We bought a new computer on the weekend, loaded with Vista. Unfortunately, we were not told that our ISP (iPrimus) would not support Vista and would not help connect us to the internet. We felt very confused about what to do, and eventually put XP from the old computer on the new one, just so we can use the internet.
When we find a way to coneect to the internet ( through research I guess, there must be a way ! ) can we somehow retreive the original Vista program that was on the computer when we bought it ?
The computer came with no disks or drivers at all.
The computer runs horribly on XP, apparently, it only supports Vista....
Please forgive me if my questions seem silly, we are very frustrated.

Wish you would have asked your questions before you did it.

If you installed XP onto the partition where Vista was then Vista is most likely gone.

Also you cannot just reuse a copy of XP like that. It will not activate on multiple computers.

However in most cases Vista would have stopped you from downgrading.

In most cases you would have had to format the hard drive prior to installing XP.

The original premise of Vista and your ISP seem to me very suspect.

After installing XP you would need drivers for it.

So there are many questions here.

Perhaps the most expeditious route is to explain exactly how you installed XP and then what is your current situation.

Still no internet with XP?

What is the make and model of the computer?

Oh, how I wish we'd asked these questions before we did it too... We were in a bit of a bind, as of course we had a new computer and no way to connect the internet. Our ISP refused to give tech help for Vista.

The computer we have is a Compaq Pressario sr5060an 1024mb260gb sata hard drive AMD athion64 x3 3800+ Supermulti drive.

The tech guy at iPrimus said we could install XP by doing something, but I am not 100% sure what it was. Sorry. I do know it was not by rapid transfer cable. The XP was the program on our old computer, so maybe my husband loaded it onto the new computer using disks ?

The new computer came with no disks at all. It did not come with a manual, just a simplified trouble-shooting guide.

We have a home business and were just feeling the need to be connected. We acted in haste and I guess we'll pay the price. I am hoping we can somehow do something to undo what we have done AND find someone to help us connect this computer to the internet when the Vista program is installed.( if it ever can be )

I didn't make it very obvious in my last response, yes we do have internet with the old XP program on the new computer. Speed is great, but there is no scrolling ( the pages kind of "fold over" slowly on themselves) and there are loss of other features.

Your computer is here. The manual is in there somewhere.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/p...&lang=en&cc=us

Unfortunately HP only offers Vista drivers for that machine.

Your issues are most likely due to the lack of XP drivers.

I am in a hurry at the moment but there are things we can try to determine if Vista is still viable.

First off what is listed under My Computer?

Is XP on C:?

Is there a D:? or E:? that is not a DVD/CD or removable drive?

If so right click and choose Open and see if you can determine the contents of each drive.

I will get back to you later this evening or tomorrow.

My sincere thanks for all your help. I have read your reply at work, so will post the info when I get home this afternoon, about 5pm ( I am in South Australia & not sure where you are, but that is in about 8 hours from now)
Kind regards, Angela

I am in South Florida so pretty much on the opposite side of the globe and clock.

You will probably need to go to start > Control Panel > Folder Options > View

Check this box: Show hidden files and folders

Uncheck this box: Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)

Then when you go to My Computer click on C: and it should open.

The WINDOWS folder is most likely XP.

If XP was installed where Vista was then this folder has replaced Vista. But again unless you formatted the drive prior to installing XP Vista probably would have protected itself and blocked this.

If this is the case then Vista maybe on that partition. Are there two WINDOWS folders? Or perhaps a WINNT?

The next place to look is other partitions. Any drive letter that is not your DVD/CD drive(s) or removable (slot) drives. For example open D: or E: or F: etc. and see if any of these contain a WINDOWS folder. If so this is very likely Vista.

There is also a Recovery Partition for Vista as seen here (again if it was not formatted):

HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Performing an HP System Recovery in Windows Vista

I think we may have wasted your time, and I apologise. It would seem we did reformat the HD when we installed the XP program. We cannot find anything related to Vista in any file anywhere. There was an H drive called Recovery, but that didn't seem to do anything.

We have learned a valuable lesson, but it's hard getting the info you need when you can't get onto the net.

I imagine we will now have to go and purchase a copy of Vista to install, is this correct ? Are there any special steps we need to take when we do this ? And, would you ( or another DAL member) be able to help us connect to the internet this time ? That is where this whole mess started. Our ISP, iPrimus refused to assist us with tech help for Vista. I have since learned it's not that unusual with the Australian ISP's at the moment.

I send you best wishes, and sincere thanks for the time you have given.

I look forward to being part of the DAL community.

Did you try the steps from the last link I posted?

Starting the recovery from power up

If Windows Vista cannot open and if the Recovery partition on the hard disk drive is functioning properly, you can perform a System Recovery by performing the following procedure:

1) Turn off the computer.
2) Disconnect all connected devices (such as the Personal Media Drive, USB drives, printer, and fax), remove media from drives, and remove any recently added internal hardware. Do not disconnect the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and power cord.
3) Turn on the computer.
4) Do one of the following actions depending on how Windows Vista was installed:

If Windows Vista came pre-installed on your computer, press the F11 key repeatedly when the first screen opens (the logo screen), until Recovery Manager program opens on the screen.

If Recovery Manager does not open, a set of recovery discs is needed to perform a System Recovery. Follow the instructions listed in Starting the recovery from recovery discs .

Purchasing Recovery Disks from HP will be cheaper than buying new if you cannot get access via F11.

We will be glad to research your Vista internet connection.

What happened the last time? What did you try and what were the results?

Any specific error messages?

There was an H drive called Recovery

I agree with Jephree as your comp seems to have the recovery partition intact.