My 14 year old son who thinks he is the next Bill Gates downloaded a copy of his friends Windows Vista over his Windows XP Media Center. Needless to say, we are having problems and I want to remove Vista and put back XP. I do not have a Windows.OLD file that will enable me to do this. Any suggestions?

Why are you fixing his mistakes. He is old enough to fix this on his own. First you would need to determine what you have. Did he completely overwrite the old os or is it sill there. Secondly you'd need to know if or how you are supposed to obtain the OEM media that could either restore your system or rebuild it. You may have to contact the seller/maker of the unit to get a replacement disk(s). Better yet, let him fix it. (an honest way this time) If he can't then make him pay for that repair and make him purchase a junky computer that he can play with. Be sure his computer is what he is only allowed to play with in the future. I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you peanut.

Thanks Jefro. I've been working on it for hours now and I got XP back on but there is no way for me to connect to the internet now. In other words, there is no Internet Explorer. I have an old version on a floppy but when I try to install it, it tells me that it keeps finking a newer version already installed on the computer. I can't find it anywhere though. I've done file searches and everything I can think of.

If you used the recovery disk for the system it would have installed the drivers. If the system came with an OEM copy of XP there should have been a driver disk to install video, audio, network adapters and all other devices. Internet Explorer is a basic part of Windows. If it is not there then something did not go well with the install. Make sure that you are using the correct disk to match the license key and try again. As per response 1 this would be a good way to get your son to learn how to fix mistakes. Since he tried to pirate his friend copy of Vista (Vista licensing would prevent being able to activate and use it since another system is already registered with the key), he needs to learn how much time it takes to correct problems. Richard

Iexplore and explorer are basically the same. Open explorer and type a http address and see if it works. Consider firefox or opera to a usb and install it also. You are much nicer than I would have been towards him. Make little Bill fix it!!!! Why are you smothering him? :) (just kidding) Be sure you install users. Each person should have a limited account. Use a password protected admin account only for updates and installs. Never log on to an admin account for trivial reasons. Set a bios password too. I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you peanut.

Good overall advice Jefro. If Vista was simply "upgraded" from XP, I'd imagine you can "uninstall Vista" or something like it from the control panel add and remove programs. At least that's usually how OS upgrades go.        My blog

go into google and download internet explorer