should i downgrade from vista?

Oh God don't get me started with Vista! I can help you on this one. Best to tell me what type of Laptop you have - the model and the brand and I can give you information whether the laptop is downgradable or not. Here's one of the main reason's why your laptop system is slow and takes a while. For one in the computer business world - and I had to figure this one myself out. It is foolish for companies to install an Operating System in a system and not even have the tendency to test what the requirements are for running Vista - because the fact is for that new operating system - a stable sufficient system needs of course a powerful processor and at least 2GB of more to run smooth on Vista. When I mean talking about a powerful processor - I'm talking about an Intel Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad - which wouldn't slow down any process using Vista. But in your case the laptop you have would either have an AMD or a Celeron or a Intel chip that is running between 1.6Ghz or 1.8Ghz - with maybe 512MB of RAM or 1GB of RAM - and the problem is and what bothers is is why are companies that sale Vista laptops with low end processors with a small set of RAM? It's a rip off! Of course if you downgrade to Windows XP - your system would be running much smooth than it is now.

Windows Vista has many cool features that XP does not have. One of the leading new features is the startup repair feature. When windows Vista starts booting if it detects an error it automatically goes into the startup repair mode. In this mode it will be able to recover from a corrupt registry, missing windows vista files, driver issues and can even do a hard drive repair and memory test. As a computer technician I can say that windows Vista can do 80% of what I can do on startup repair. This alone makes Vista attractive. A few other great features are the search functions with in Vista right from the windows start menu. Another few others would be the Aero interface that lets shows a snap shot of the running programs as you tab between them. Another would be when browsing for programs it’s no longer all across the screen but in on a central location. The four different versions of Vista are also an advantage because business can get a more advanced version for data backup and encryption while normal home users can get the basic and premium versions that will meet their needs. Windows XP has been around for many years. Every new program still works with XP and most likely will for some time. You do not have to worry about any of your existing software not working because you are keeping the same operating system. Because Windows XP has been around the block most of the kinks have been worked out. The operating system as a whole is very stable. People are creatures of habit so not having to learn your way around a new operating system is also a plus. Many companies have proprietary software. Because of this some of those programs will not be compatible with windows Vista. Before getting Vista be sure and ask the software manufacturer you use if you need any updates or if their software supports Windows Vista.

Yes, although some people actually like it most are not too happy with it. compatibility problems seems to be normal among many other things that make Vista less than desirable for me, no matter how nice they make it sound. Only you can decide if you want to downgrade, but it certainly is an option.

I think you should downgrade your Vista. Vista has little driver and software support. I think you should downgrade to windows XP. It is much better than Vista. The only cool about vista is it's themes. The rest is just Windows XP like.

I thought I would have this problem, too when I bought an inexpensive HP slimline computer that came preloaded with Vista, but as it turned out there are other things about Vista that I just love, so I went to the scratch and dent bin of a local office supply megastore and picked up a Mad Dog external burner and use it for the CD's and DVD's. I thought that would be a cheaper and more satisfactory fix than trying to downgrade the operating system on an MS product. Every time I've ever done an upgrade from an existing MS product it has turned out flaky down the road, so from now on I'm going to buy the hardware around the software. Good luck with that!

I hate to break it to you, but the way the new computers are made that come pre-installed with Vista, it's nearly impossible to get an older version to work properly because of incompatibility issues. I've made the decision to hold off on Vista for at least a few more years because it's not got all the bugs worked out. Some you can downgrade, but not all things will work right if you do.

I haven't used the newest version of windoes media player to burn cds but there should be a way to select writing speed. Additionally, if you don't need vista a lot then I recommend you to downgrade. I did that for my girlfriend's laptop and it gained a little more performance :) As she was very used to the way of windows xp, she didn't like vista at all but now she's very happy with her current operating system.