Can I Uninstall Vista and Install XP?

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TheAwakened

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OK, so I finally broke down and got a new computer instead of upgrading the old dinosaur that I had. I got an HP Pavilion a6319fh. Dual-Core 2GHz, 2048MB, and 360GB hard drive. Not the most elite, but a HUGE improvement over what I previously had. Anyway, my question is: Can I uninstall Vista, and install XP on it instead? I've heard about a lot of problems that Vista creates with home recording. Something to do with the sound drivers or whatnot...
 
You can but it would require a complete hardrive reformattting session that would wipe the harddrive completely.
 
Also make sure that HP makes all the drivers for XP.
 
Why not set up a dual boot system.?..That way you won't have to worry about replacing drivers...etc.
 
I have heard that in some cases you can't install XP on a new laptop / desktop. Not sure why, probably comes down to what whattaguy said.. make sure there's XP drivers for everything. Dual boot would probably be the best way to go, one OS for recording (XP) and another for everything else (Vista). You will still have to download XP drivers for whatever you want to work.
 
I have a new Sony Vaio laptop with Vista Home Premium. My wife won it.
I was checking the Sony forums, and changing to XP makes the video display SOL. Sony has so much proprietary stuff.
Like many companies ... new technology uses the current software.
VISTA is somewhat useless in backwards compatibilty.
Heck, it can't even run "full screen" DOS games or application. Duh ????
I have not ventured into recording with it as I need either a USB or Firewire Audio Interface.
 
johnnymegabyte said:
I have a new Sony Vaio laptop with Vista Home Premium. My wife won it.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about that? I've bought quite a few Sony Vaio laptops for work recently and hosed the Vista install and put XP Pro on there with our corporate license. No driver issues here (?)

Anyway, for the original poster, if it's a desktop system it's 100x more likely to have XP drivers than a laptop since there'll be much less (if any) custom hardware in there.
 
tattered said:
Why not set up a dual boot system.?..That way you won't have to worry about replacing drivers...etc.
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly, you would still need the XP drivers. When you boot to XP and not Vista, XP won't/can't recognize the other OS's drivers.
 
P-J said:
Are you sure about that? I've bought quite a few Sony Vaio laptops for work recently and hosed the Vista install and put XP Pro on there with our corporate license. No driver issues here (?)

Anyway, for the original poster, if it's a desktop system it's 100x more likely to have XP drivers than a laptop since there'll be much less (if any) custom hardware in there.
Click to expand...

Which card is this that has vista drivers and not xp? Im dubious as well
 
Wow, I didn't realize it would be that involved! This leads me to a couple of other questions:

Which recording programs currently operate under Vista without a ton of problems? Sonar? Pro Tools LE?

I like the idea of the Digidesign Pro Tools Personal Studio bundle that Musician's Friend sells for $495, but I'm pretty sure that Vista isn't supported. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Digidesign-Pro-Tools-Personal-Studio?sku=703188

What are my options, and what program would you guys go with while using Vista?
 
I would try my best to use XP and not Vista. It's a proven OS that's well supported and there are many good drivers out there for audio. Just be sure that drivers are available for XP for all the other things that are in your puter.
 
In all honesty before you decide to get rid of Vista try it out first, and then go from there. If you start having problems then go to XP. But in all honesty if your not exactly having problems yet then there is no reason to go through the whole process of a format/reinstall.

As for what software to run with it's all up to you. Every one has opinions on what software is the best, but really it's all about what is best for you, and what you are familiar with. Personally I have been using Sonar 6 and 7 on Vista Ultimate x64, and I have had great results. The only problems I have had are with my E-MU PCI-0404 drivers, but thats the hardware manufacturers fault not Microsoft.

Over all like i said try Vista first, and if you have problems I'm sure you'll be fine swapping over to XP. But, in the event you decide to go with XP do your homework and double check your double checking to make sure you wont have any problems.
 
Exactly. I was going to mention that as well. Give Vista a shot.
I've been loving it since it came out.
 
pipelineaudio said:
Which card is this that has vista drivers and not xp? Im dubious as well
Click to expand...

I've got no idea, I've never heard of such a thing. The Vaio laptops we've bought recently are identical and I'm fairly sure it's ICH8 and Intel integrated graphics in them which, of course, has great XP drivers. If I lay my hands on one in the near future I'll double check.

I reckon for the original poster, it might be worth just trying to use Vista for a bit and see how you get on.

Personally, my DAW is also my main PC since I don't have room for two machines and Vista irks me to my very core so the decision is made for personal as well as, erm, audial (?) reasons.

Maybe you are in the same situation?

Be advised also that if you don't really know how drivers are installed and where to find 'rarer' ones, you could get into a world of hurt. But I don't know what techie skills you have. But I really can't see you having any driver problems with XP, to be honest.

If you could post the detailed technical spec of your PC here (which would include chipset, video chipset and such like) I'm sure we could tell you for sure.

One more thing-- Unless you're going down the piracy route (no comment), you'll need a valid copy of XP. If your old PC has a key stuck to the side of it, you might be able to make it work if you have a suitable XP install disk, but it's extremely hit and miss.

Hope this helps :)
 
hardwire666 said:
In all honesty before you decide to get rid of Vista try it out first, and then go from there. If you start having problems then go to XP. But in all honesty if your not exactly having problems yet then there is no reason to go through the whole process of a format/reinstall.

As for what software to run with it's all up to you. Every one has opinions on what software is the best, but really it's all about what is best for you, and what you are familiar with. Personally I have been using Sonar 6 and 7 on Vista Ultimate x64, and I have had great results. The only problems I have had are with my E-MU PCI-0404 drivers, but thats the hardware manufacturers fault not Microsoft.

Over all like i said try Vista first, and if you have problems I'm sure you'll be fine swapping over to XP. But, in the event you decide to go with XP do your homework and double check your double checking to make sure you wont have any problems.
Click to expand...


the main problem with vista (when it's working an you have no "other" problems) is that it's a memory hog.

If you were running your computer with xp you can expect the preformance to be alot better..

example.

my old computer was a shitty celron processor with just under a gig of ram

my new computer with vista is a duel intel 2.0 gig processor with 2 gigs of ram

the new computer is not much faster than the old one .. hardly even noticable.. if i had xp it would be blazing fast
 
eeb said:
the new computer is not much faster than the old one .. hardly even noticable.. if i had xp it would be blazing fast
Click to expand...

It'll be a lot faster at CPU intensive tasks, that's for sure. If it isn't, it sounds like you've got a shed!

For a DAW, while memory is useful, CPU horsepower is infinitely more so, especially when it comes to the raw processing of effects. Vista makes very little difference there, for sure.

Stopping some services (there's a ton in Vista than can go) helps to free up a fair bit of memory and a little bit of CPU time, but on the whole I agree.
 
Great info from all you fellas. It would be simpler for me to just stick with Vista, but I do have a legit XP Professional disc if all else fails. I'm seriously leaning towards one of Digidesign's Mbox 2 Mini recording bundles where you get Pro Tools LE. I went to Digidesign's site and it says this about LE 7.4 pertaining to Vista Home Premium which is what I have:

Although Windows Vista Home and Home Premium Edition have not been tested or qualified by Digidesign, there are currently no known issues with Vista Home and Home Premium 32-bit operating systems and Pro Tools LE 7.4 compared to the supported Windows Vista Business or Ultimate Edition operating systems.

Here's some of my system info so you guys can see what I'm workin' with:

OS Name: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Version: 6.0.6000 Build 6000
System Manufacturer: HP-Pavilion
System Model: GX770AA-ABA a6319fh
System Type: X86-based PC
Processor: Intel Pentium Dual CPU E2180 @ 2.00GHz, 2000 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
Total Physical Memory: 2,037.69 MB
Available Physical Memory: 984.54 MB
Total Virtual Memory: 4.19 GB
Available Virtual Memory: 3.05 GB
Page File Space: 2.28 GB

Also, P-J mentioned above "stopping some services to free up a fair bit of memory and a little bit of CPU time." What can I safely delete and get rid of without risking damage? I like simplicity. I imagine I can delete all the sample photos and videos that come with Vista, but what about certain programs that take up significant amounts of MB?
 
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