If I buy this CD, will I successfully get back to Win XP? Why did MS scare us into upgrading?

What CD? I advise against installing XP because MS discontinued it a while ago, and there will be no more updates for it, which make it less secure.

You can go back to XP if you really need/want to, but be aware that you'll have to install drivers for most of your hardware. If you can't find any, then your computer won't run very well.

You didn't say what kind of computer you have (prebuilt like an HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer etc. Or a custom built one.) Without this information, it will be hard to tell if your computer's hardware has drivers for XP.

Now, if your computer originally came with XP, then you should be fine.

Thanks. I have a Dell Latitude Laptop D610. It DID come with XP.
I'm also trying to put back Word 97 which ran fine with XP, but having a hard time loading it on with Win 7. I'm going for it!

Windows XP isn't safe to be using - I suggest downloading Lubuntu if you have a computer that only runs XP.

Re-install XP, if you have 7 you may need to partition the drive with a third party partition program because microsoft intensely dislikes people not buying their latest bloatware and the XP installation may refuse to install