Downgrading Windows 7

[bganson]

does anyone reading this like windows 7...that's the operating system where you have trouble getting permission to operate your own computer. I think microsoft ought to pick up part of the coast of the pc because they "own" it with their new operating system. what do you think?

 

[ruready2]

Are you on a campaign to degrade MS? If not you are wasting your time. Install Xp pro and be done with it. I don't think anyone will disagree that MS is greedy and their customer support lacks tremendously but, they are tooooo large to care and have cornered the market many years ago.

 

[bganson]

downgrading problem

everytime i try to down grade i get a message and a crash of system. xp pro disc will load files then when it says loading windows it stops abruptly with a message...shutting down to prevent damage...etc.
could it be that my os disc is too old? it is windows xp professional corporate 2004

 

[Leeky]

Are you formatting your hard drive, rebooting and loading the XP disk from bootup menu?

I find W7 to be much better than anything MS have released in recent years. I was a diehard fan of XP, but now I much prefer W7.

 

[ruready2]

When you said you were downgrading it immediately stood out that you are attempting to install xp while logged in on 7. My interpretation may be wrong but, that is what I get from your post.

You need to boot from the disc if you are not already doing so. You will have the opportunity to format the hdd during the installation. Also, make sure you have no externals plugged in during the install. This means printers, cams and any other device connected other than keyboard and mouse.

 

[captaincranky]

OK, Windows 7 has files that you will never be able to access, because they don't exist. They are duplicates of file paths that existed in XP, but now they are just redirecting files from programs that require these paths.

I agree with you that Win 7 is finicky, sometimes you can either gain, or be denied access, to the same file from different entry points. (At least I think that's what's happening).

See if this guide, and these registry entries are of any help to you.

https://www.techspot.com/guides/253-take-ownership-windows-files/

 

[foreverzero89]

does anyone reading this like windows 7...that's the operating system where you have trouble getting permission to operate your own computer. I think microsoft ought to pick up part of the coast of the pc because they "own" it with their new operating system. what do you think?

i love it so many more features and security. when you learn how to use it you will love it too. you're also wrong about MS "owning" your computer.

 

[bazz2004]

Windows 7 is faster than XP which is a big plus. It's no great leap forward but most people like it. I wanted to install an XP partition on my new Windows 7 desktop to run applications which don't work on the new OS. Unfortunately, some of the hardware like SATA drives are not covered by a Windows XP installation disk's outdated list of device drivers. That makes things rather difficult with a new computer and I doubt it's worth downgrading from Windows 7. You can "slipstream" a new XP installation disk to include problem drivers if you know what you are doing.

 

[xenton]

I was happy with XP, liked the look of vista but never really got on with it, went back to XP, but I've been quite happy with 7.