win xp pro replacing win 7

[ariel0]

hello, forum users,

have new dell inspiron 14r, 64-bit, win 7 home premium, with l® Core™ i3-380M processor (2.53GHz); 4gb memory, 500gb hard drive

i would like to install win xp pro and delete win 7. i have a dell reinstallation disk for win xp pro, w/service pack 2 [which was installed on older dell machine]. i also have win 7 saved on cd.

i would be grateful for suggestions about how i can accomplish this.

thanks very much

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello ariel0, welcome to Seven Forums!



We can help you but before we make any specific recommendations will you please post a snip/screen-shot of the entire disk management drive map with a full description as to which drive/partition is which, so we can see what you have going on as there may be a fairly simple way to resolve the situation.

In the Windows start menu right click computer and click manage, in the left pane of the "Computer Management" window that opens click disk management and post a maximized snip of that.


How to Upload and Post a Screenshot and File in Seven Forums

 

[marsmimar]

Hello ariel0 and welcome. May I ask why you want to uninstall Windows 7? Would you consider an alternative suggestion to dual boot your XP Pro with 7? Your hard drive is large enough to accomodate both operating systems and if you choose to use XP most of the time you certainly can. But you'd still have the opportunity to learn about 7. Just a thought and no disrespect intended.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8057-dual-boot-installation-windows-7-xp.html

 

[gregrocker]

You want to make your Recovery Disks, because even if you save your Recovery Partition it might not run after you reinstall the XPired OS.

Have you considered creating a Dual Boot, or virtualizing XP from within Win7 using freeware like VMWare, Virtual Box, or Virtual Player?
Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP - Windows 7 Forums

Besides the Recovery Disks, I would also save a Win7 backup image so you have multiple backups: Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

 

[ariel0]

thanks to bare foot kid, marsmimar and gregrocker for your thoughtful suggestions about win 7 and xp.

i've tried win 7 for 3 months on my lenovo laptop and cannot adjust to the dramatic changes, as compared to xp. fortunately, for me, i'm able to return to xp for the time being.

believe me, i've tried to understand win 7 too many times, and will await future versions with an open mind. other family members, regardless of age and profession, love xp. i'll never understand why microsoft can't leave a well-liked gui alone, esp. when consumers and biz generally prefer xp. wish that ms would offer the choice of either system for new and current customers.

anyway, i jumped the gun on the dell inspiron, which will arrive by week's end,not today as expected. i will folo thru on bf kid's suggestion, for which i'm grateful, when it arrives.

please excuse the length of this note.

thanks very much.

p.s. if anyone has the time, would you pls point me to a web address where i can learn about partitions and loading both systems, without having to double boot].

pps. do you guys moonlight on an xp forum?

 

[gregrocker]

XPired is a dead parrot, not really practical for going forward much longer. If you would explain what your problems are with Win7, we can work through them with you. We deal with these types of things here every day and have multiple people who can help you with every imaginable problem.

We especiallly like free Partition Wizard bootable CD which has helped in this forum with hundreds of complicated repartitioning schemes, without a single failure using the boot disk. We specialize in giving customized steps for whatever you want to do if you'll post up a Disk Mgmt screenshot with your requests.