Downgrading from windows 8 to xp or 7?


Recommended Posts

ok i know it is religious sacrilege and total blasphemy to talk about using windows xp on neowin and most who talk this way are nailed and burnetalive on the neowin cross. but i'm curious if anyone was in two mind between windows 7 and windows xp and on the release of windows 8 have finally decided whether to be on xp or 7?

i've found going back to xp better since there were some sleep problems, graphics issues and slow network performance some bsods.. which resolve easily with xp. win7 requires some tweaks.

win8 had the same issues as win7 except it didnt allow system wide disabling of cleartype and additional ads and a half baked metro ui.

so question is when going back from win 8 whath did you prefer 7 or xp?

ok i know it is religious sacrilege and total blasphemy to talk about using windows xp on neowin and most who talk this way are nailed and burnetalive on the neowin cross. but i'm curious if anyone was in two mind between windows 7 and windows xp and on the release of windows 8 have finally decided whether to be on xp or 7?

i've found going back to xp better since there were some sleep problems, graphics issues and slow network performance some bsods.. which resolve easily with xp. win7 requires some tweaks.

win8 had the same issues as win7 except it didnt allow system wide disabling of cleartype and additional ads and a half baked metro ui.

so question is when going back from win 8 whath did you prefer 7 or xp?

What tweaks was needed in windows 7 windows 7 works great out of the box and is far better then XP ever could be and as for windows 8 it is faster yet so i dont see what issue your having and why you want to go back to windows XP since well umm it is no longer really supported and is over 10 years old about now so yea

What tweaks was needed in windows 7 windows 7 works great out of the box and is far better then XP ever could be and as for windows 8 it is faster yet so i dont see what issue your having and why you want to go back to windows XP since well umm it is no longer really supported and is over 10 years old about now so yea

sigh..

q6600 g45id 8gb ram 1 tb hdd dell u2410 dual server ethernet intel card

That's pretty generic hardware. From what you describe it sounds more like you are having some sort of hardware issue not caught by XP (and therefore a hidden problem waiting to jump you when you least expect it).

I'd have a good look at the hardware, clean off and re-apply thermal past on the CPU and check RAM and GFX card for errors. I have found over the years these are the usual suspects for the exact symptoms you are describing and doubt very much it has anything to do with which OS your are running.

  • Like 3

A straight answer to your question is, I prefer Windows 7 any day over XP, but contrary to what most say on here about XP, is it's still an awesome OS and STILL supported for 2 more years!

If your stuff works perfectly with XP, reinstall it and enjoy!! :)

q6600 g45id 8gb ram 1 tb hdd dell u2410 dual server ethernet intel card

How are you going to use 8 GB of RAM with Windows XP?

sigh..

sigh? No bro, I sigh when I see that you have 8 GB of memory, and you think you're going to be able to use it in an operating system that's now 11 years old. sigh...

  • Like 2

This will require two Advil....

Your machine would be wasted with XP. Support for XP is gone, and will be dead in a year. You would be now three releases behind, and will not be able to take advantage of new software.

Let XP die in peace. Pull the cord.

  • Like 1

Although Windows XP was an awesome operating system, and I absolutely loved it, I don't see why you'd choose it or even consider it, over Windows 7.

Also, I wouldn't class going from Windows 8 to Windows 7 as "downgrading", IMO it'd be upgrading.

I know if I wasn't using something brand new already and needed to go out and buy a new computer, and I had to buy one with Windows 8 on it, I'd be reformatting and installing Windows 7 for sure.

  • Like 1

I known how you feel, XP is indeed good enough, if wasn't for the lack of a decent 64 bit version I would still be using it today.

So I will recommend what I'm using right now, Windows 7 x64 bits, it has the 'XP feel' somehow I think it will be the new XP in this decade.

