SEARCH

The How-To Geek Forums Have Migrated to Discourse



Join the Discussion at discuss.howtogeek.com

How-To Geek Forums / Windows 7

Need to rollback Windows 7 to get to XP!

(4 posts)
  • Started 4 years ago by lnicole3
  • Latest reply from whs
  • Topic Viewed 7309 times

lnicole3
Posts: 2

I'm in a world of trouble. I had a simple problem to begin with. I had a virus on my computer and had to clear the hard drives and reinstall Windows XP. The problem was, I didn't have any recovery disks, so a consultant at my university installed Windows 7, because it was free and available, being in the beta version.

Problem was, I have a Sony VAIO VGN-FS850P/W, and it didn't have compatible drivers, specifically in the media department. So, nothing displays correctly and my sound is awful--can you say static? I needed to get back to XP, so I ordered the XP media recovery disks from Sony.

However, these disks will not work from startup! The most I can do is select "Autorun" when the computer has loaded, but for restoration it prompts me to restart the computer. And when I do this, the disk is still not read. I think Windows 7 is blocking this process.

Basically, is there a way to "rollback" Windows 7 to XP so I can use my recovery disks and start over?

Posted 4 years ago #
Top
 
whs
whs
Posts: 17584

I am pretty sure the video and sound driver problem on Windows7 can be fixed. If you are happy using W7, I would try that first. The driver you are looking for is most likely a Nvidea, Intel or ATI driver. And they work in W7. Go into Device Manager and update the drivers there. Type DEV into the Start/search field. go to Device manager > double click on "Sound, video and Game controller" > double click on whatever is there > go to the Driver button > Update driver. You may have to try a few times (I had to do that).

Posted 4 years ago #
Top
 
ScottW
ScottW
Posts: 6609

lnicole3, regarding the recovery discs from Sony, it sounds like the CD reader is not in the boot sequence before the hard drive. To change it, you need to access the BIOS setup utility. I have a Vaio desktop and to get to setup it uses the F2 key, but yours might be different. Once in the Setup Utility, go to the Boot menu and change the boot sequence so that the CD reader is first. Then you should be able to boot from the Sony recovery CD.

If you need more help, write back.

Posted 4 years ago #
Top
 
whs
whs
Posts: 17584

Hmm, ScottW is right. Note that once you are in the BIOS you can only navigate with the Up/Down keys. But it would be a shame to distroy your nice Windows7. I would try to update the drivers first. Windows7 is a great system to work with. You can always use XP once the W7 has expired.

Posted 4 years ago #
Top
 



Topic Closed

This topic has been closed to new replies. Please create a new topic instead.


Create New Topic Return to Forum