Win 7 Downgrade to Vista Needed? How?

[fuelcellfuture]

I have software that requires Vista Ultimate on my 64-bit HP Pavillion dv6 - important for training and certification. I now have Win 7 Ultimate 64 which is not compatible. In April the software manufacturer will release a new version that will be compatible with Win 7. Can I downgrade to Vista Ultimate in the interim (see pathetic back story)? Partition my hard drive and install an old XP 32 bit OS I own? Upgrade the hardware of an old PC to run this software for the interim?

Pathetic Back Story: HP Laptop was bought with Home Premium just before Win 7 and promised upgrade. 1 week later I went to Microsoft to buy the Ultimate 64 upgrade version I needed for the software. Microsoft would then only sell Win 7 upgrades. So I purchased this and waited and waited for HP to upgrade me to Windows 7 Home Premium so I could upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate. Completed Upgrade and downloaded XP mode.

However I wasn't aware XP mode required a specific hardware capability which my new laptop doesn't have. (Microsoft and PC Manufacturers really need to make this known to consumers before they purchase!!!! I admit I could always use more tech savvy but gimme a break Microsoft! Virtualization processors were not mentioned on the Ultimate upgrade software purchase site or the laptop order screen for processor choice. I went back later and you have to do a search on virtualization to find it vaguely mentioned on either site.)

Regardless, when my software still didn't work in Ultimate Win 7 I called the software manufacturer. Oh yeah it's compatible with Ultimate but not Ultimate Win 7 yet. They've since made that known on their website but its too late for me.

Rock and a Hard Place: Hence, I've got a COA for Vista Home Premium 64, an HP update for Win 7 Home Premium 64 and an upgrade from Win 7 Home Premium 64 to Win 7 Ultimate 64. I can't order a backup disk from HP for the Vista Ultimate 64 OS I want to downgrade to since I have no COA for it. Although I can order a backup disc for the Vista Home Premium 64, I can't purchase an upgrade to Vista Ultimate 64.

Any help greatly appreciated.

 

[niemiro]

Hi,

There is not a specific downgrade you can do as you can from XP to Vista. The only way you can downgade is to back up everything then reformat your hard disk. This will reqire a large backup and to reinstall all your programs. Other options would be to us Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 SP1 (or other virtual PC) and install Vista and your software on that until April then download Win7 software and delete your Virtual PC. You could also partition your hard disk and install Vista as a second OS in the interim. However it is often difficult to put your hard disk back together without reformatting and using only free tools.

Richard