If you've got problems with 7 but not XP that sounds very much like a problem with the Dell parts in the system, when dell release a system, they only bother to support the OS it comes shipped with, if it works or doesn't with the next iteration of windows is hit and miss. Look for BIOS upgrades and whatnot. I've always had problems with dell PCs/workstations/laptops, their servers are much better though.

Anyone ever used Windows Server 2003 or 2008? 21th century equivalents for the magnificent Windows 2000. Fast, simple, robust and native 64 bit support (Unlike the travesty that Windows XP 64bit was).

I used to use server 03 on my dell box (lol) that was from dreamspark, stopped using it in the end because of some problem with the hardware or whatnot, had to keep reactiviting it with MS so phoned them up and said it was the same PC it was activated on and couldn't be bothered with the hassle of having to keep doing it.

Anyone ever used Windows Server 2003 or 2008? 21th century equivalents for the magnificent Windows 2000. Fast, simple, robust and native 64 bit support (Unlike the travesty that Windows XP 64bit was).

Windows 2003 and 2008 were the last vast superior server OS from Microsoft that was actually useful for use in desktop in contrast with their respective client version (xp and vista).

2003 is nt 5.2 and was considerably faster than XP (nt 5.1) ever could be, I used server 2003 until 2007, but I think its futile to advocate its use because people still too much 'hur dur its a server OS', they can't realize its superiority.

2008 was very strange it had the same kernel as Vista but in my benchmarks it was about 10-15% faster than Vista, I only heard some theories like the removal of DRM responsible for such better performance.

from 2008r2 and 2012 no real gain is observed in comparison with the client version (7 and 8).

