I’m getting a dell Inspiron 1420 for school this fall and I really don’t want Vista. The system comes with Vista Home Premium. If I buy a legal copy of XP home will I be able to downgrade? If not, how do I downgrade?? Please help asap. Thanks a lot.
AFAIK, no, you cannot downgrade. However, you should be able to put the XP disc in, start up the laptop, and get into the XP installation program, where you can choose to format the drive and install, which will remove Vista. As long as you haven’t installed anything or put any documents on there, you don’t really have anything to lose.
Only the Vista Ultimate and business OEM versions carry this right.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=543
Upon closer reading I see that drachillix is right.
Also right about installing your own OS.
Ok on second reading, if you go buy a legit copy of XP home you can install it just like you would any other os, you pay for the licence. Only problem will be that you may need to go hunting for all new drivers since the machine will come with vista drivers.
Also, note that in my experience, manufacturers can be VERY snitty about honoring their warranties if you change the OS that it ships with–especially if you’re downgrading. And finding all the drivers for notebooks can be a challenge if (as in this case) the notebook never shipped with the OS you’re going to be using: notebooks often used highly customized components that won’t have standard names and model numbers; XP drivers probably exist, but you won’t know it.
As you’ll notice if you search on my posts, I’m hardly the world’s biggest fan of Vista, but this seems like a bad idea. Either choose a notebook that comes with XP (some of Dell’s still do) or bite the bullet, make sure you’ve got at least 2 Gb of memory in there, and live with Vista – you can shut off some of the resource-hogging fluff and get it to act a lot like XP if you try. Love Vista or hate it, it’s going to be the OS that new machines come with from here on out.
Shouldn’t be a problem, the lack of Vista drivers for a lot of hardware is a problem though.
Putting XP on would be simple but as said previously warranty claims can become a nightmare if you have dumped the OS.
I have Vista on this machine and after a little bit of familiarisation I find it OK.
My plan is to buy a new hard drive and install Ubuntu on it, then if anything goes wrong, just pop the original drive back in.
Dell has recently switched their policy, so that you can order their machines with Xp installed instead of Vista.
So if that’s what you want, ask for it when you order the machine.
Beware that programs included with the computer won’t be there. The ones you have the full install cd’s for may not work with Vista, you’ll need to check. Microsoft can’t force you to use Vista, they can only refuse to sell you a different OS, and they still have XP on the market, so that it. Be sure to get a full version and not an upgrade version.
Not a problem on pre-built systems that ship with it though.
True I was forgetting the motherboard and graphics drivers - on the other hand I never installed them on may last machine (This one, now running Ubuntu) XP found them on the net and did a great job of installing them. The graphics drivers on disc didn’t actually work, display was rotated through 90°. XP found and installed better ones. Same with the printers and scanner - far better, simpler setup than the manufacturers discs (HP printer install discs were a nightmare)
All in all, XP was pretty slick although it took a hell of a time to install and download/install all the updates including service pack II and then all the fixes for the broken bits.
Edit to add
Sorry, missread that. As I said above I have a Vista Laptop that completely refuses to have anything to do with one of my printers (no drivers available) or scanner. Both fine with XP and Ubuntu.
Uuugh.
I had originally bought a latitude 630 with XP. But Dell screwed it up and I won’t be able to get it until way after I leave for school. SO I bought a inspiron 1420 refurb with the same specs.
I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to live with Vista…
Is there a way to find out if Dell will honor the warranty if I downgrade the os?
Sure, ask them. Sales for home and home office is 1-800-999-3355 (Mon.-Sun., 8am - 9pm CST) according to their web site. Press them hard on the details and don’t accept weasel words like “shouldn’t” or “don’t think so.” Make them tell you, “No, that will not invalidate your warranty.”
And write down the date and time that the person told you this. They should also be able to give you an employee ID. “Bob” doesn’t cut it.
Dell is ridiculous. I got a refurb, already built, because they’ve had my original on backorder for over a month. I got overnight shipping and now Dell wont gurarantee I will get it at all next week. Haha. So I think I’m just going to go through a representative on ebay. Dell sucks.
Contrary to expectations I have heard quite good reports of Dell’s customer service. Looks like you are one of the unlucky ones.
I hate to say this but do you have a PC World nearby?
I would not normally darken their doors but when they have an offer the prices are just stupid cheap. I bought a pair of Toshiba laptops for just over £1,000 and got a wireless router thrown in free .
Actually I bought two Compaq’s but they were crap and took them back and swapped them for the Toshiba’s. My son and son in law both bought Compaq’s and they have been fine - son got his with six months interest free credit AND got them to throw in a wireless router free.
If you are lucky they may have one with XP on it although they are usually limited to business machines these days.
God help you if you have a problem with them though, their customer service is beyond laughable.
Im about to cry. Dell took the money out of my account even though I cancelled the order…so I can’t buy from anywhere else because I have no funds. So I’m not gonna have a laptop before next week for school. I made a huge mistake with Dell.
Oh, pooh, don’t be silly. Dell isn’t some kind of global robber baron bent on deliberately stealing your money. Be sensible now. Here are three different ways to contact them and clear things up.
Then after you’ve got that cleared up, tell them you want a computer shipped with XP and without Vista. I did that earlier this summer, and got a good deal on it, although I ended up not buying the computer due to fiscal considerations unrelated to the deal.
Never-ever buy a computer off eBay. You amaze me: you think a reputable manufacturer/business like Dell is out to shaft you, and you’re going to trust some eBay stranger with more of your scarce money? Egad.
You could if you can find a suitable one offering interest free credit, then pay it off when Dell refund your money.
It has turned into something of a nightmare for you now though. It is all extremely frustrating.
I could cry for you.
So what perchance is wrong with Vista anyhow?
Look at the dates these were published. As you can see, Vista’s issues are being addressed.