Re: Want to Uninstall Windows Vista from My Computer
Hi Tigere and welcome to the PCWorld Communities. 
The Discussion to which you have posted your concern is in relation to the news article. I have branched your issue into its own Discussion. This will allow as many of our members as possible a chance to see and to respond to your question.
Now, in relation to your issue, I would strongly advise you read this Document by one of the Community's regular members, RGreen. From Vista To XP. Once you read that, if you are still adamant about removing Vista, we can do our best to help you.
This is my personal Dream PC: http://forums.pcworld.com/blogs/mphenterprises/2007/12/21/my-gift-to-myself
The Discussion to which you have posted your concern is in relation to the news article. I have branched your issue into its own Discussion. This will allow as many of our members as possible a chance to see and to respond to your question.
Now, in relation to your issue, I would strongly advise you read this Document by one of the Community's regular members, RGreen. From Vista To XP. Once you read that, if you are still adamant about removing Vista, we can do our best to help you.
This is my personal Dream PC: http://forums.pcworld.com/blogs/mphenterprises/2007/12/21/my-gift-to-myself
Re: Want to Uninstall Windows Vista from My Computer
sam5150 wrote:
You could install another drive with XP Pro. That is what I did. It is like having 2 computers in one. I take the side cover off the computer and simply plug in the SATA connector t the drive I want to use.
You could install another drive with XP Pro. That is what I did. It is like having 2 computers in one. I take the side cover off the computer and simply plug in the SATA connector t the drive I want to use.
Hi Sam and welcome to the PCWorld Communities.
Please note that Tigere has a laptop, not a desktop. adding a second hard drive is not as simple in his or her case.
This is my personal Dream PC: http://forums.pcworld.com/blogs/mphenterprises/2007/12/21/my-gift-to-myself
Re: Want to Uninstall Windows Vista from My Computer
Tigere - this unit is what I call a transition unit. It came out about the time that XP was coming off pre-installed and Vista was coming on. This particular model only came with Vista, but others in the dv9000 series came with XP. One would think you could simply go back and install XP on this machine and merrily go on your way. Such may not be the case however.
Subsequent to my generating the document From Vista to XP, other information on these machines came to light. As a result of some investigation and experimentation in attempting to solve a posting from another member some months back, I generated this document Problems Installing XP with Intel 82801 AHCI.
Lets try the easy road first - start you laptop and as soon as the POST stops (the display screen at the beginning) disappears, press and hold F8 to boot into safe mode. This will look very different and may even be called ugly, but it is very basic. Once the machine has completed booting and you are looking at a primitive desktop, your icons should all be there, but no side bar nor background image. Click on the Start button and then Control Panel. You will see a very different Control Panel, the classic view, but you want to click on Programs and Features and then installed updates. Locate Service Pack 1 on the list of updates, highlight it and then click on uninstall at the top.
If this fails, then your machine should have come with a recovery partition. You should have also been prompted to burn Recovery DVD's when you initially set up the machine.
If you have not, you may still be able to utilize the Recovery Manager on this machine, here is an excerpt from the HP page:
If this does not work, and the F11 option will not open the Recovery Manager, then your only other option is to order the recovery discs from HP. Here is a document generated on this topic by mphenterprises.
If you want more information about the HP Recovery Manager just follow that link.
Regardless, the recovery programs will return the laptop to the factory shipped condition, which means that anything you installed, programs and data will be gone. If there is critical data, then order a suitable SATA laptop drive and install in drive bay one. This means that you only have two options to reinstall, the recovery DVD's you burned, or order a set from HP. They are about $25 I believe if ordered after purchase of the machine. Your machine should have the second drive bay, but it only came with one drive. I do not know if the machine shipped with the drive tray and screws in the second bay or not. If it did, you can then install the original drive in drive bay 2 and copy the data off once you have the OS on the new drive in bay 1.
If there is no critical data or if you have (hopefully) a current backup, then you can forgo that step.
I know this is a lot of information and probably like trying to take a drink from a fire hose, but this occasionally happens when doing a major upgrade like installing SP1. Before upgrading my three machines to SP1, I generated a clone of each of the system drives, but that is another topic.
Once you get the system back to where it is supposed to be, you should open a new discussion about ways to improve the processing speed of the machine. I believe there are some steps that can be taken, but one thing at a time.
Subsequent to my generating the document From Vista to XP, other information on these machines came to light. As a result of some investigation and experimentation in attempting to solve a posting from another member some months back, I generated this document Problems Installing XP with Intel 82801 AHCI.
Lets try the easy road first - start you laptop and as soon as the POST stops (the display screen at the beginning) disappears, press and hold F8 to boot into safe mode. This will look very different and may even be called ugly, but it is very basic. Once the machine has completed booting and you are looking at a primitive desktop, your icons should all be there, but no side bar nor background image. Click on the Start button and then Control Panel. You will see a very different Control Panel, the classic view, but you want to click on Programs and Features and then installed updates. Locate Service Pack 1 on the list of updates, highlight it and then click on uninstall at the top.
