I Like XP

I have windows 7 64 Bit, Can I Load Windows XP 64 bit?

Yes you can in a VM environment. If you don't know what that is then Google it.

If, as your new thread states: "I Like XP". You really shouldn't be posting on this forum which is a Windows 7 forum only. If you wish to contribute as a Windows 7 user and / or have questions pertaining to Windows 7, then you're welcome to jump in. If you're coming here to extoll the virtues of XP or whatever pertaining to XP then I would advise you to go to an XP-dedicated forum.

Thank You! Enjoy your stay here!

Ernie41, welcome to the forum!

Yes, you can! If you have enough spare RAM (you'll need 6GB to do this), you can install VirtualBox, it supports 64 bit guests. I have it installed on my month old notebook, and it runs quite well. So well, if I opened it full screen, one wouldn't notice it's a VM at all.

The reason that you'll need 6GB RAM to do this, is that even with 4GB installed, 2 64 bit OS's just won't run with that amount of RAM. It'll be too large of a drag on the system. Also, a decent CPU will help also, preferably a dual core (quad is even better) that runs at 2GHz or higher is best.

http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

You can run virtually any Windows or Linux OS within this app. And keep your Windows 7 install, too,

Best of Luck,
Cat

He may have been asking if Win 7 64 license qualifies him to run XP 64 and I do believe your license does qualify you to downgrade to XP as long as you don't have both installed. To have both you need two licenses. I just don't know how it would work exactly because I wouldn't expect the W7 key to work on the XP install - maybe you have to contact MS about downgrading; sorry I don't have more info but I never tried it.

From what I've read, on TechNet and other sources, the OEM install of 7 has to be of Pro or higher to have downgrade rights.

What's going to be tricky, is if the end users does this, with no experience in doing so, there may be problems. I was planning to dual boot between XP Pro 64 bit & Windows 7 Pro, but the driver issues were too much to overcome, and once again, as with other issues, HP's "no support" came home to me again. I was willing to ship the desktop to them to perform the install, and pay them for doing so, with my supplied OS. But no one at HP "knew how to do this". The world's largest supplier of home computers, and couldn't do it? This is crap!

Just like the other times when I needed HP's technical service, their home customer service is no good.

If the OEM install is 7 Pro or higher, the customer is supposed to have downgrade rights through 2020 (Pro or higher has longer support than Home Premium & below does). See the differences. Another reason to convert to Pro over Home Premium, 5 extra years of support.

Windows 7 Pro

http://support.microsoft.com/lifecyc...ilter=FilterNO

Windows 7 Home Premium
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecyc...ilter=FilterNO

Downgrade Right article, pertaining to XP Pro, through 2020.http://www.computerworld.com/comments/node/9179109

Still, the tricky part is getting someone to do it. I certainly hope that the OP isn't depending on HP to do it.

Cat

We don't even know if the poster has an HP but No PC manufacturer is going to install a different OS than the one they ship. And to think they would even help with anything more than selling you a driver disk to install a different OS is preposterous; it's simply not their job and not one they would want. Their job is to ship a specified piece of hardware with a limited amount of software installed and having those pieces work is pretty much the extent of their responsibility. If they could survive providing 0 phone support then they would, but as is they are to keep it at the bare minimum.

My deal with HP was just an example. If the computer has 7 Pro or above, installed by the major OEM's, then the customer has downgrade rights to XP Pro (unless things has changed).

Whether this right has to be chosen by the customer at the time of sale, or afterwards, I don't know. I'll do some researching and see. However, if the OEM install is Home Premium or below, then there's no downgrade rights at all.

EDIT: I found the article on downgrade rights regarding Windows 7 Pro & Ultimate to Vista or XP. These downgrades are done by the OEM, the consumer has this right when purchasing the computer with 7 Pro or above preinstalled.
http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/lice...de_rights.aspx


Cat

Cat, no it generally wouldn't be at the time of sale. The most common situation would be the companies I.T. department doing it after it arrives from the manufacturer but before it is deployed to a workers desktop.

So poster, based on Cat's info, if you have OEM Home Premium then you would have to downgrade to XP, for XP Pro you need OEM W7 Pro or greater.

And as Cat also mentioned you have the challenge of finding the appropriate drivers to work with your hardware and when trying to install XP you are on your own because the PC manufacturer won't provide support.

The whole deal is really a lot more trouble than it's worth. If the OP doesn't want to go the VM route (the easy way), and doesn't qualify for downgrade rights from MS, then I'd suggest doing some serious, hard core searching on how to accomplish it. On this forum, our advice on running XP is limited to XP Mode, which is a benefit of having 7 Pro or above. There are plenty of multi-OS & even dedicated XP forums that has many members willing to help. It would defeat the purpose of this being a Windows 7 Forum to introduce a lengthy thread with several pages of advice on doing a XP install on modern hardware, which may not even work at all.

Still, that's going to be a ton of work. I looked into doing it myself, and even sought advice on both the TechNet & Microsoft Answers forums. Any computer that's been built within the last 2 or so years, drivers are going to be a major hurdle to overcome. It was a project that I wanted to do, create a dual boot between XP Pro 64 bit & 7 Pro 64 bit, but all that I ran into was brick walls & dead ends. I gave up on it, and accepted running it through VirtualBox, which runs perfectly fine.

My suggestion would be to build a computer with older/surplus parts (Computer Geeks has plenty of these), or buy a refurb (or new, if one can be found) PC with XP 64 bit preinstalled. Computer Geeks has a wide range of refurb PC's at low prices, and most everything needed to build a XP based PC.

http://www.geeks.com/

Here's also a brand new one. The 64 bit versions are hard to find, but this seller has 200 of them.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...729#vi-content

Best of Luck,
Cat

It's hard to know exactly what anyone wants with only the above statement.
Lets wait and see if they come back to clarify, instead of rambling from a prediction.