Evicting Windows XP

General Questions
#1

Is Windows XP particularly difficult to get rid of? A friend has a Gateway (exact model unknown at this point) and wants to put in a better soundcard to do various music-related things with, but WinXP doesn’t support the advanced soundcard features he wants: XP-compatible software simply isn’t available from the soundcard manufacturer yet, and won’t be for a while. Reverting to an earlier version of Windows is the only way.

  • I have heard of XP system partitions and whatnot, but I don’t know on what PC’s this is done, or how to even tell by looking (I use Win98, and have no XP experience, really). -I would have assumed to take out his HD and put it in mine as a slave and format it that way; will this work? Is there an easier way? Does XP allow you to delete/format it? - DougC
#2

Just boot off of some other install media (startup disk, bootable CD), delete all partitions using FDISK or some other tool, and install Windows. XP really doesn’t have any say in the matter, as you’ll be wiping it while it isn’t running.

Just to make sure, you tested the applications to make sure they didn’t run in XP? Not even in compatibility mode? Win2k drivers and applications should run flawlessly, if there are Windows 2000 versions available.

#3
      • The specific problem is that the soundcard has related software that refuses to even install on WinXP, the audiocard control software installer pops up a message that says it’s only supported in previous versions of Windows. It supports every Win version but XP. I hadn’t tried compatibility mode yet… Can you run an installer in compatibility mode? - DougC
#4

I just recently had to run an installer in compatability mode. I was installing Architectural Desktop 2000 when I got the “this program is incompatible with this version of windows” message before the install aborted. Not having any other option, I right-clicked SETUP.EXE on the CD and set compatability to Win2K. Install then ran smoothly and I was soon running the program without a hitch.

Also, I’ll repeat what FDISK said. If the program is Win2K compatible, then it will also run in WinXP.

#5

FDISK seems to be shamelessly plugging himself here, eh ? :stuck_out_tongue:

you can just boot to DOS using a DOS boot disk, format the drive and reinstall whatever version of windows you like. XP will not and cannot interfere. DOS is much too powerful for that.

#6

I can second what Hodge said about running installers in compatability mode. At one point, I had two or three apps that would only launch and install after it was set into Win 2000 mode. It hasn’t posed a problem for me yet.

On top of that, I’ve had to run a driver or two in compatability mode for a bit before the venders made the XP version. Same end-result as the applications- not a problem.

If it works, do it, but start with the 2000 mode and work your way back if it still won’t take.