If this fails, then your machine should have come with a recovery partition. You should have also been prompted to burn Recovery DVD's when you initially set up the machine.
If you have not, you may still be able to utilize the Recovery Manager on this machine, here is an excerpt from the HP page:
Restore the PC to its original condition with the HP Recovery Manager if Windows Vista is not accessible
If
the PC cannot launch into Windows, it may still be possible to use the
HP Recovery Manager on the hard drive to restore the computer to the
original operating condition by following the steps below.
the PC cannot launch into Windows, it may still be possible to use the
HP Recovery Manager on the hard drive to restore the computer to the
original operating condition by following the steps below.
# Press the
Power button
to start the PC and immediately press the
F11
key to open the HP Recovery Manager.
Power button
to start the PC and immediately press the
F11
key to open the HP Recovery Manager.
#* If
the HP Recovery Manager can access the hard drive, a prompt is
displayed to backup the user files before beginning the recovery.
Follow any on-screen instructions.
the HP Recovery Manager can access the hard drive, a prompt is
displayed to backup the user files before beginning the recovery.
Follow any on-screen instructions.
#* If
the HP Recovery Manager cannot access the hard drive to fix any system
errors, use the set of recovery discs to recover the hard drive to its
original condition.
the HP Recovery Manager cannot access the hard drive to fix any system
errors, use the set of recovery discs to recover the hard drive to its
original condition.
If you want more information about the HP Recovery Manager just follow that link.
Regardless, the recovery programs will return the laptop to the factory shipped condition, which means that anything you installed, programs and data will be gone. If there is critical data, then order a suitable SATA laptop drive and install in drive bay one. This means that you only have two options to reinstall, the recovery DVD's you burned, or order a set from HP. They are about $25 I believe if ordered after purchase of the machine. Your machine should have the second drive bay, but it only came with one drive. I do not know if the machine shipped with the drive tray and screws in the second bay or not. If it did, you can then install the original drive in drive bay 2 and copy the data off once you have the OS on the new drive in bay 1.
If there is no critical data or if you have (hopefully) a current backup, then you can forgo that step.
I know this is a lot of information and probably like trying to take a drink from a fire hose, but this occasionally happens when doing a major upgrade like installing SP1. Before upgrading my three machines to SP1, I generated a clone of each of the system drives, but that is another topic.
Once you get the system back to where it is supposed to be, you should open a new discussion about ways to improve the processing speed of the machine. I believe there are some steps that can be taken, but one thing at a time.
Re: Want to Uninstall Windows Vista from My Computer
Actually, drivers would not be the problem, but it's harder to explain to someone that they cannot change the setting of the AHCI disk controller for SATA drives in the BIOS. Most would say - Huh?
The reason I asked about Norton's is that there have been many reported problems with Norton's and SP1 install, because of the way that Norton's integrated itself into the actual OS kernel - SP1 prevents that, but Norton's also prevents SP1, soft of like some viruses, which is why many on the forum do not like either Norton's or McAfee, but the layered approach.
Our next step may be to see what the physical arrangements on your machine really are. If you have a very small phillips screwdriver, you will find three access panels on the bottom of the machine. The center panel is held in place with two very small screws, a Phillps #1 or #0 would work best. Loosen those screws, they do not come out of the panel, and lift the panel. If you look closely in the corners you will see two little images that look like memory modules, because that's what's behind the panel, along with the MB battery and I think the wireless module. On the memory modules are little stickers, what I am looking for is an HP part number that is nine digits, such as 446495-001 (which happens to be my memory module.
Next, replace that cover and remove the left hand cover which should have a raised "2" on it and small HD symbols showing on it. I am interested in find out if it is a totally empty bay or has the adapter,metal carrier for a HD and the four small screws in there. I am guessing it's empty, but it would be nice to know one way or another as it may determine our options.
Here is a link to the memory module changing proceedure. Here is a link to the drives manual.
Do you have recovery DVD's?
The reason I asked about Norton's is that there have been many reported problems with Norton's and SP1 install, because of the way that Norton's integrated itself into the actual OS kernel - SP1 prevents that, but Norton's also prevents SP1, soft of like some viruses, which is why many on the forum do not like either Norton's or McAfee, but the layered approach.
Our next step may be to see what the physical arrangements on your machine really are. If you have a very small phillips screwdriver, you will find three access panels on the bottom of the machine. The center panel is held in place with two very small screws, a Phillps #1 or #0 would work best. Loosen those screws, they do not come out of the panel, and lift the panel. If you look closely in the corners you will see two little images that look like memory modules, because that's what's behind the panel, along with the MB battery and I think the wireless module. On the memory modules are little stickers, what I am looking for is an HP part number that is nine digits, such as 446495-001 (which happens to be my memory module.
Next, replace that cover and remove the left hand cover which should have a raised "2" on it and small HD symbols showing on it. I am interested in find out if it is a totally empty bay or has the adapter,metal carrier for a HD and the four small screws in there. I am guessing it's empty, but it would be nice to know one way or another as it may determine our options.
Here is a link to the memory module changing proceedure. Here is a link to the drives manual.
Do you have recovery DVD's?
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