Is "Back-Revving" the same as "Downgrading"?

Who knew that the idea of a Clean Install would become such an important ability?

A Clean Install is where you reformat (erase) your hard drive and reinstall the operating system with all current patches and updates, latest drivers, newest applications and then defragment everything and tweak the system so it runs lean and mean. A Clean Install is the way to completely rejuvenate a computer, and eliminate issues like poor performance, malware infestation, instabilities/crashes, or any other symptom of a less-than-optimum operation.

Clean Installs are usually done to rejuvenate/restore to top working order a system that has been in operation for some time. It just so happens that new systems that come with Windows Vista installed by default also benefit greatly from this method as it allows removal of Vista and installing XP Pro in its place, all with the end result of faster, more stable and compatible operation.

You've probably already figured this out, that if you buy a new PC at retail, your only choice is to have MS Vista installed. XP is no longer available unless you go through an online source (like Dell.com) and check out options for businesses. Don't be surprised, but "downgrading" Vista to XP will actually cost you a hundred dollars or more, and that's if your particular model can be downgraded.

Vista uses an entirely different device driver model, one almost entirely incompatible with XP, even though Vista and XP share a common programming heritage (along with Windows 2000 and NT). The fact is, drivers have to be rewritten (or newly developed) for Vista, and many hardware manufacturers don't want to create and maintain two versions of drivers for their hardware. Invariably this means your new computer has Vista drivers but not XP drivers.

So, what's "downgrading" all about, then?

Certain versions of Vista (Business and Ultimate) have included in their license the right to install XP Pro instead of Vista, if the user so desires. I guess the idea is that many business users are still using XP and want any new systems they deploy to be similar for purposes of compatibility and administration, knowing that Vista does so many things differently than XP. Purchasers of the most expensive edition of Vista are likely given similar rights simply because they've paid for the most expensive edition, or are sophisticated enough to be able to use one or both systems interchangeably.

Whatever the reasoning behind the allowable "downgrading" option, it would appear that many users are resistant to Vista on many other grounds: the user interface is so different as to be an entirely new world which must be relearned no matter how much experience and comfort they may have with Windows; the device driver model is so different as to be incompatible, so more often than not, older hardware just wont work properly or completely in Vista; security features like the User Access Control (UAC) are constantly asking the user if what they are doing is really what they want to be doing ("You are trying to install a new program. Cancel or Allow?"); whereas 1GB RAM would work well for XP and prior versions, Vista is sluggish and hesitant, and even with 2GB RAM still underperforms it's predecessor; and lastly, the sheer cost increase of virtually all versions of Vista make users ask "What makes Vista worth the money?"

So here we have a situation where users are provided Vista on their newly purchased hardware and not understanding how to use it, how to tweak it like XP, how to organize it like XP, or how to get things done in a timely (or better) fashion, like XP.

I'm not speaking out of hand here, as I've spent my own time and effort installing Vista and using it on hardware that was more than adequate. I was continually frustrated by the fact that, in all the years I've been using Windows (twenty, by now), I was unable to quickly pick up on the new layout/interface (like the lack of menu bars), repeated questioning of my decisions, and less than optimal performance, to be kind about it. My computer, whose icon is so prominent in XP and was nowhere to be found in Vista, felt alien and unworkable, and I was unable to surmount the idea that everything I'd learned about using Windows as a power user had just gone "out the window" (pun intended).

This chapter in my technological trek began some months ago when I took delivery from Dell of a new Inspiron laptop that I was to "downgrade" and configure for a good client. Fortunately, Dell's online support is wonderful, and their website quickly revealed to my searches most everything I needed to make the new laptop an XP convert. But I didn't find everything I wanted, and there were a couple small sticking points that prevented me from seeing a perfectly happy Device Manager, complete with everything working properly.

My Plan B was to use a great free product designed by Wim Leers called DriverPacks, which is a holy grail of drivers for several Windows OS versions (2000, XP, Server 2003) that had already saved my bacon on more than one occasion. DriverPacks are divided into several categories, like Chipset, Graphics, Sound, LAN, wireless, disk controllers, and more, and you can use them by integrating them into your install media (the preferred way, and the one which I've had most success), or by creating a standalone driver CD that can be used on an existing installation to install and upgrade drivers. There are even more ways that you can use this great free tool, so by all means pay a visit to their website and discover them for yourself.

You can find these wonderful tech marvels at http://www.driverpacks.net and be sure to register in their online forums, as there are many very talented and insightful folks there (nods to Overflow, Helmi, mr. smartepants and muiz, not to mention 'Bashrat the Sneaky') who genuinely want you to be able to use their creations to be able to make your computers go in the manner in which you desire. They offer feedback as to the way to do things, and how DriverPacks can be used by other programs (like nLite, RyanVM's Integrator, BartPE, etc.) to make whatever you might need to deploy, maintain or repair Windows computers.

Bottom line on the Dell laptop, I created an updated install DVD of Windows XP Pro with SP3 and RyanVM's Update pack (many patches and fixes since SP3 was released) along with the DriverPacks and installed everything at one time and everything just worked. Even on a system _with_ vendor support for XP, the transition from Vista was still a sophisticated process and entailed a lot of patience to make it all come out right. My client is using this "downgraded" laptop every day, all day, without issues of performance or reliability, everything we've come to expect from a mature, dependable OS like XP.

I was less fortunate in my acquisition of an Acer Aspire laptop in getting vendor support for a downgrade or locating drivers I might need to get the job done. Thankfully it was the DriverPacks that came to the rescue and just made everything work. I don't know how these folks have done it, but the sheer volume of devices they can make work is absolutely staggering! Between the free downloads and the awesome forums they maintain, I'd have to say that they deserve the gold star when it comes to making it go.

The Acer is a Core 2 Duo, 64-bit system, so the choices are to install XP in 32-bits or 64, the latter being able to fully utilize the 4GB RAM installed but having driver availability issues. As much as I love the DriverPacks, they are 32-bit only, and while they have begun to embrace the 64-bit universe, there's still a long way to go to have parity with their 32-bit product. Initially I selected 32-bit because of the support I had and the availability of device drivers, and other than only seeing about 3.2GB RAM of the 4GB, everything worked perfectly, including the built-in webcam, microphone and speakers, wireless networking, AHCI support for the SATA hard drive controller, integrated card reader and fancy 1366x768 LCD monitor. Obviously, XP in 64-bit was another challenge, so I decided to look at the new beta of 64-bit Windows 7, just to see what kind of hardware support there might be out of the box.

I was not disappointed. Other than the idea that Windows 7 could be called Vista Second Edition. The user interface is virtually the same, as is the different layout of almost every feature on the desktop. What surprised me was the almost complete support of the hardware in this laptop, and of course, there is the matter of being able to access all the installed RAM, as well as the peppier operation of 64-bit environments, in general. Windows 7 is leaner and faster than Vista, but it is still an alien user interface (pretty, but alien), and it does offer fairly good driver support, at least for newer hardware.

The Acer laptop has since been reverted to 32-bit XP Pro and is working very well crunching old VHS home movie videotapes into DVDs the whole family can enjoy.

But there is a new system that was to arrive, challenging all my Clean Install abilities, of which I shall write next time.