How to Install Windows 95 Over XP Pro
As a general rule, you should not try to install Windows 95 on top of Windows XP. However, there may be exceptional situations where you would want to do so. For example, if you have some older software that is not compatible with Windows XP and newer versions cannot be had, you may try to install Windows 95 over Windows XP.
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Instructions
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1
Power up your computer and open the My Documents folder. Insert your blank disk and copy everything from your My Documents folder to the blank disk folder. Click "Burn to Disk." Note that you may need more than one disk depending on how much you have saved.
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2
Reboot your computer and insert your Windows XP disk. You should see a message saying "To boot from disk, press any key." Do this.
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3
Proceed to follow the instructions on-screen for installing Windows XP. When the system gets to the point where it asks you where to install the software, you should choose to reformat the primary partition on your hard drive. Hint: If you have more than one hard drive installed, it's usually the first one. Note: In most cases, you will ONLY have a primary partition.
Once the system finishes, remove your disk and reboot your computer.
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4
Insert your Windows 95 disk. You should see a message saying "To boot from disk, press any key." Do this.
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5
Follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows 95. Note that you may have to reformat your hard drive again with Windows 95 since it may not recognize the formatting method used by Windows XP.
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6
Insert your CD on which you saved your documents and copy them back to your computer.
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Tips & Warnings
Before installing Windows 95, see if you can solve the problem with compatibility mode. See the References section.
Anything on your hard drive will be deleted by using this method. Make sure you make backups of anything you need in step 1. You should also be aware that many modern programs will not work under Windows 95, so use this method sparingly.
References
Resources
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