I just purchased a new Lenova laptop with Windows Vista. Many of the programs I have 
won't work with Vista and I don't like anything about Vista. I don't want to spend 
hundreds of dollars on new software. Comp USA said they could downgrade to XP but 
I never cared for xp either even though I have it on one of my machines. 
What kind of problems will I encounter if I want to install 2000? It is a not an 
upgrade 2000 but a legal purchased system.

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re: downgrade to 2000 Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 2:56 pm Posted by C K (6910 messages posted) The question is whether a 9 year old operating system will have the drivers for new hardware. Chances are very good that it doesn't. You have a SATA IDE as well as an unsupported buss sysetm for W2K. Laptops are so proprietary that unless the manufacturer makes drivers to support the operating system you want to install, you might as well forget it. Laptops are worse than desktops when it comes to Windows supporting them. You can try, but IME, it won't be succesful. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 4:45 pm Posted by Steve (23811 messages posted) If Lenova doesn't offer 2000 drivers then I wouldn't try it. Laptops have to many proprietary drivers, like Battery indicator, Touch Pad, the list goes on and on. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 6:38 am Posted by phantom (5661 messages posted) Thanks CK for the info. According to Comp USA Lenova supports a downgrade to XP pro. So maybe I will go that way. I am too old to start a new learning experience with Vista. If it doesn't work out I'll just give the computer away. On Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 2:56 pm, C K wrote: >The question is whether a 9 year old operating system will have the drivers for new >hardware. Chances are very good that it doesn't. You have a SATA IDE as well as >an unsupported buss sysetm for W2K. Laptops are so proprietary that unless the manufacturer >makes drivers to support the operating system you want to install, you might as well >forget it. Laptops are worse than desktops when it comes to Windows supporting them. > You can try, but IME, it won't be succesful. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 6:44 am Posted by phantom (5661 messages posted) Thanks Steve for the info. According to Comp USA Lenova supports a downgrade to XP pro. So maybe I will go that way. I am too old to start a new learning experience with Vista. If it doesn't work out I'll just give the computer away. On Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 4:45 pm, Steve wrote: >If Lenova doesn't offer 2000 drivers then I wouldn't try it. Laptops have to many >proprietary drivers, like Battery indicator, Touch Pad, the list goes on and on. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 2:05 pm Posted by Louis (39 messages posted) I'm not going to offer anything definitively technical, the others who've replied to you have much more knowledge than I do. However, I've tried installing OS's on a PC that were not supported, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You've got nothing to lose by taking the XP over the Vista if you want to keep that particular PC. You can load the XP and then create another partition and load 2K (or use another HD) if that's your desire. Experiment with the 2K, download all the drivers you think you may need to get it working with the devices in the laptop. Last resort, find out which of the items, like the modem, that can be swapped out for one that is 2K enabled. My current notebook was not made with Win95 in mind, yet other than an error warning screen about the video board not working properly when I boot into Win95 (I ignore it), I've gotten the PC to function, sans audio which I've not spent time looking for drivers that may enable it, I can live w/o the audio. On a desktop I have that came only with XP, things are not working fully when I installed Win98. In this case it looks like the problems I've encountered may not allow it to work preperly with the installed video and sound boards. In this case I could change the boards for ones that handles Win98 and XP, or keep experimenting with changing drivers and hope to get lucky. Your only other option is eBay for a Win2K notebook, plenty of them available. Research them to find one that was able to run on 2K and XP from the factory so you know these systems will work. - Louis On Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 11:41 am, phantom wrote: > >I just purchased a new Lenova laptop with Windows Vista. Many of the programs I have >won't work with Vista and I don't like anything about Vista. I don't want to spend >hundreds of dollars on new software. Comp USA said they could downgrade to XP but >I never cared for xp either even though I have it on one of my machines. >What kind of problems will I encounter if I want to install 2000? It is a not an >upgrade 2000 but a legal purchased system. > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Friday, March 13, 2009 at 5:55 am