A friend purchased the Notebook below from Costco and after 3 hours, wants to load his copy of Windows XP Pro, SP2.

Processor & Memory:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7500 at 2.2GHz
800MHz FSB
4MB L2 Cache
2GB 677MHz Shared DDR21 (user upgradeable to 4GB)
Drives:

200GB2 SATA (4200RPM) Hard Drive
DVD±RW Double Layer Drive
Graphics & Video:

14.1” WXGA (1280x800) with XBRITE-ECO™ technology
Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Built-in 1.3MP camera and microphone
Communications:

Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965ABGN (802.11a/b/g/n)
Integrated V.92/V.90 Modem with RJ-11 interface
10BASE-T/100BASE-TX Ethernet with RJ-45 interface

Is there a problem doing this? Vista is so slow and they have changed the operating system so much that he just does not want to spend the time learning a snail of a program. Not intending to hurt anyone feelings but this is the way he feels. Any comments would be appreciated. TIA

If you can find WinXP drivers for that hardware, there's nothing stopping you from installing WinXP. You'll probably require WinXP installer SATA drivers, which will require either a working floppy drive, or a slipstreamed WinXP CD.

Would you recommend formatting the drive and partitioning to do a clean install of XP? I don't really think he wants a dual boot system. What do you recommend and why?
Thanks much for any advice.

I'd recommend reformatting, but partitioning probably isn't necessary.

Why? It creates a clean slate, and I'm told that's a good thing. Also, Vista places a couple of junctions on the drive by default. WinXP's GUI does not support junctions. This means baaaaad things can happen if you don't know what you're doing (and let's face it, you have no idea what a NTFS Junction is).

Doesn't formatting clear out Junctions? What about writing to zeros on the HD?
Could you elaborate on Junctions and how to get rid of them? Thanks again for your help.

Looking at the specs of that machine, there is no arguing that it is Vista capable. The weak link -- as is the case with notebooks -- is the 4200RPM HDD. Unfortunately, installing XP to replace Vista is not going to change that fact.

Judging from the disclosure that your friend just "after 3 hours, wants to load his copy of Windows XP Pro, SP2." I think his conviction is not really as a result of a detailed performance evaluation, but rather his not being quite ready yet to embrace change & trust me, he's got a lot of company. In light of that, I recommend this solution.

To segue, I had a run-in with a couple of junctions a while back & I was able to fix or should I say successfully get rid of the junctions using Junction Link Magic.

IMHO Junction Link Magic isn't for everybody except experts such as Razor2.3 & Sabertooth. Unless you like to think you know everything, heed the author's disclaimer FOR EXPERIENCED USERS ONLY!

i_Xp/VistaUser

It sounds like you guys are suggesting that he stay with Vista.

Before he purchased at Costco, we went to BestBuy looking at their laptops. The salesman said that if we bought one of theirs, that for $60.00, GeekSquad, the in store tech support, would run some software to make Vista run 40% faster. Other than getting rid of Norton 360, and other software that comes installed by Sony, what do they do to increase the speed of Vista?

My friend said that he wanted to call GeekSquad to have them tweek his new Vio. I told him to wait until I find out what the experts say. Again thanks for your help.

Re: #6

Good one XpUser "cough" VistaUser -- I'm sure you know your way around Vista too .... LOL

As far as being an expert with Vista, you know damn well that the OS is a tough cookie, but I try to stay busy. For example I've been tracking an alternate shell those folks have been working on & I hope it turns out to be as promising as it looks.

Re: #7

"what do they do to increase the speed of Vista?"

They probably run CCleaner & AdAware .... the $ is very weak these days & you can't expect much for $60.

Loren Sr: Doesn't formatting clear out Junctions?
Yes, it does. That's why I listed it as a reason for formatting.

Loren Sr: What about writing to zeros on the HD?
Overrated.

Sabertooth: I had a run-in with a couple of junctions a while back & I . . . successfully [got rid of them] using Junction Link Magic.
While WinXP's CMD doesn't officially support junctions, I've still had a surprising amount of success in their removal via RD.

Loren Sr: [F]or $60.00, GeekSquad, the in store tech support, would run some software.
$60... That's about 30 minutes of work... They'd probably run some sort of malware scan and a defrag. Or they might do even less than that. I never can accurately estimate their level of incompetency.

Another issue with installing XP is what version is he planning on installing (what kind of license key)? If it is on a sticker attached to a system it is probably not legal to install it on a different system. If it states that the key is an OEM for some brand like Sony, HP, Toshiba or some other manufacturer it is not legal to use that key even if the system is no longer being used. OEM keys are permanently part of that system and not transferable. Retail copies are the only ones that can be moved if the system is not using it any longer.

Richard

Thanks for the replies guys. He has a copy of Windows XP Pro that he purchased from a retail store. For the time being he will stay with Vista and try to tweek it make it tolorable. He also has a copy of Office 2003 and wants to get rid of the Office 2007 Try Out copy that came with the Sony Vio.
Anyone have suggestions for what site to go to for Tweeking Vista Home Premium? Thanks again for all the help and suggestions.

srloren

First two things I do when working on a Vista box:
1. Go back to the 'classic' Win2K look.
2. Kill UAC.

Then again, the last two things I do to any Vista box I work on:
1. Enable any eye candy that I disabled.
2. Enable UAC.

Really, from the average user standpoint, these are the two biggest changes to Vista.

Side note: Isn't MS still selling more copies of WinXP than Vista?