Installing My New OS

so i have brought the Vista Ultimate Upgrade and though i have heard of ways you can make it do a clean install i was wondering would it be easier just to reformat the HD so theres nothing on it and the install Vista Ultimate? i have a XP CD that i could use during the install process, woudl that be eaiser.

 

I would personally recommend to reformat. It's always nice to start fresh. What do you mean by using the XP disc during the install process?

 

well from what i read as its an upgrade disc, you either need a OS already installed or have a disc from it. is this true?

 

I Installed mine (Vista Home Premium) following this guide. Good Luck

 

I have done a little research and it seems like you're right; you need an OS (can be XP) running on your PC. Do you have an OS installed or no?

 

thanx, was yours a upgrade version.

 

i have XP installed. but doing an upgrade would leave all my files and everything and i dont want that. so could i just format the HD and during the install process or Vista, when told insert the XP disc, is this possible?

 

Sounds ideal and completely possible to me!

Of course I have no experience with Vista upgrading, but that is how the process works when doing a clean install from 98 to 2000 & 2000 to XP.

It just wants to read the disc to make sure you own it, then it goes ahead and installs as normal, if similar to the previous upgrades I mentioned.

 

i think it can read the disk, but im not 100% sure, i think i read it somewhere, would someone please be able to confirm that i could do that?

according to the link sandesign gave i got this:

Upgrade. Here, you insert the install DVD from a "Full" or "Upgrade" retail version of Windows Vista while running Windows XP and perform what's called an in-place upgrade. The Setup process is similar to that of a clean install, but most of your existing applications and all of your data files will be available and working properly once the upgrade is complete . Unfortunately, there are a number of qualifications to the upgrade process in Windows Vista. First, you can only upgrade certain versions of Windows XP to certain versions of Windows Vista. Here's a chart that explains which XP versions can be upgraded:

is that true, if i upgrade will most of my apps stil lwork? or will i have to re-ionstall them?

 

No need to reformat. Just select "clean install" in the installer.
It'll move your old OS into a directory called "Windows.old". Which is pretty convenient since you can get a few files out of there if you want. Then you can just delete that directory if you want.

Actually, I'm not sure it will give you the "clean install" option... If not, then you can use this guide to do it: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_upgrade_clean.asp

EDIT: Or try this method... it sounds easier: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/930985/en-us

 

but ive got VistaUltimate upgrade, i cant do a clean install without any of the workarounds i have heard.

 

This is an area that I can't answer so I'll just leave it to the pros.

 

You can select clean install during the install process.

 

what even if you only have a keygen for the upgrade version? are you sure? coz i was told you couldnt.

 

The upgrade key will work with any option the upgrade disc gives you... The upgrade options are always 'upgrade' & 'clean install'. One way to verify that would be to pop the disc in the drive and make sure it says it. As long as it does, you're fine, as your key will give you the ability to use whatever options the disc gives you.

 

what? now im confused, it might be coz ive got a really bad tooth ache and ive taken god knows how many pain killers and they are making me tired
so i can choose clean install? i guess i wouldnt need to format the HD then if its going to do a clean install

 

So... why post anything?

 

Because he asked me another qestion and I wanted to make sure he got closure....lol.

 

If you do clean install it will wipe the drive. Hench 'clean install'.

 

so a clean install it is then.
thanx everyone for all the help.