Posted by phantom (5661 messages posted) Thanks for the info. I have a 2000 disk, and a desktop computer which I built some time ago. I built it to take 2000, xp, 98, and Linux. I never could get 98 installed. Just had trouble with the Intel Motherboard software. And I never did install anything except 2000. I was wondering if I can just downgrade my Internet Explorer from 7 to 6. I don't know if Vista will allow it. That would solve some of the problems I have. But I don't really care for Vista not even how it looks. I may just give the laptop away as it only cost me $399.00. On Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 2:05 pm, Louis wrote: >I'm not going to offer anything definitively technical, the others who've replied >to you have much more knowledge than I do. However, I've tried installing OS's on >a PC that were not supported, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You've got >nothing to lose by taking the XP over the Vista if you want to keep that particular >PC. You can load the XP and then create another partition and load 2K (or use another >HD) if that's your desire. Experiment with the 2K, download all the drivers you think >you may need to get it working with the devices in the laptop. Last resort, find >out which of the items, like the modem, that can be swapped out for one that is 2K >enabled. My current notebook was not made with Win95 in mind, yet other than an error >warning screen about the video board not working properly when I boot into Win95 >(I ignore it), I've gotten the PC to function, sans audio which I've not spent time >looking for drivers that may enable it, I can live w/o the audio. On a desktop I >have that came only with XP, things are not working fully when I installed Win98. >In this case it looks like the problems I've encountered may not allow it to work >preperly with the installed video and sound boards. In this case I could change the >boards for ones that handles Win98 and XP, or keep experimenting with changing drivers >and hope to get lucky. Your only other option is eBay for a Win2K notebook, plenty >of them available. Research them to find one that was able to run on 2K and XP from >the factory so you know these systems will work. - Louis > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Friday, March 13, 2009 at 10:00 am Posted by DEX (11847 messages posted) Dealing with Unwanted Spyware and Parasites Click Here Hi phantom You are not the only one in the boat,I would call Lenova and ask them if they have the disk for XP OS,, many don't like Vista and I'm almost sure they will have the software...but as far as win2k well that's a real long shot,,but I sure others have done the same as you want to do, I would ask Lenova what can be done...:) Good Luck ====== Are you a wood worker ?,if so Click Here On Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 11:41 am, phantom wrote: > >I just purchased a new Lenova laptop with Windows Vista. Many of the programs I have >won't work with Vista and I don't like anything about Vista. I don't want to spend >hundreds of dollars on new software. Comp USA said they could downgrade to XP but >I never cared for xp either even though I have it on one of my machines. >What kind of problems will I encounter if I want to install 2000? It is a not an >upgrade 2000 but a legal purchased system. > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Friday, March 13, 2009 at 10:56 am Posted by phantom (5661 messages posted) Thanks Dex, Happy to see you ae still logging on to this site. You have ben really helpful to me in the past. I haven't been on my computer very often in the last year or so. I am on Vista right now. I wonder if anyone really likes Vista. I love 2000. I have it on my desktop. I'm too old to start a new learning experience but if worse comes to worse maybe I will stick with it for awhile. Thanks again. On Friday, March 13, 2009 at 10:00 am, DEX wrote: >Dealing with Unwanted Spyware and Parasites > >Click Here > > > > >Hi phantom > >You are not the only one in the boat,I would call Lenova and ask them if they have >the disk for XP OS,, many don't like Vista and I'm almost sure they will have the >software...but as far as win2k well that's a real long shot,,but I sure others have >done the same as you want to do, I would ask Lenova what can be done...:) > >Good Luck > >====== > > > > Are you a wood worker ?,if so Click Here > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Friday, March 13, 2009 at 11:39 am Posted by DEX (11847 messages posted) Dealing with Unwanted Spyware and Parasites Click Here Hi phantom It's not all that bad, it's just a new GUI but they got the new 7 out now to fix the some of the errors in Vista,but most of the new OS out now just come with most of the drivers for many of the new software/hardware items.. The GUI just a takes a bit more time to get it down..But MS still can't get the start button down right,start to stop thing. :) I just wish MS would let the end user select the OS/GUI they want to use, many still use win98 and it would be nice if they got a new machine with all