making vista XP-like

[Shard92]

I have a customer who just purchased a sony Vaio laptop. of course it came with vista home premium. He hates it and would like to go back to xp... however home premium does not allow downgrading. So the options I see are buying a new xp or trying to make vista as xp-like as possible.... The problem with putting xp on it is of course drivers... Sony does not offer anything but vista drivers.... any recommendations? I dont' wont to back up all his stuff and redo the hard drive to find I can't make everything work because of drivers....He has a couple of gig of pictures scattered all over....

[NooNoo]

well if you have a system spec you could see if there are reference drivers for xp around...
have a look at this video tutorial - it should be the quickest way...

[BOB IROC]

Thats a shame. I think many people do not like vista at first. I know I was apprehensive when I was playing with the beta. But then I got a new laptop at work loaded with Vista Ultimate and after a few days I found that there are many "little things" that make it better. I find that when you navigate through the computer everything you need is right at your fingertips.

[Ferrit]

There are a number of things to do to make it "Classic"
1. Change the Start menu: Right-click the Start button, choose Properties, select Classic Start Menu, and click the OK button.

2. Bring back the desktop: Right-click a blank part of the desktop and choose Personalize. Choose Theme and then choose Windows Classic from the Theme pull-down menu. Click the OK button.

3. Put the menus back on top of each folder: Open your Documents folder from the Start menu. Then click the Organize button, choose Folder and Search Options, and choose Use Windows Classic Folders. Click the OK button.

[3fingersalute]

well if you have a system spec you could see if there are reference drivers for xp around...
have a look at this video tutorial - it should be the quickest way...

That video is helpful, but I think they should say that it makes vista look "2000-like" instead.

[Shard92]

thanks all... he decided to keep the vista and go with the xp-like tweaks... He's an older gentleman and just didnt' like having to relearn where everything was....