Downgrading from Windows Vista Business to XP Pro .. How to do this and test recovery discs created

[tallahou]

Urgent Assistance Needed ...

I have a Sony Vaio SR VGN-SR46GD. I basically want to change (downgrade) from Windows Vista Business to XP Professional. I have created 3 recovery discs. I want to:

1: Test the recovery discs - how do I do this? Which option do I press on restart i.e. F2, F10 etc what are the steps exactly that I need to take to test the recovery discs.

2. How do I then downgrade to XP Professional - What are the steps? After inserting hte cd into the drive what do I press on restart and what are the steps.

Thanks  

[Blencogo · Accepted solution]

Your Vaio is a Sony Asia-Pacific model.

The full step by step instructions for downgrading your model to XP are on the Support Page for your model here: -

http://www.sony-asia.com/support/product/VGN-SR46GD

Click on 'Downloads' -> Select XP as the OS -> Select 'OS Upgrades/Downgrades' -> 'Windows XP Installation'.

These instructions include all the drivers and applications needed to perform the downgrade (but not the OS) and give specific instructions on installing the SATA driver from a USB Floppy Disc Drive.

Your hard drive is a SATA type and there is no support for SATA drives in XP - all you will get when trying to install is 'Hard Disc Not Found'.

To test the Recovery Discs you need to load disc 1 in the Vaio's drive and reboot.  The system should boot up from the Recovery DVD and the Vaio Recovery Centre should open.  To guarantee that the discs work will require you to reinstall Vista and make sure the 3 discs all work properly.

Good Luck

[tallahou]

Hi Blencogo,

Thank you for replying ... and the assistance.

Ok I get what you are saying other than the following:

When I reboot you mean restart and press one of the F keys? But which one.

Your hard drive is a SATA type and there is no support for SATA drives in XP - all you will get when trying to install is 'Hard Disc Not Found' - So does that mean I will be unable to install XP????? The reason I want to donwgrade is because I always get trouble installing software such as Visual Studio installas correctly but I can not develop software correctly as it will never allow me to connect to the database using SQLServer which as it is a business machine there is already this installed on the laptop .. etc and so many people have said that they have downgraded and it works fine now.

How do I overcome the "Hard Disc Not Found"

Eagerly awaiting your reply ... thank you once again you have been a great help.

Tariq

[perfectlarry]

Hi mate, I am not an expert but I will try my best to help you. The Windows XP OS CD does not contain any drivers for SATA hard drives so when you try to install Windows XP it will simply say "Hard Disc Not Found" to overcome this you need to integrate your SATA driver with the Windows XP OS CD so that when you are installing Windows XP the Hard Drive is recognised and can be used.

Check this link out:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/resolving-setup-did-not-find-any-hard-disk-drives-during-wind...

PS, to test the recovery discs. What I have to do on my Toshiba is reboot, then press F2 to enter set up and go to start up and put CD first. Save changes and exit. Your laptop will reboot and load from your CD, then just follow the instructions.

[Blencogo]

The Boot Order of your Vaio should already be DVD/CD-ROM drive before hard disc - so you need do nothing - don't press any keys.  If Recovery Disc 1 is in the drive when you reboot, the system will automatically look for a bootable disc in the drive before booting from the hard disc.  Just restart your Vaio and the Recovery Center should load onto the screen from the recovery discs and you can then follow the on-screen instructions.

The Website link I gave you describes how to load the SATA driver from a floppy USB drive.  There are other ways but this is the simplest and the drive costs about £15.  You will have to buy or borrow one of these drives and place the SATA driver in the root of the 1.44MB floppy disc.  Load your XP Installation disc and when you see 'Welcome to Setup' press F6 to load the driver from the floppy drive.  This gets round the HDD Not Found problem.

Good Luck