the power of the new machine but still able to select the system they want to use.. With one click of the mouse.. maybe some day MS will get it then maybe not.. ===== ===== Are you a wood worker ?,if so Click Here On Friday, March 13, 2009 at 10:56 am, phantom wrote: >Thanks Dex, >Happy to see you ae still logging on to this site. You have ben really helpful to >me in the past. >I haven't been on my computer very often in the last year or so. I am on Vista right >now. I wonder if anyone really likes Vista. I love 2000. I have it on my desktop. >I'm too old to start a new learning experience but if worse comes to worse maybe >I will stick with it for awhile. >Thanks again. > > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Friday, March 13, 2009 at 2:24 pm Posted by phantom (5661 messages posted) It is different alright. I used to drag my quick launch to the top of the screen and so far I can't do that with Vista. I can move to whole taskbar but I don't want to do that. I did get rid of the shortcut arrows with a tweak program. So all is not lost. On Friday, March 13, 2009 at 11:39 am, DEX wrote: >Dealing with Unwanted Spyware and Parasites > >Click Here > > > > >Hi phantom > >It's not all that bad, it's just a new GUI but they got the new 7 out now to fix >the some of the errors in Vista,but most of the new OS out now just come with most >of the drivers for many of the new software/hardware items.. > >The GUI just a takes a bit more time to get it down..But MS still can't get the start >button down right,start to stop thing. :) > >I just wish MS would let the end user select the OS/GUI they want to use, many still >use win98 and it would be nice if they got a new machine with all the power of the >new machine but still able to select the system they want to use.. > >With one click of the mouse.. maybe some day MS will get it then maybe not.. > >===== >===== > > > > Are you a wood worker ?,if so Click Here > > "> [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 8:32 am Posted by Louis (39 messages posted) Info for removing IE 7 hopefully can be found at Microsoft's web site (do they allow one to go to IE 6 since it may not have been a Vista option to begin with?) and I did find some sites on the web via Google that talked about it, don't know if I'd trust them myself. Of course the Vista forum here may have the info you need. Here's the XP info for removing IE 7 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927177 Backup up everything before doing this. DEX's comment about calling Lenova is worth a try. When I thought about buying a laptop I used eBay to find sellers listing the service tag number of the Dell laptop's I wanted, then I went to Dell's web site and used the tag number to checked out what OS the PC came with. This way I knew what drivers I could download from their web site before I even bought the PC. If the PC didn't support the OS's I wanted to install, I could look for a different PC. - Louis On Friday, March 13, 2009 at 5:55 am, phantom wrote: > >Thanks for the info. I have a 2000 disk, and a desktop computer which I built some >time ago. I built it to take 2000, xp, 98, and Linux. I never could get 98 installed. >Just had trouble with the Intel Motherboard software. And I never did install anything >except 2000. >I was wondering if I can just downgrade my Internet Explorer from 7 to 6. I don't >know if Vista will allow it. >That would solve some of the problems I have. But I don't really care for Vista not >even how it looks. >I may just give the laptop away as it only cost me $399.00. > > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Sunday, March 15, 2009 at 6:20 am Posted by phantom (5661 messages posted) Thanks for getting back to me "> On Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 8:32 am, Louis wrote: >Info for removing IE 7 hopefully can be found at Microsoft's web site (do they allow >one to go to IE 6 since it may not have been a Vista option to begin with?) and I >did find some sites on the web via Google that talked about it, don't know if I'd >trust them myself. Of course the Vista forum here may have the info you need. Here's >the XP info for removing IE 7 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927177 Backup up everything >before doing this. DEX's comment about calling Lenova is worth a try. When I thought >about buying a laptop I used eBay to find sellers listing the service tag number >of the Dell laptop's I wanted, then I went to Dell's web site and used the tag number >to checked out what OS the PC came with. This way I knew what drivers I could download >from their web site before I even bought the PC. If the PC didn't support the OS's >I wanted to install, I could look for a different PC. - Louis > > > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Monday, March 16, 2009 at 2:55 pm Posted by Geek9pm (119 messages posted) Yeah, Me too! Many of use think going to XP is an UP grade! Upgrading your new laptop from Vista to XP Geek9pm [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 4:58 am Posted by Alan Masterman (462 messages