XP install

[Jim Keith]

I have a 2 yr. old computer with Vista on it. If I purchase a new hard drive, can I load XP on it without a hassle? I don't like Vista, and am not real happy with 7 either.
Thanks in advance for any help,
Jim

[John Cipriano]

It's hard to know without knowing the specific hardware. Best thing is to go into Device Manager and look up some things you typically need drivers for: mainly sound, video, motherboard chipset, and network card, and go to the manufacturer's sites and see if XP drivers exist.

Generally the answer is yes though.

I'm not saying I think it's a good idea, but if you're sure...

[Wiz Feinberg]

A 2 year old PC was built when Vista was first being released. I think you will find XP drivers for the devices on your motherboard. However, if a particular device has no XP driver you might be able to buy and install an XP compatible plug-in card, (for PCI slots) to power that device.

For instance, if the network chip on the motherboard only supports Vista or W7, go to any computer store in the world and buy a NIC for XP, with PCI connectors. Open up the PC and install the card and secure it. Reboot and hit whatever key gets you into "Setup." Fish around the "Peripherals tab contents until you find the network adapter and use the key specified to open it's options, then use the arrow keys to select Disable. Save and exit the BIOS and when Windows boots, insert the driver disk for that card. Sometimes Windows will already have a good driver for such devices.

[Jim Keith]

Thanks for the replies. I will give that a shot.
Right now it won't even boot up. I was running dual boot with Linux. That computer is less of a problem than 7. I think the best systems windows has ever come up with are NT and Xp. I figured if I could get it up and running, I could find the drivers.
Jim

[Wiz Feinberg]

Can you boot into Linux? If so, use that OS until you debug the Windows problem.