DI reader Suresh Telu has a Lenovo laptop that came pre-installed with Windows Vista Home edition.
He plans to install Windows XP on the computer but wiping off Vista completely may void the laptop warranty.
Suresh is therefore looking for an alternate solution where he can install and dual boot Windows XP alongside Windows Vista.
It is possible but before you install Windows XP over pre-installed Vista, here are some important points to consider:
1. You should have a licensed copy of Windows XP.
2. Read your warranty document carefully or consult the customer care to make sure that warranty remains valid when you install a second OS on your computer.
3. You’ll need to create a separate partition (or overwrite an existing one) for installing XP . Make sure there’s enough space on the hard drive.
Now head over to PronetWorks and HowToGeek for a detailed guide on installing Windows XP on your pre-installed Vista laptop. It’s a bit geeky method but nicely illustrated at both the places.
Related: Download Windows Vista Wallpapers
Find this article at: http://www.labnol.org/software/tutorials/dual-boot-pre-install-windows-xp-vista/1883/
Tags: feature, vista, xp, Software, Tips, Tricks, Tutorials
Reader Comments
use microsoft virtual pc 2007. you can download them for free at microsoft.com. you can install multiple os inside main os. No need to made dual boot. its just my opinion
Written by phyzhoe on 12.05.07
Most laptops come with only the C partition. Does changing this partition have any impact?
Written by Rajesh Kumar on 12.06.07
yes changing the c partiton has effect.bettter to use microsoft virtual pc 2007
Written by anish on 12.10.07
Most laptops come with only the C partition. Does changing this partition have any impact?
No just us partition magic it will fix every thing.
Dual boot is better then Microsoft virtual pc 2007.
must user want to go back to xp because of bug in vista (for example java programmer) or speed.
i been us partition magic on computer to install more then one os like one of my pc have xp sp3, 2000 sp4, 98se and linux all on it.
Written by asdf on 03.24.08
I need help on how to install xp on acer with preinstalled vista
Written by Mojeed on 01.21.09
Right now I’m trying this… Go under you bios and set to boot first the cd and then select raid to start up… restart you computer. when it asks for you to set settings click it and reformat the entire hard drive. My hard drive is 650GB and it took 30 minutes to format 5% so i’m assuming it will take 10 hours to format the entire hard drive. So I guess I’ll go to sleep and install XP. Oh yeah when it’s done go back in the bios and change the raid to Ide and reboot from the cd to install xp on the entire drive.
Will let you know if this works.
Written by kimsukie on 02.02.09