a few questions

[OldAussieJohn]

Hi everyone, I am a new member.

I was enjoying a glass of wine the other evening, and I spilled a full glass of wine onto the keyboard of my Toshiba Satellite which had Windows XP ... I killed it DEAD

Anyway, I went to town (I live in the bush) and bought a new Toshiba Satellite laptop.

When I got home I found it had Vista in it

No matter how much I tried, I cannot get it to perform like any of the other Toshiba sattelites that I have had over the years with XP in them. (this is my own personal observation).

"happy days":D I found XP software on Ebay for only au$60 so I bought it.

I am not really computer "savvy" but I struggle through.

I cannot get the computer to download the new XP program, it keeps telling me that I cannot download something old onto something new

Can someone please tell me how to delete Vista from my computer so I can download XP

thanks everyone

 

[Fastboy42]

Hi John,
Good on you for buying a toshiba satellite.I've got one and it rocks (with vista)

Yours probably has vista basic.
I would back up any data onto any external harddrive then restart the computer and go into the bios. Change the boot sequence so it boots from cd.
Insert windows xp cd press any key to continue.
when the windows xp installation screen pops up choose install windows or something like that.
agree to any terms and conditions. then choose the partition to install on and use the arrow keys to select it.when it comes up with a screen saying format or leave.
Quick Format to ntfs. You should be good.
I know your not tech savvy so if you have any questions just ask.
I can give a more detailed tutorial if you wish.

 

[OldAussieJohn]

hey mate, thanks for your info.
I have put my data on an external hard drive, but I do not know how to go into the bios and change the boot sequence so it boots from cd.
I would really appreciate it if you could give me more details
once again, many thanks

 

[OldAussieJohn]

Toshiba satellites are good mate, this is my 4th one.
I do not know if they are the best because I have never had any other type, but I have never really had any trouble with them other than viruses.
I used to pay Norton and the other mob McAfee, but I kept getting bugs, until a guy on the net (people on the net are super friendly and helpful) put me onto Avast, and I have never ever had any problems since, and its free.
I also have ad-aware and CCleaner which are also both free and excellent for getting rid of bugs.
I just love all this Internet stuff, and its entertaining as I do not live close to a town and it keeps me busy. I use wireless internet (I think it goes through a satellite) with an aussie company called optus, I dont know if they are anywhere else in the world.
I am assuming that you are in the USA ?
Anyway, all the best mate.

 

[Fastboy42]

Hello John,
Actually I live In New Zealand and I live out of town too. I survive on wireless internet.I use Norton 360 v3 and Nod32.

Anyway.
to enter bios on my toshiba Laptop i either press f12 or del.
When you first turn on your computer it comes up with the Toshiba Logo.
down the bottom or top it had some writing. Look for the writing that says. Enter Bios, Enter Setup or boot configuration. Make a note of the keys it tells you to press beside the writing.quickly press that key (you may have to restart your computer to do so).Keep pressing that button until you come up with a screen that should look something like this

using the arrow keys look around the bios but dont change anything. Find the screen that says something about boot sequence or boot configuration or somethin along the lines.it shoiuld have a list of things in order like
1:CD ROM
2:HDD
3:FDD
4:Network

if you look on the right hand side of the screen it should tell you how to change the order of the boot sequence.
Make sure CD ROM is 1st.You're done!!!
Just find up the top or bottom what the conbination of keys you need to save and exit (usually its F10).

save and exit and your computer should restart.
Instert your windows xp CD and when a screen comes up saying
Press any key to boot from Cd.....
Press any key.
hopefully the windows xp installation screen should load.

Now just follow one of these tutorials:

Method 1: Perform a clean install of Windows XP

A clean installation consists of removing all data from your hard disk by repartitioning and reformatting your hard disk and reinstalling the operating system and programs to an empty (clean) hard disk. For more information about important things to consider before you partition and format you hard disk and how to partition and format your hard disk by using the Windows XP Setup program, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 313348 (How to partition and format a hard disk by using Windows XP Setup program ) How to partition and format a hard disk in Windows XP
To perform a clean installation of Windows XP, follow these steps:

1. Back up all important information before you perform a clean installation of Windows XP. Save the backup to an external location, such as a CD or external hard disk.
2. Start your computer from the Windows XP CD. To do this, insert the Windows XP CD into your CD drive or DVD drive, and then restart your computer.
   
   Note To boot from your Windows XP CD, the BIOS settings on your computer must be configured to do this.
3. When you see the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press any key to start the computer from the Windows XP CD.
4. At the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to start Windows XP Setup.
5. Read the Microsoft Software License Terms, and then press F8.
6. Follow the instructions on the screen to select and format a partition where you want to install Windows XP.
7. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the Windows XP Setup.

If you have successfully installed Windows XP, you are finished. If these steps did not help you install Windows XP, go to the "Next Steps" section.

From Microsoft.

How to Install Windows XP


Hope this Helps.
Phew That took a long time

 

[OldAussieJohn]

Hi mate you really went to a lot of trouble giving all those instructions, it must have taken you a long time, thanks very much.

I am not competent enough on computers to follow those instructions, I am worried I will "stuff-up" my new PC, so I will wait until I go to town again and I will have to pay someone like you to "do-the-business" on my PC:D

I hope I am not using my Vista wrong, lots of people on here say Vista is better than XP
I just (personally) think that it is slower, and it has lots of things that "pop-up" on the screen etc, that are annoying.

I personally think, and it happens with cars and lots of other products, when the manufacturer gets a thing right, instead of leaving it there, they keep "developing" the "thing" and it seems to go backward, not forward, I suppose that it is all to do with $$$, of course this is only my own personal observation over the years.

Anyway, I wish I knew as much about PCs as you and others do, they have to be one of the greatest inventions ever !:D

Once again, thanks mate

 

[Fastboy42]

I'm glad i could help you. I personally like vista rather than Xp. Its quite stable now.