
not think that Vista security for DRM is a step forward for anyone but
the rights holders. That is of little consequence for those who use
only legal media.

I'm of the opinion that if your computer was designed for Vista, you
will have superior performance (even if just a little bit) compared to XP.

If you need warranty support for your computer, it will need to have
Vista installed. A downgrade to XP will violate your warranty, I suspect.

Q

Quaoar wrote:
terms of security. In this respect, I would suggest to wait about a year
.... Compared to an up-to-date XP with a decent firewall (not MS!) and
antivirus, I suspect a user sticking to Firefox has nothing to gain in
this respect.

Second, I would bet that even if a computer had been specifically
designed with Vista in view (which is probably not true of most
computers sold today), it would run faster with XP than with Vista.

With regards to warranty, if it relates to software support, your point
is probably valid, but a hardware failure could hardly be blamed on
going back to XP, could it?

My advice is go ahead, and enjoy a faster computer if you have no
interest, and no professional need, for Vista.

--
John Doue

Quaoar wrote:
terms of security. In this respect, I would suggest to wait about a year
.... Compared to an up-to-date XP with a decent firewall (not MS!) and
antivirus, I suspect a user sticking to Firefox has nothing to gain in
this respect.

Second, I would bet that even if a computer had been specifically
designed with Vista in view (which is probably not true of most
computers sold today), it would run faster with XP than with Vista.

With regards to warranty, if it relates to software support, your point
is probably valid, but a hardware failure could hardly be blamed on
going back to XP, could it?

My advice is go ahead, and enjoy a faster computer if you have no
interest, and no professional need, for Vista.

--
John Doue

Thanks for everyone's comments and suggestions. I will wipe Vista off the
laptop using Fdisk, but keep the recovery partition for future use.

Due to some unavoidable circumstances, I could not order the laptop earlier
when XP was still available so now I have to do some work to get it
installed.

Thanks for everyone's comments and suggestions. I will wipe Vista off the
laptop using Fdisk, but keep the recovery partition for future use.

Due to some unavoidable circumstances, I could not order the laptop earlier
when XP was still available so now I have to do some work to get it
installed.

probin@hotmail.com wrote:
future users of Vista ...

--
John Doue