How too get rid of windows vista for good?

Question

Upon attempting to install windows xp over windows vista, i have come across a whole **** flavoured rainbow of problems.
Windows vista frequently crashes corrupts every damn Hdd i put in my machine and takes up far too many system resources, its solution to every windows vista related problem is to download updates which just makes more problems in its wake eg installing sp2 gives me windows 95 theme with no internet and sound....

I have tries many Times to install windows xp:
1:No ps2 keyboard
2:Bsod
.....
670:Bsod
and if it gets past loading all of its components and actually starts the windows xp installation I get another Bsod...
Replacing pc parts is a nono i have no money and no transport.
How do i get rid of windows vista?
Things i have tried:
Wiping hdd with magnets prior to windows xp installation.
Removing then reinserting hdd during installation.
Deleting my sytem 32 Folder (no)
Smashing head against brick wall
Hitting computer so hard aluminum frame buckles..
Putting windows xp on a usb
Sticking windows xp in an iso file and mounting it..
I am unable to install Ubuntu (would if i could)

How do i proceed? (Other than smashing my pc it is quite expensive for such a piece of ****)

Answer 1

Several things to do.



1. You can NOT install Windows XP over VISTA Microsoft does NOT allow downgrades. You MUST boot the computer from the Windows XP disk. Start the Computer with Windows XP Install disk in the CD ROM drive and when the black screen comes up press any key to boot from CD.

Then follow the on screen instructions and when you get to where to install it delete all partitions format the drive (ALL DATA will be erased including your personal files so back them up first) then Windows XP will install



2, Get Darik's Boot And Nuke (BAN) http://www.dban.org/download

run it and it will wipe the hard drive and you can start over. ( (ALL DATA will be erased including your personal files so back them up first)



3. Do a factory restore, this will wipe everything and put the Operating System that came with the computer back on. Should have come with a disk or a special hard drive partition.



4. Check the memory in the motherboard it may be causing the problem of freeze ups. Insure it is all the same type and speed.



5. You may have malware that is causing problems with Windows .exe association files. Try downloading Malwarebytes (good idea even if you put on a new OS) install it, update and run and remove all it finds.

Answer 2

Here's how to do an XP Clean Install;



It re-formats Drive C:/, which destroys Vista, and all your personal data.



So, Back Up all your personal data, FIRST. And, you may need to have SATA hard drive device drivers handy.



TIP: If your XP disk is an OEM disk from a Brand-name manufacturer like Dell, that's the REAL problem. These CDs won't work on any other brand of PC, other than the specific PC the CD came with, by Model Number. You should be using a "full, retail, XP Installation CD", with an un-used Activation Code. If that's not what you have, you'll have to BUY one on eBay, etc.

Answer 3

Sounds like your computer is messed up. I've been running Vista for a couple of years and never had a problem with it.



If you've wiped the drives then there can't be anything left of Vista to stop XP installing - therefore it's got to be something wrong with your computer.



EDIT: I've just read your other notes you added and I really do think you've got some sort of hardware problem. It could be some sort of virus but the symptoms do not sound right for that.



Try downloading this - http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ - there's enough tools on that bootable CD to test everything in your system and completely wipe your hard drive ready for your XP installation.



If I'm wrong and you do have viruses then the tools to wipe your drive will get rid of them. From the state of your computer I think it's too late to try to wipe viruses from it anyway and you're better off doing a reinstall.

Answer 4

Judging by your experiences, I'm guessing you have a SATA hard drive. Windows XP can't see that during install, and you get a BSOD when the initial flies are loaded. You need to go into the BIOS and set up SATA compatibility to IDE. If you can't do that, you have to blend the correct set of SATA drivers into your iso file, burn it onto a CD and boot from that.



After you get into the setup screen, it will tell you what OS it already has, if any. You can opt to wipe anything like Vista via formatting the partition at that point.

Answer 5

You may have actually damaged your hard drive if you actually used magnets near it (especially powerful ones such as REM's).



All you should have to do is boot the PC (make sure it is set to boot from CD/DVD disc drive)

Insert Windows XP disc.

Wait for "Hit any key to boot from disc" message to appear, and hit any key.

Windows XP should begin to load installation files and the proceed to the installation procedure.

Follow the instructions and it is as easy as that.



Chances are, you have damaged the hard drive either physically or virtually. If it is physically damaged, it's pretty much scrap (harvest the REM's from inside, they are fun to play with).

If it is a virtual thing (such as the boot tables), then I suggest downloading a Live distro of Ubuntu and booting from that (no installation necessary, it runs from the disc and RAM/memory). Use Ubuntu to format the hard drive and then try installing Windows XP.



Hope that helps.



I'll include a visual guide of how to do a clean install of XP: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/instxpclean1.htm

Answer 6

I think your computer has something wrong: could be leaky capacitors, bad RAM, bad HD, etc. Check for leaky capacitors, test RAM (Memtest+, Vista has a memory test utility), old drivers, etc.