How Can I Remove Windows Vista From My Laptop?
- Before you begin to remove Windows Vista, you should save every item on the computer that you want to keep, and you should possibly give some thought to backing up the entire system in case you decide to give Windows Vista a try afterall. To save your data, you can write the information to CDs, flash or thumb drives, memory cards or an external hard drive. When you're finished backing up your data, you're prepared to replace Windows Vista with Windows XP.
- To get Windows Vista off your computer, insert your Windows XP installation disc into your computer's disc drive and restart the system. Press either the "Del" key or the "F2" key at start-up to go into the system BIOS. In the BIOS, you'll have to enter the "Boot Menu" so that you can change the boot sequence to allow the computer to start from the disc drive, where the installation disc is located. Restart the computer when you've successfully changed the boot sequence and then when you're prompted, press any key to boot from the disc drive. This will initiate the Windows XP installation.
- As Windows XP begins to install, the drivers that will aid the installation will automatically be installed. Press the "Enter" key to go to the "Licensing Agreement" screen and accept the agreement. You'll then be guided to a screen that allows you to choose to install a fresh copy of Windows XP. Next, choose whether you want to create a partitioned or unpartitioned space on which to install the fresh copy of Windows XP. This is left up to your preference, but you're really aiming to override Windows Vista with XP, so you don't really need to make a partition. Once you've gotten the partition situation in order, give the command to install Windows XP, which will cause the hard drive to be formatted, thus deleting Windows Vista from the computer and installing Windows XP in the space that was previously occupied by Vista. When the installation is complete, you've entered your twenty-five character product key and you've gotten all your settings straightened out, Windows XP will be fully functional. You can then download all of your saved files from Vista onto Windows XP and enjoy your laptop.
