The Smart Way To Rip And Replace Vista With XP

With the backup process completed, the next step is to downgrade the PC to Windows XP from Vista. The simplest and fastest way to accomplish that is to do a bare-bones install of Windows XP directly from an XP installation disk or from an image created on a similar PC, which is another instance where a third-party backup and imaging tool proves to be a valuable ally in the process.

There are several factors to consider when installing XP onto the new system. The first is what process will be followed to complete the installation. For smaller deployments of just a few PCs, a direct install from an XP installation CD is probably the best way to go.

Booting from a Windows XP CDRom brings up the familiar setup screen.

After agreeing to the license agreement, it's ready to go.

This screen gives you the ability to select a partition or create a new one.

After deleting the existing Vista partition, engineers used all drive space for XP.

A format is needed to complete the process. The "quick" version works fine in most cases.

XP formats the drive and prepares to copy over the OS.

Copying begins and the installation is almost complete.

After a reboot, XP goes through the final steps of installation

Larger deployments, especially those which are done under volume license agreements are best accomplished using an imaging solution that installs a clean copy of XP to the new PC. For more sophisticated installs, integrators can choose to build images that contain core applications and other company applications for deployment across an enterprise. For this example, engineers completed a fresh install of XP onto the new system by formatting the hard drive and following the installation wizard prompts.