With my laptop I got WindowsXP as well as Microsoft Office 2007. Of course the WindowsXP is the OEM version and I was wondering if I wanted to "try out" Windows Vista is there a way to install Vista over my WinXP and then if I don't like it go back to my WinXP? Since I don't have the WindowsXP CD because it's the OEM version, how is it possible to reinstall or revert back to it if I'm not satisfied with Windows Vista? I do have a WindowsXP CD but it's not the same as the one currently installed on my laptop. Any ideas?

After playing around with Vista for a few days, you may want to remove it from your system, and reclaim the hard drive space. Microsoft has made this step very simple as well.

1. Boot your computer in to Windows XP.
2. Ensure you have the Vista DVD image emulated or in the DVD drive.
3. Go to “Start” and “Run”. Type in “e:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt52 ALL /force” (without quotes, and replacing e: with the drive letter of your Vista DVD).
4. Restart the computer, and you will notice the boot selection menu is gone.
5. Format the partition/drive where you had Vista installed.
6. Remove two files (Boot.BAK & Bootsect.BAK) on your XP drive’s root folder (C, these were backup files of your previous bootloader, now no longer useful.
7. Optional: Restart to ensure it still works.
8. Use your partition software to merge your partitions together.

source

This post was last modified: 03-11-2008 10:23 AM by gft77.

If you have the proper hardware, and you upgrade, you shouldn't want to go back though.

Features New to Windows Vista

Technical Features New to Windows Vista

I have to say, I was iffy about the upgrade. but I'm running Vista x64 SP1 and the only hardware that doesn't work at all is my musical keyboard, which is why I still have my dual-boot setup. As soon as creative get off their asses and release the '2007 prodikeys vista driver' (even though it's 2008 -_-) I'm deleting xp.

SP1 is an essential though that pretty much brings games performance up to XP standard (give or take a few fps). It's now on NVIDIA's back to write some competent openGL drivers so I can play darwinia at higher that 30fps.

I'm in the same boat as D4rk. I'm worried about programs not being compatible, drivers missing, and other stuff. I already know some of the online games I play have a few problems when trying to play on Vista such as loss of sound. I've been waiting forever for Vista SP1 to hit. I'll use another laptop to "test" it out first before I install it on mine. My friend is using it now and after using his I fell in love with the look and design of it. Sure I've seen pictures of it but it's not the same as actually using it.

Let's not forget why games perform slower on Vista. Drivers were used from kernel space to userland. The advantage from this is that there's less security holes, as well as significantly more stability. If you've experienced a driver crash on Xp, it's a BSOD. On OS X, it's a Kernel Panic. On Vista, the GUI gives you a message of what happened, and restarts, just like aa reglar application.

yeah, but once the drivers reach a full maturity, there should be a minimal performance drop.

But the issue with openGL drivers is that there is not many new games that use it exclusively, so their half-assed implementation is fine (for them) because there's no serious graphical demand.

But then I guess that'd take time away from the DX driver development, which holds more engine real-estate.

Mostly yes. As cards get more powerful, the difference will become negligable.

OpenGL isn't great, and compared to DirectX, unless I was developing cross platform, I wouldn't touch it.

I'll take your word for it, I've only ever used DirectX

Update on my situation. I am in need of a larger hdd for my laptop so I've decided to pick up one tomorrow and install Vista on it. That way if it turns out I don't like it I'll just ghost my current WinXP to the new hdd instead. That way I won't be losing anything.

I picked up Windows Vista Ultimate and installed it and I'm loving it back time. I did a fresh install (wiped the hdd and reformatted) and have yet to run into any problems that I was worried about. I am even playing one of my online games in window mode and there is no slow down at all that other people have been reporting. Lovin, lovin, lovin it! Looks so nice, fresh, and AWESOME!

grab SP1 from p-bay or something. it's a major improvement.

That's a roger. I plan on "getting" it tomorrow. I'm too drained today to do anything and gonna sleep soon.

Wait until it is released from Microsoft. I have the MSDN seed (Official 18000 build, NT 6001, all that jazz). There's rumor that the RC2 (which ended up being RTM), initial builds may not update in the future, unless you're sure you're getting the final build.

D: