How can I get rid of Windows Vista and replace it with Windows XP?

I know this question's been asked a lot but I can't find any solid answers that can help me so I'm asking this my way. I'm currently having trouble with my current computer that has the Windows XP due to an ordinal 522 problem with something by the name iertutil.dll. I've been all over the net for the past two and a half days for help but got nothing so I'm resorting to having to use my newer desktop that has Windows Vista. I hate this program with a passion because it won't accept any of my XP stuff. I ordered Windows 7 but it's going to take a while to arrive and I want to take Vista off and replace it with Windows XP. I have all of my installation CD's but is afraid to try anything since removing IE7 and IE8 off my computer did some damage to my desktop, explorer.exe, system restore, and other vital programs that I could use to get me back on track. I'm not computer savvy so step by step instructions will help. Heck, talk to me as if I'm a newborn baby! I'm desperate and is tired of the ordinal 522 message that keeps popping up every time I try to click on something.How can I get rid of Windows Vista and replace it with Windows XP?
This really isn't something for a newbie... so I'll try to keep it as simple as possible. Inside hard drive memory are pieces of data called partitions. Partitions is what contains files. Sort of like sections. Multiple partitions allow the computer to have more than one Operating System installed on it. Operating Systems are programs such as Windows, Linux, or Mac (Linux is the best OS :P).



To install Windows XP from the cd, you must boot off the installation CD, that part is pretty much the only hard part.



To boot off a CD you must modify the computer's BIOS settings to start the OS off the CD. (When installing Windows, the OS you're actually really running is Windows PE. It's a smaller version of Windows that's used by Microsoft for installing their product. Don't get confused with this since it's not very vital to know this for installing XP). The way you get into the BIOS depends on the kind of computer you have (Dell, HP, etc), usually it's by holding the F2, F10, or Delete while the computer is just starting up. Take a look at the list below to see which computer matches or is the closest to yours.



http://www.pendrivelinux.com/how-to-acce



Then press that button the the computer, THEN turn on the computer. It's regular to get annoying beeping sounds on some computer brands, so don't panic if that happens... lol. Your mouse is not operational while operating under the BIOS. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the TAB or Section labeled BOOT, or BOOT Configuration, or anything with BOOT in it, if there's more than one, check them and see which one will work for what I'll mention below.



WARNING: IF YOU DON'T DO THIS RIGHT (see no reason why you shouldn't...) THEN YOUR COMPUTER WILL BE BROKEN... of course :P



There should be a list of devices that start up. Switch the hard drive group with the cd group, so CD group is first on the list and hard drive is second. Insert your Windows XP installation CD now. Exit the BIOS (make sure you select the SAVE ALL SETTINGS option, unless you messed up and wish to restart). Wait for it and it'll enter the Windows PE for the installation, if you got it right :)



Now this is the less dangerous, but still very hard part. MESSING WITH PARTITIONS! :D



If you wish to completely remove Windows Vista, then delete everything and start a new partition using all the storage. If you wish to keep Vista, and use it with XP on the same computer, then shrink the Vista partition so it's half the hard drive's space, and start a new one with XP.



That's it :)



Now you just wait for about an hour :P



If you're still having problems, contact me at bcheng.gt @ gmail.com



Remove the spaces between the @ (spam protection).How can I get rid of Windows Vista and replace it with Windows XP?
Wait, what programs won't work on Vista? Virtually everything that works on XP will work on Vista. Anyway, just wait for your Windows 7 discs to arrive. Upgrading from Vista to Windows 7 is a nearly seamless process, whereas installing XP is a pain in the butt (XP *really* sucks to install and driver support is a pain on newer hardware)
The only way to downgrade from Vista to XP is to do a ';clean install'; (or as Microsoft calls it a ';custom install';). This means backing up all your data and then reinstalling windows by first reformatting the partition that windows is on.



I found this like to be helpful:

http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/installxp/installXP1.htm



You run the risk of loosing your data if you don't back things up correctly.



If you don't want to blow away everything you already have, you could make your system dual boot. There are plenty of docs on the web that describe how to dual boot vista and xp. Here is one that looks like it might work for you:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2248021_dual-boot-vista-xp.html
You are NOT gonna like windows 7 if one reason is that XP programs wont run... Windows 7 is the SAME as VISTA. Here is a quick article on Windows 7 http://winxp76.webs.com/winxpor7.htm

I would not be able to assist you on installing XP- its just too easy to do. Put the CD in and do a FRESH Install- Youll be Formatting that hard drive of course as you know.. I wasnt computer svay and I learned to install XP which was very simple and it has ALL the support in the World till now..