Putting XP On New Dell Desktop With Vista?

[iamloco724]

im going to buy a new desktop and the one i want only comes with vista i have windows xp dell oem cds from my old pc can i format the new pc and use one of the old oem cds to put xp on my new pc without a problem?

[PrntRhd]

Nope.
OEM Windows licenses are tied to a single PC hardware, not transferable.

Look for Vista PCs with an option to "downgrade" to XP. They give you the OEM PC loaded with Vista and also give you a XP restore disk.

[classicsoftware]

Call Seneca Data (http://www.senecadata.com/) and find a reseller near you. They have XP downgrades with XP installed and Vista restore disks for upgrading later if you wish.

PrntRhd has a couple of them and I think he likes them. I just ordered one for myself....

[PrntRhd]

Yes I do have a couple of them,
:)
nice thing is the software loaded, NO JUNK SOFTWARE:
An OS
Acrobat Reader
Restore program
Partitions per customer requirements.
Really good hardware.
Excellent warranty included.

[iamloco724]

ok just wanted to update you all i ordered a vista dell system inspiron 530 formated it upon arrival and used my old xp oem disk and worked smoothly not asking for activation,updating successfully and dell.com still offers the xp drivers

[Paul Komski]

You were to some extent lucky but could have checked with the Dell site beforehand to see if XP drivers had been available. When Vista was launched a lot of the Dell systems were only shipped with Vista drivers and no XP drivers were ever made available. With Vista's undoubted unpopularity, as time went by, Dell shipped more and more new systems with capability for both OSes. The latest Dell Laptop I ordered had mostly vista as the option but also one Vista downgrade to XP (as per PrintRhd) that could be upgraded to Vista at a later stage if desired.

PS A lot of (but not all) Dells come with a restore partition as well as OEM Windows Installation CDs and other utility CDs. Those with a restore partition are accessed using CTRL+F11 during boot up and usually have a fleeting whilte bar with Dell on it at the top of the screen during boot up. This doesn't seem to be widely known. Nor is it widely known that altering the proprietary MBR that Dell uses on these systems will negate the CTRL+F11 option. The original MBR can be rebuilt using the instructions on the Goodells site.

[classicsoftware]

ok just wanted to update you all i ordered a vista dell system inspiron 530 formated it upon arrival and used my old xp oem disk and worked smoothly not asking for activation,updating successfully and dell.com still offers the xp drivers

Not that the DELL police will be there soon, but you violated your EULA and your software is illegal.....

[Paul Komski]

Not that the DELL police will be there soonI wouldn't worry about the DELL but with the MS "police". If the software is illegal then windows update may well lock one out.

[mjc]

This one is getting a bit tricky...since, usually, the disks included with machines won't even work to install on another model of the same company's machines. But, it did actually install, so...

But, the rule is, especially with preloaded OEM software, it is only good for the system it came on.

[Paul Komski]

All I can say for sure is that I have recently experimented with a Dell OEM Windows Vista Home Basic CD that came with a Dell Laptop on an I_Built_It Winfast mobo system. It installs fine but as soon as one goes near MS on the web it is detected as "not genuine" and locks one out until a valid key is ready to be inserted.

[mjc]

It installs fine but as soon as one goes near MS on the web it is detected as "not genuine" and locks one out until a valid key is ready to be inserted.

Sneaky...

Most of what I've encountered has been, this disk isn't for this machine type stuff.

[Paul Komski]

BTW - when locked out - I think I could access files etc by entering in Safe Mode with "Restricted Access" but in normal mode the PC must be able to go on line and reactivate with a new key, or phone MS, etc, etc, otherwise one is immediately logged out and never see the desktop.