From my knowledge, any hardware that can run XP can run 7 whether it be with some concessions or not. I'm still on the fence if I want to stay with 8 or go back to 7.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • But the reality is it will work for people's needs, and they don't care about the technology that makes it. Clearly not everyone's needs, but that low end space where personal laptops were only used to type emails, watch content and browse websites, but they didn't want to do that on a small screen device. Heck, writing that out I can now see the connection and reason it'll do so well. Apple is about experience. If the experience is bad, they don't release it. Low end Windows laptop manufacturers up until this point have not taken that into consideration ever before, so slow laggy usage with brittle slimey plastic shells were common. I hope that the low end space at least creates better physical products that last a bit longer, and if Microsoft get their act together, they could also have a solid OS on such low end hardware that would actually make the experience work for what the hardware was intended for. The fact that the CPU is a "cellphone", sorry mobile phone processor is irrelevant. It's about the experience, and so far, that sounds quite solid.
    • Hello, Bonjour is Apple's implementation of a multicast-DNS service, which allows devices running Apple's software and/or hardware to find each other on your local network.  I believe the Windows version was last updated around 2010. If you do not need it, you can stop and disable the Bonjour service in the Services Control Manager (filename: SERVICES.MSC).  Once you have done that, the operating system will no longer attempt to load the service. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky  
    • This AMD RX 9070 16GB GPU that performs close to Nvidia 5070 is under $600 by Sayan Sen With the memory shortage that's prevalent nowadays, discounts are super-hard to get. As such we post good deals whenever they pop up. Recently, we covered a few great discounts on SSDs wherein you can get a 4TB TeamGroup NVMe PCIe Gen4 drive for just $400 thanks to a special coupon. If you want a faster product but don't need all that capacity, you can also opt for Samsung's 990 PRO 2TB that is on sale for its lowest price in over three months. Let's say though that you are on the hunt for a 1440p gaming card. In that case AMD's RX 9070 non-XT can help, and with its 16GB VRAM, you can also run AI models locally without worrying about bottlenecking (check out our recent 9070 GRE reviews for gaming and productivity to get an idea). The PowerColor Reaper variant of the RX 9070 is currently on sale for just $580 which is a very good price in the current state of affairs (purchase link under the specs table down below). The Reaper cooler on this 9070 uses a triple‑fan design with ring‑blade fans, paired with premium dual ball bearings to extend lifespan and reduce friction. "Intelligent" fan control allows the fans to remain idle at lower temperatures, only spinning up when the GPU is under load. A nickel‑plated copper base makes direct contact with both the GPU and memory modules, helping to spread heat evenly. PowerColor also applies Honeywell PTM7950 phase‑change thermal interface material (TIM), which fills microscopic gaps between the die and heatsink for more efficient thermal transfer. The fan shroud is shorter in height as the firm has made it such that it can be used in certain SFF (small form factor) cases. The technical specifications of the Reaper RX 9070 are given in the table below: Specification Value Stream Processors 3584 Units Video Memory 16GB GDDR6 Memory Speed 20.0 Gbps Memory Interface 256-bit Engine Clock Game Clock: up to 2070 MHz Boost Clock: up to 2520 MHz Bus Standard PCI Express 5.0 x16 Display Connectors 1 x HDMI 2.1b, 3 x DisplayPort 2.1a Maximum Resolution DisplayPort: 7680 × 4320 HDMI: 7680 × 4320 Board Dimensions 289mm × 111mm × 41mm 304mm × 127mm × 42mm (with bracket) Slot 2 Minimum System Power Requirement 600W Power Connectors Two 8-pin PCI Express Get the PowerColor Reaper RX 9070 at the links below (you get only a 90-day warranty on Woot): PowerColor Reaper Radeon RX 9070 16GB Graphics Card (RX9070 16G-A): $579.99 (Sold and Shipped by Amazon US) (Was: $700) PowerColor Reaper Radeon RX 9070 16GB Graphics Card (RX9070 16G-A): $559.99 (Sold and Shipped by Woot US) Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • Are they marketed as an entry into astronomy or astrophotography? I do astrophotography. With big rigs, lots of computers, cables and headaches. I love it. And by learning this ridiculously complex hobby, I’ve learned about the objects I’m shooting. Astronomy followed from photography.
    • Microsoft confirms Recycle Bin bug across all versions of Windows by Usama Jawad A couple of days ago, we reported that the latest Patch Tuesday update has seemingly resulted in a lot of issues for many users, including OneDrive and Dropbox access problems, BitLocker recovery lockouts, and BSODs. Although Microsoft is yet to acknowledge these bugs, it has confirmed another, relatively smaller issue across all supported versions of Windows. In an update on its Windows Release Health Dashboard, Microsoft has confirmed that after installing June's Patch Tuesday update (KB5094126), you'll experience unexpected behavior when leveraging Recycle Bin. Basically, when you attempt to delete an item from the Recycle Bin, the confirm dialog will show you the internal file name of that content rather than the actual name. For example, the file may be named abc.png, but the confirm dialog will ask if you're sure that you want to permanently delete $Rxxxxx.png from the Recycle Bin. This is pretty much it for the scope of the bug itself; it just displays the wrong name in the confirm dialog. The correct name will be shown in the list view of the Recycle Bin and if you restore the file, it will return with the correct name as well. This issue affects pretty much all supported versions of Windows client and server, including: Client: Windows 11, version 26H1; Windows 11, version 25H2; Windows 11, version 24H2; Windows 11, version 23H2; Windows 10, version 22H2; Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021; Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019; Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB 2016 Server: Windows Server 2025; Windows Server 2022; Windows Server 2019; Windows Server 2016; Windows Server 2012 R2; Windows Server 2012 As things currently stand, Microsoft is working on a concrete solution that will be released in a "future" Windows update. It remains to be seen if the firm will wait till the next Patch Tuesday or roll out an out-of-band (OOB) fix. The good news is that commercial customers can deploy a workaround right now, but they will have to reach out to Microsoft Support for Business for additional details.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Jordan Smith earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Reacting Well
      BizSAR earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • First Post
      AndreaB earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      Huge Trailer earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      Classifyskilleducation earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      578
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      184
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      75
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      72
    5. 5
      neufuse
      64
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!