How to Downgrade from Vista to XP

Of the two approaches to downgrading Windows, the first is more convenient, as it doesn't require you to wipe your hard drive. You will need a genuine Windows XP installation CD; if all you have is a recovery disc, use the "Start from Scratch" process that follows.

Before you proceed, make sure you have several gigabytes of free space on your boot drive (usually C:). Take a moment to back up your entire hard drive; if you have Vista Business or Ultimate, you can do so with the Complete PC Backup and Restore tool, making it easy to get back into Windows should this process hit a snag.

Start by booting to your XP disc: Just insert the disc into your drive and turn on your PC, then press the spacebar when it says Press any key to boot from CD... If you don't see this message, you'll have to enter your PC's BIOS setup screen and change the boot options so that your CD drive appears above your hard drive in the boot sequence list. Consult your PC's manual for details. (If you can't boot from your CD, you can download free XP Setup boot disk files by searching for Q310994 at support.microsoft.com.)

When XP Setup starts, press R on the first page to open the Recovery Console. If you are asked to choose a Windows installation, type a number (usually 1) and press Enter.

In some cases, you may be asked for the Administrator password at this point. If you don't know it, you'll have to boot back into Windows Vista, open the Start menu, type lusrmgr.msc, and press Enter. Open the C:\Users folder, double-click on the Administrator account, and turn off the Account is disabled option. Open the Start menu again, type Control userpasswords2 into the Search box, and press Enter. Next, click the Reset Password button, choose a new password, and start over.

Now. at the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following commands to prep your hard disk for XP:

fixboot
fixmbr
cd \
ren windows winvista
exit

When your PC restarts, boot onto your XP CD once again, and then proceed with setup normally.

When setup is finished, you'll have to move everything manually. This includes your documents, the contents of your desktop, and any other personal data that you'll need from Vista's now-defunct C:\Users folder into XP's C:\Documents and Settings folder. You'll also need to reinstall all your applications and device drivers, and eventually delete the abandoned C:\Winvista folder

Start from Scratch

Without a true XP Setup disc, you won't have the luxury of the Recovery Console. Your other option is to use your PC's recovery disc, applicable, of course, only if your PC originally shipped with Windows XP.

Before you begin, you'll need to back up any files you want to keep. Unfortunately, you can't use any of Vista's built-in backup software for this, because XP doesn't include any tools that can read Vista backups—understandable but a shame. Your best bet is to copy your data onto an external hard disk manually (via a USB or eSATA connection) so that you can easily get it back once XP is up and running. Make sure you back up the entire C:\Users folder, which will catch your Documents directory, anything on your desktop, and application data such as stored e-mail.

Recovery procedures vary widely, so consult your PC's manual for details. Typically, the recovery software wipes the hard drive clean and then places a preinstalled copy of Windows onto the drive, complete with all the drivers and demo software that you got with your PC when it was new. When it's done, hook up your backup drive and copy your files back into position

How to Downgrade from Vista to XP
Other Downgrading Options

All that work ultimately leaves you with a PC running what is essentially an out-of-date operating system. XP is history now, just as Windows 98 was seven years ago when XP arrived. New products are being tuned for Vista, and it won't be long before legacy XP support disappears. But what if you have some essential application or device that simply won't work with Vista, yet you don't want to downgrade?

One approach is to install XP alongside Vista, using a dual-boot configuration. You'll need a second hard drive, or a second partition on your primary drive, on which to install XP. Begin by booting off an XP Setup disc as explained earlier, and then install the operating system on that second drive. When that's done, don't panic when Vista won't start; all you need to do is to reinstall Vista's boot manager. Just boot off your Vista Setup disc, click Next on the first page, and then, on the Install Windows page, click Repair your computer. Thereafter, you'll be prompted to choose between XP and Vista each time you turn on your PC.

The other option, and a good one if performance isn't too important to you, is to use a virtual machine, such as Microsoft Virtual PC (free from www.microsoft.com/virtualpc) or VMware Workstation (30-day trial at www.vmware.com) to run XP in a window from within Vista. To set it up in Virtual PC, click New, and then use the New Virtual Machine Wizard to create a virtual machine (below). When prompted, choose Windows XP as the platform and specify at least 512MB of RAM. Complete the wizard, and click Start to open the new virtual machine. Insert your Windows XP Setup CD, and from the CD menu, select Use Physical Drive D:. Now you'll be able to install XP as though drive D: were a separate computer. When you're done, you'll have a functional virtual XP PC that you can start from your Vista desktop any time you need it; you can even copy and paste between both platforms and share files over its virtual network interface. For more of the nitty-gritty on running a virtual machine, see our recent Solutions story "Windows in a Window