posted) Hi Phantom, Welcome to the club. In my opinion, Windows 2000 was arguably the finest operating system Microsoft has produced so far. I tried upgrading an Extensa 5620 from Vista to Windows 2000. To my surprise, I found that all of the Vista drivers worked; I only had to reset the BIOS to select IDE mode rather than SATA. This required re-flashing with a BIOS update. The only problem I hadn't expected was that the fonts looked pretty cheesy, because Windows 2000 was not designed with the wide-screen format in mind. But everything worked. I second the advice others have given you regarding XP. It is more compatible with the wide-screen format, has better driver support than Windows 2000, and of course you can customise it to look exactly like Windows 2000 anyway. And with all that memory you will no longer need, you could set up a RAM drive just for your pagefile, which will boost system performance. On Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 11:41 am, phantom wrote: > >I just purchased a new Lenova laptop with Windows Vista. Many of the programs I have >won't work with Vista and I don't like anything about Vista. I don't want to spend >hundreds of dollars on new software. Comp USA said they could downgrade to XP but >I never cared for xp either even though I have it on one of my machines. >What kind of problems will I encounter if I want to install 2000? It is a not an >upgrade 2000 but a legal purchased system. > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 3:27 pm Posted by phantom (5661 messages posted) Hi Masterman, Thanks for the info. I too am partial to 2000. I am going to try to live with Vista for awhile. The windows hurt my eyes but I am not on it too long. I had Comp USA try to upgrade to XP but they couldn't do it so they gave me a new same model computer. I do know haw todo a clean install of XP if I want to later. I found the info on the Lenova web site forum. I downloaded all of the necessary drivers from Lenova and Microsoft and burned them to a disc. I still have 2000 on my desktop and don't think I will ever change it. On Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 4:58 am, Alan Masterman wrote: >Hi Phantom, >Welcome to the club. In my opinion, Windows 2000 was arguably the finest operating >system Microsoft has produced so far. >I tried upgrading an Extensa 5620 from Vista to Windows 2000. To my surprise, I >found that all of the Vista drivers worked; I only had to reset the BIOS to select >IDE mode rather than SATA. This required re-flashing with a BIOS update. The only >problem I hadn't expected was that the fonts looked pretty cheesy, because Windows >2000 was not designed with the wide-screen format in mind. But everything worked. >I second the advice others have given you regarding XP. It is more compatible with >the wide-screen format, has better driver support than Windows 2000, and of course >you can customise it to look exactly like Windows 2000 anyway. And with all that >memory you will no longer need, you could set up a RAM drive just for your pagefile, >which will boost system performance. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 2:48 am Posted by SuperPuddin (1 messages posted) You could always downgrade to xp professional or upgrade to vista ultimate. Then install Microsoft Virtual PC(free download) and install any OS of your choice in that wonderful program. NO drivers needed. Generic drivers are provided by the virtual pc program. You can run in full screen mode and never have to look at the new os. I have installed 98 and 2000 inside Xp pro and they work flawlessly. A plus is that you can slowly transition to the new OS. On Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 3:27 pm, phantom wrote: >Hi Masterman, >Thanks for the info. I too am partial to 2000. I am going to try to live with Vista >for awhile. The windows hurt my eyes but I am not on it too long. I had Comp USA >try to upgrade to XP but they couldn't do it so they gave me a new same model computer. >I do know haw todo a clean install of XP if I want to later. I found the info on >the Lenova web site forum. I downloaded all of the necessary drivers from Lenova >and Microsoft and burned them to a disc. >I still have 2000 on my desktop and don't think I will ever change it. > > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: downgrade to 2000 Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 10:37 am Posted by phantom (5661 messages posted) Thanks for the info! On Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 2:48 am, SuperPuddin wrote: >You could always downgrade to xp professional or upgrade to vista ultimate. Then >install Microsoft Virtual PC(free download) and install any OS of your choice in >that wonderful program. NO drivers needed. Generic drivers are provided by the virtual >pc program. You can run in full screen mode and never have to look at the new os. >I have installed 98 and 2000 inside Xp pro and they work flawlessly. A plus is that >you can slowly transition to the new OS. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows 2000 Discussion Forum