Computer Experts.............

Goose

Well-known Member
Last fall, I purchased a new Gateway all in one 23" computer, one of the last made with Windows 7. I then found out some of my clients' software is still running XP Pro, and isn't compatible with 7. Plus, my own preference is still XP. In order to get my work done, I had to revert back to my old computer with XP Pro.

That leaves my new computer basically a $600 paperweight. I checked with an independent computer service company, and the fellow said it was possible to uninstall Windows 7 and install XP Pro, providing I could get the XP software, as MS doesn't sell it anymore.

Amazon and ebay show new unopened copies of the XP Pro software at nominal prices, depending on the seller.

My question is, is it really as simple as going to the control panel on the computer, and uninstalling 7 and installing XP? Would it affect any of the other programs I already have installed? I copied recovery discs, so I could actually put the computer back to the way it came out of the box and then switch systems.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Hello goose,

If you hard drive is big enough, why not put both systems on the same drive? Once installed properly, you will be prompted on stat up which system to boot with.
You can also get a second hard drive and set it up so you can boot from either one.

Guido.
 
If you need to support multiple customers running different operating systems, consider using virtual machines (VMs). You can have as many different configurations as you like and run multiple sessions at the same time running different operating systems. If one VM crashes, you can reboot it without restarting the computer or affecting the other VMs. If you make a configuration change that crashes a VM, just revert back to the previous configuration.

I don't know what business you're in, but if you are developing or supporting software, virtualization is the only way to go. VMware is the leader in this technology, you can download a free version of their hypervisor. Or you can use the Microsoft hypervisor, "Hyper-V". There's also a Linux-based hypervisor called Xen.
 
Look into Windows Virtual PC. Lets you run XP without having to purchase a license. However, you need Windows 7 Pro or higher to install the virtual PC software. Easier than a dual boot machine because you can switch whenever you want...
 
I don't claim to be a computer expert, but this guy does and he says support for windows XP ends
April 6 2014. I don't know if that means XP pro or what like I said not a computer Xpert.
Ask Bob
 
Hi Goose, a few years ago, I did the Vista to XPPro for a niece. She bought a top of the line Dell before starting college. She got to college and found most of the apps that were supplied by the college would not work on Vista. Largest problem was finding the device drivers that would work with XP and the hardware in the Dell laptop. Dell only had Vista device drivers for that particular laptop.
I recently had similar problem with an older desk top PC that I upgraded from XPPro to Win7 Pro. I could not find a Win7Pro video driver that would work with my video card. There is also a MS licensing issue.

Good luck
JimB
 
(quoted from post at 11:25:38 04/08/13) I then found out some of my clients' software is still running XP Pro, and isn't compatible with 7. My question is, is it really as simple as going to the control panel on the computer, and uninstalling 7 and installing XP?

Thanks in advance for any help.

If you have Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate you can run in Windows XP mode, if you have a compatible processor. Otherwise why not just dual boot?

for the details look at
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/install-and-use-windows-xp-mode-in-windows-7
 
Looks like the other guys have given you the best options.
XP mode if you're version of Windows 7 supports it, is a free
download from Microsoft with a fairly straight forward install.
One of the things it does is let you boot up a virtual machine that
runs XP inside a window on your Windows 7 desktop.
VMWare is also a good choice for some people, that's what I use.
To answer your question though, no, its not as simple as going
into the control panel and uninstalling one and installing the other.
If you were choosing to just install XP instead of 7, not a dual boot,
you would boot the computer from the XP CD, wipe out Windows 7
completely, install XP and then install all the hardware drivers manually.
Before you attempt that, go to their website and see if drivers are available.
I just did a quick search on the Gateway ZX series and didn't see anything
available for Windows XP, or any 32 bit OS for that matter.
If you try XP mode and it doesn't work out for you, no harm no foul.
You haven't hurt anything by installing it.
 
Win 7 will run anything except a 16-bit program (which means it is really ancient).

No, you can't just "uninstall" windows. Gotta wipe the drive to do that and then reinstall your "new/old" operating system.

Also, you can't just save your current configuration to disk(s).

You'll need an imaging software to take a "picture" of the hard drive and place that image on an external drive via USB. I'd recommed the Macrium Reflect from macrium dot com. Use the free one as the one they sell is a total POS.

The free one really works nice!

Allan
 
Look up VMware, you can run any OS on any OS. I am using it on my MACs to run XP, Linux W7, etc. You will need the pay version to make the images and the free version to run.
 
I am using Virtual XP to run one program on my Windows 7 Computer. It works fine for me. I did have to turn the feature on in my Bios before it would work.
 

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