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Restoring Old Windows Operating System Post Windows Vista Installation

If certain conditions are met, you can remove the Windows Vista installation and manually restore your previous operating system. To do this, you basically need to open Command Prompt and then rename and replace Windows Vista folders with your old operating system folders.

Steps to Restore Previous Operating System After Windows Vista Installation

Step #1: Ensure that the Windows.Old folder exists and there is enough space on the hard disk.

Open Start menu and select Computer.
Open the View menu, select Details, and then in the Free Space column view the Hard Disk Drives area to note down the amount of storage space available on the disk.
Next, expand the C drive and ensure that the Windows.OLD folder exists on it-remember that if this folder is not there, you will not be able to restore your previous Windows operating system.
Right-click on the Windows.Old folder and determine its size.

To be able to restore the old operating system, the Windows.OLD folder must be smaller that the free space available on the disk. If the size of this folder is twice the size of available free space, it might not be possible to restore the old Windows operating system.

Step #2: Run the Windows Recovery Environment

Restart your PC with Windows Vista disc in the DVD drive.
Press a key when prompted to boot from the disc.
When the Install Windows window is displayed, select language, time, currency, and keyboard input/output method, and then select Next.
Select Repair your computer to open the System Recovery Options window, and then select Command Prompt to display the Command Prompt window.

Step #3: Rename folders belonging to the Windows Vista Operating System

To rename Windows Vista folders, type each of the commands given below and press Enter.

C:\> c:
C:\> ren Windows Windows.Vista.bak
C:\> ren "Program Files" "Program Files.Vista.bak"
C:\> ren "Users" "Users.Vista.bak "
C:\> ren "Documents and Settings" "Documents and Settings.Vista.bak"

Note: If while renaming the folders, you receive the error displayed below, proceed with the next step.

The system cannot find the file specified.

Step #4: Copy or move the data contained in the Windows.OLD folder

Type the commands given below at command prompt and press Enter.

C:\> move /y c:\windows.old\windows c:\
C:\> move /y "c:\windows.old\program files" c:\

If your old Windows operating system was Windows Server 2003, Windows XP or Windows 2000, then at command prompt, type the command given below and press Enter.

C:\> move /y "c:\windows.old\documents and settings" c:\

If the previous operating system on your computer was another version of Windows Vista, then at command prompt, type the command given below and press Enter.

C:\> move /y c:\windows.old\users c:\

Step #5: Restore the boot sector for the previous Windows operating system

On Windows Server 2003, Windows XP or Windows 2000, type the following at command prompt and press Enter.

C:\> E:\boot\bootsect /nt52 c:

If the previous installation was some other version of Windows Vista, then at command prompt, type the following and press Enter.

C:\> E:\boot\bootsect /nt60 c:

Note: Here, E drive refers to your DVD drive. Replace the drive letter if the DVD drive of your computer is denoted by some other drive letter.

Step #6: Restore the Boot.ini file of the previous Windows on the PC was Windows XP or Windows 2000

At the command prompt, type the commands given below to restore the old Boot.ini file, and then exit Command Prompt and restart your system. After typing each command press Enter.

C:\> c:
C:\> attrib boot.ini.saved -s -h -r
C:\> ren"boot.ini.saved""boot.ini"
C:\> attrib boot.ini +s +h +r
C:\> exit

Finally, select Restart. Your PC will now boot with your earlier Windows Installation.

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