Upgrade Vista to XP

December 6th, 2007 · by David Bradley

Vista who? Microsoft is gearing up for the release of the next version of Windows XP - Service Pack 3, aka XP SP3. Why? You may well ask! Well, there are millions of XP users who will benefit from the speed and performance boost to legacy PCs. But, more to the point, tests already show that XP significantly outperforms Vista. Remember, you can always skin XP to make it look more like Vista without actually having to upgrade only to discover that your machine is incompatible with Vista. Check out my post on how to get Vista on your XP machine.

The video below compares the speed of boot up and processing with various flavors of Windows from 98 to Vista, via 2000 and XP. It’s not a brilliantly clear clip, but you will get the point.

For boot up - XP and 98 took about 30 seconds each, whereas Windows 2000 took about 1 minute, and the real slow coach was Windows Vista which took a hellishly painful 75 seconds just to boot up.

UPDATE: Most readers will know by now that I was being ironic with the title for this piece: upgrading from Vista to XP indeed. However, Micro$oft does have downgrade rights built into its EULAs and you are actually allowed to switch from OEM Vista on a new PC/laptop to XP - it’s all explained by Ask the Admin

14 responses so far ↓

David Bradley // Dec 17, 2007 at 8:43 am

More on how Windows XP Service Pack 3 is the best upgrade you could make if you’re on Vista

http://www.zoliblog.com/2007/11/24/windows-xp-twice-as-fast-as-vista/
David Bradley // Dec 17, 2007 at 8:45 am

You can actually get SP3 beta right now, check out this post

http://presson.wordpress.com/2007/12/12/microsoft-releases-windows-xp-sp3-rc1/
David Bradley // Dec 19, 2007 at 7:07 am

The RC (Release Candidate) of SP3 is now available. Be warned, users are already reporting a few problems with one or two apps, not all languages are supported yet, and more to the point, the RC download is time limited.

db
Joe Bowen // Jan 31, 2008 at 2:47 pm

Can I convert my New Laptop with Vista to XP instead? I hate Vista and my company’s software is only compatible with XP.
David Bradley // Jan 31, 2008 at 3:28 pm

Of course you can Joe, if you have a legitimate copy of XP. You’ll have to wipe the hard drive, reformat, and then install XP. Finally, you’d then have to let XP do all its updates and install SP2 ready for the release of SP3

db
Presson // Feb 15, 2008 at 2:06 am

Hey there David. I’m curious if you booted each OS a few times before taking the timings? xp and Vista will boot slightly faster after a few boots. Also, what service packs were installed?

Cool stuff
Presson’s last blog post..The Ultimate Cube Prank
David Bradley // Feb 15, 2008 at 9:35 am

Presson, sorry that’s not me in the video! I suspect there are a lot of variables that might affect boot times. I guess to do a proper controlled experiment you’d have to format the hard drive do a full clean install of each OS, reboot say ten times and then do the timings. All the while surfing on your Linux box!

db
Luwiskie // Feb 21, 2008 at 1:18 am

Hi there, what will happen to my existing file on HDD if i will convert my vista to xp?

please let me know, Thanks!
David Bradley // Feb 21, 2008 at 7:38 am

Luwiskie, you mean your data files, I presume. Back them up to an external storage medium before you make any changes. Do a search elsewhere for more details on how to prepare to remove Vista and switch to XP.

db
David Bradley // Mar 7, 2008 at 3:07 pm

It’s quite bizarre the discussions that ensue when one writes a tongue-in-cheek post title such as this one…

http://www.tutorials-win.com/XPBasic/upgrade-vista/

db
Sky // Apr 16, 2008 at 12:52 pm

I am glad to see topic. But my question is a bit off-topic, but I really hope you will answer me.

You said that it is possible to change Vista to XP by using a legitimate XP cd. I would like to ask which version of XP? I mean either OEM, Retail ,etc.?

Please enlighten me. Thank you.
David Bradley // Apr 16, 2008 at 1:40 pm

Sky, this post was a bit tongue in cheek to be honest, but you’re going to have to locate a legitimate copy of XP to make the change.

db
David Bradley // May 12, 2008 at 7:52 pm

Here’s a quick tip for anyone looking for SP3. It’s now available for direct download from Microsoft. However, I strongly recommend that you DO NOT INSTALL Sp3. It is causing serious repeated reboot problems for thousands of users, yours truly included! I had to drop back to an original XP disk and rebuild everything from scratch and now I find that my SATA drivers ain’t running. Luckily no data loss though.

db
David Bradley // May 22, 2008 at 9:29 am

Actually, having given it a go, I’d strongly advice not installing SP3 at this time. Its installation trashed my laptop and I had to resurrect from the original XP disk and reinstall all updates and software. Thankfully, no data was lost, but it all took a whole day to do, so there was a great loss of work time.

db