Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of Inveigler
InveiglerFlag for Canada

asked on

Windows Vista Downgrade with Easy Transfer

Will "Windows Easy Transfer" work when downgrading Vista Home Premium to XP Pro? Has anyone tried successfully? Windows states that it will not work when transferring to "Windows XP Starter Edition" but I've never heard of this edition. Are they being purposely vague to deter people from downgrading using Vista's own tool?
Avatar of andrew_aj1
andrew_aj1
Flag of United States of America image

Windows XP Starter is a low-cost version of XP for certain countries. You should have no issues doing this. If you want to be safe you can copy your important data to an external hard drive or burn it to a CD/DVD.
I hope this helps. Good luck.
Avatar of Inveigler

ASKER

Thanks, I think so too but I'm really looking to know if someone has actually done it successfully
Might I play Devil's advocate and ask why the downgrade to XP?
It's a laptop that requires service so I have to remove all my data and send it in. It was a dog when running properly even with Vista stripped and 2GB RAM so I wanted to downgrade when I get it back. Hoping it might perform a bit better under XP. I know all the perils and pitfalls.

Just want to be clear by successfully I mean:
Ran "Windows Easy Transfer" in Vista
Saved to DVD
Downloaded Windows Easy Transfer  
Installed it on XP
Ran the program in XP
Successfully imported all files and settings into XP from DVD using Windows Easy transfer
SOLUTION
Avatar of dfxdeimos
dfxdeimos
Flag of United States of America image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Microsoft is vague in that it states that "Windows Easy Transfer" is for migrating from many OSs "to Vista" or "Vista to Vista" but make no mention of from Vista "to" any other MS OS
Thanks just the same
as an aside - i assume you have the XP drivers for the laptop before you 'downgrade'
p.s. XP will be like Windows ME in 6 months, if Vista is slow with 2G RAM then its probably the CPU  or a dodgy HD - and it may be pants with XP.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Since I can't close this post without awarding points I'll just leave it. I can't award points for answers like "why downgrade to XP?" I answered the question myself by attempting the downgrade using Easy Transfer.  The answer is no the wizard gives you no option other than Vista to transfer to. If I can't be awarded points for ansering my own quetion then please close this question without awarding points.
Why must I award points when no answer has been provided. It diminishes the value of this community. Each answer was either of little value or outright wrong.
Your thoughts?
I would ask for the question to be removed and the points refunded.
post a request in community support