I have a newer laptop with windows 7 on it i have two other hard drives with other window programs on it one is vista and the other is windows xp 2000 if it put one of the oldder hard drives in it and reboot them with there recovery disc will it miss up or change the windows 7 settings i ask this because the hard drives are in working condition and they woent load

The BKF file is only a reference to allow the XP os to know what program opens which file. It doesn't contain photos or music or documents.

its a common windows problem. there is a multitude of options to solve this. try start windows in safe mode and start a program. if that works go a restore point back. or reinstall windows. or get a newer version of windows. windows 7 or 8 are likely to perform better than windows xp - assuming it is windows xp you run. avoid vista like the plague

Not sure what you have done so far. You need to divide your hard drive into two sections. Install XP first on to one section. Then use a program to manage your computer start up, the one I use is called Easy BCD this is a free program and works great. Once you cut your hard drive and install XP make a copy of your start up partition. Install the Easy BCD program and make a back up again. Then Install Win 7. Then on the Win7 side install the Easy BDC program and set up the menu choices. I run a 3 way boot with XP and Ubuntu. Hope this helps Fix Ya up.

Most programs designed for the 32-bit version of Windows will work on the 64-bit version of Windows. Notable exceptions are many antivirus programs.
Device drivers designed for 32-bit versions of Windows won't work on computers running a 64-bit version of Windows. If you're trying to install a printer or other device that only has 32-bit drivers available, it won't work correctly on a 64-bit version of Windows.

Windows 7 64bit does run programs that will run on windows 7 32bit, see here

How Windows 7 / Vista 64 Support 32 bit Applications

BUT not ALL 32bit programs will run on Windows 7!!! There are many programs that will run on Windows XP and before that will not run on Windows 7. IF you had Windows 7 Pro version (or upgrade) there is a program you can download from Microsoft that will simulate an XP environment to allow programs to run called "XP MODE".
Try to install the 32bit software first. If installation not succeed, it would be better if you first look into a newer version of the program you want to run.You have to consider that a newer version of your program might not be that much more expensive than upgrading to pro, and with the newer version, usually comes newer features.

Hope this help and if helpful RATE please.

You need to add the SATA hard drive controller to the XP installation CD using the program NLite.

Follow this guide:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Install-Windows-XP-On-SATA-Without-a-Floppy-F6-47807.shtml

I believe the only way would be to remove Windows 7 from the computer. If the hard drive with windows 7 on has any programs and files you would loose them during the proccess. If you want to run programs that are not compatible with Windows 7, I think you'll be able to tell the computer to run it as XP, or I should contact Microsoft if you have problems with Windows 7 and other programs. You should look at all the avenues before deleting Windows 7 though.

You can upgrade you memory to 2 x 512MB DDR PC2700 333MHz, and install pretty much any size 2.5" IDE hard drive you wish. Installing Vista will make this machine very very slow. Windows 7 would be better as it uses less resources. Ideally XP Pro would be better suited based on this boards specifications.

Sadly, there is no direct upgrade path for XP (pro or home) to Windows 7, only Vista. Windows 7 from XP requires a clean install.

Still, check the hard drive and see if Windows 7 moved the files to another location. It installs differently from XP or Vista and there may be a chance they are still somewhere on the drive. Use the search feature to look for a known file and see what happens.

Hi, suggest testing that hard drive, Seagate brand makes an excellent hard drive test program, plus most companies recognize it. here is the link, you can run it from windows or make your own bootable image. http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools

Well... this is common on newer laptops. It is due to the fact your HDD is SATA (Serial ATA) and Windows XP CD does not have the drivers needed to recognize it. The solution I use is a bit High Tech: to remaster your Windows XP CD including the drivers needed. Or, just settle to live with Vista until January, when Windows 7 will be available to the public. If you are not faint of heart, google this: nLite; with this program you can remaster your XP CD. (You need a working PC with CD-RW to actually do the job).