Windows Vista Clean Installation?

[Guest]

I have a fairly new PC that i got not too long ago off ebay, and now i am
looking at installing Vista on it. The upgrade advisor said that my pc was
good to go so i decided to go ahead and get VIsta Home Premium. While
looking to buy a version of vista i noticed that the Upgrade requires a clean
install when you upgrade from Windows XP Pro SP2, which happens to be what i
have. What exactly does this mean? I have looked at many of the other posts
on windowshelp and just cant seem to figure out exactly what you have to do
when you do a Clean installation of Vista. Can anyone please explain?

 

[Mike Brannigan]

I have a fairly new PC that i got not too long ago off ebay, and now
i am
looking at installing Vista on it. The upgrade advisor said that my
pc was
good to go so i decided to go ahead and get VIsta Home Premium.
While
looking to buy a version of vista i noticed that the Upgrade
requires a clean
install when you upgrade from Windows XP Pro SP2, which happens to
be what i
have. What exactly does this mean? I have looked at many of the
other posts
on windowshelp and just cant seem to figure out exactly what you
have to do
when you do a Clean installation of Vista. Can anyone please
explain?

The upgrade versions run inside your Windows XP install to start the
upgrade process - they do not require a clean install.

 

[Robert Firth]

I believe that XP pro to Home Premium in not a supported upgrade path, in a
sense that it will not transfer you settings and keep them all in place (a
traditional upgrade).

I am not familiar with the Upgrade process, but you can try backing up your
files, booting from the disk, installing Home Premium by simply clicking
'next' when it comes time to enter a product key, then upgrading that
install to Home Premium. That is a very round about way.

However, I would first try to start the install from XP pro and see if you
can do a custom install. That should do a clean install for you, but
transfer all your files to a 'windows.old' file at c:\windows.old. If it
allows you to do so, this is probably the best option.

Remember to always backup your important data!

--
/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Robert Firth *
* Windows Vista x86 RTM *
* http://www.WinVistaInfo.org *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */

 

[Dennis Pack]

Joseph:
A clean installation consists of formatting the hard drive then
installing the operating system. A custom installation of Vista is very
close to a clean installation and should be no problems. When using the VHP
upgrade version on a computer with XP Pro the upgrade option won't be
available just a custom installation is available. During a custom
installation the XP Pro operating system is placed in a Windows.old folder
before Vista is installed. The Vista installation is different, instead of
copying files to the hard drive it places an image of the operating system
on the hard drive. Before installing Vista back-up all important data and
files. After the Vista installation is complete the Windows.old folder can
be deleted. Have a great day.

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message <[email protected]> "Mike Brannigan"

The upgrade versions run inside your Windows XP install to start the
upgrade process - they do not require a clean install.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but from XP Pro --> Vista Home Premium, you do
need to perform a clean install.

From XP Pro, you're only able to upgrade to Vista Business or Ultimate.

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Joseph,

Home Premium will upgrade XP Home, XP Pro has to upgrade to Business or
Ultimate. To use the Home Premium disk you would have to custom install and
it will not import your profiles and settings from the existing installation
(though you can use the Easy Transfer before and after installing Vista to
resolve that). It does not require a clean (formatted) install, it just
won't do a direct upgrade. Software that you use will need to be reinstalled
under the new operating system.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

I'm no pro at this, but I agree with Dennis Pack. I just went through the
same thing. Bought a refurbished loaded w/ XP Pro and installed Vista Home
Premium. Tried to Upgrade, but Vista requires a custom install, which
sounded very scary. I backed up my entire "My Documents" Folder, and a copy
of my IE shortcuts, as well as my registry (don't know why, just felt better
about having it backed up). Then went back and did the custom install. I
was very pleased and surprised to find a "Windows.old' folder with all of my
old XP installation. I was able to move all of my docs from Windows.old to
the Documents folder in Vista. After a few days working in Vista, I deleted
the Windows.old file.

 

[Dennis Pack]

Kevin:
Thank you for the compliment. Have a great day.

 

[StevenW]

I can't find the windows.old file. I upgraded from xp to Vista Home
Premium. I did a search on the whole hard drive. Any suggestions?

 

[Dennis Pack]

Steven:
All my recent installations have been on freshly formatted
partitions so I'm going on memory. Click start then type "c:\windows.old" in
the search box. The file or folder will be fairly large. Have a great day.

 

[Rock]

I have a fairly new PC that i got not too long ago off ebay, and now i am
looking at installing Vista on it. The upgrade advisor said that my pc
was
good to go so i decided to go ahead and get VIsta Home Premium. While
looking to buy a version of vista i noticed that the Upgrade requires a
clean
install when you upgrade from Windows XP Pro SP2, which happens to be what
i
have. What exactly does this mean? I have looked at many of the other
posts
on windowshelp and just cant seem to figure out exactly what you have to
do
when you do a Clean installation of Vista. Can anyone please explain?

Joseph, you have received several responses, all correct, but not really
clear on your question, I think.

This is the scoop. You can use an upgrade version of Vista Home Premium to
install Vista with XP Pro as the qualifying OS, however, it can only do a
custom install (similar to a clean install), not an upgrade in place where
installed programs are retained and data is migrated. In a custom install
programs are not retained and data is not migrated.

To start either install you run the Vista DVD from the XP desktop, but since
you have XP Pro, VHP will not offer the option of doing the upgrade in
place. Only the custom install will be offered. The old XP installation is
wrapped up into the Windows.old folder from which you can retrieve data if
needed, then delete it.

If doing a custom install you can use the Windows Easy Transfer Utility
(WET) on the Vista DVD on the XP installation before doing the upgrade to
backup data and settings (but not programs) to external media, then after
the installation run WET to bring in the data and settings. Applications
will need to be reinstalled from their original media.

See this link for upgrade paths. The green dots mean an upgrade in place is
supported, the yellow means it can only do a custom install.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradepaths.mspx

To go from XP Pro to Vista by means of an upgrade in place will require
either the Business or Ultimate upgrade versions.

Before installing Vista do some research. Check the hardware manufacturer's
web sites including your computer vendor's site if it's an OEM computer for
Vista compatible drivers. Research the software vendors sites for info on
the compatibility of their software in Vista.

Running the Upgrade Advisor is not sufficient. It is only a guide and can
be wrong. If you go the upgrade in place route, first make sure you
uninstall any programs that the UA says could have compatibility problems.
Even if these items aren't mentioned uninstall all AV programs, 3rd party
firewalls, anti-malware apps, Sonic DLA, any CD/DVD burning software such as
from Nero or Roxio, any system level utilities such as 3rd party
defragmenters, partitioning tools and tweaking tools, and any software that
uses drivers.

Use drive imaging software to make an image of the XP installation before
the upgrade and save that to an external drive so it can be restored if the
upgrade doesn't go well.

 

[Mickey Segal]

A clean installation consists of formatting the hard drive then
installing the operating system.

The clean installation wipes out the contents of My Documents and Program
Files, but I found that several old folders in the root directory remained
with their contents apparently untouched (dell, drivers, i386, temp, wutemp,
and a folder I had created previously named oldprogs). I don't know if
these folders are important, but since they take only 1 GB I'm in no rush to
experiment.

 

[Guest]

Thank you all for your help! I believe all of my previous questions have been
answered sufficiently and i think i understand what i have to do now. One
more quick question, if i dont want to keep all of my programs, program
folders, etc then all i do is custom install and during install they will be
moved to windows.old or just deleted correct?

Once again thank you all very much for clearing up my confusion!

Joseph

 

[Rock]

Thank you all for your help! I believe all of my previous questions have
been
answered sufficiently and i think i understand what i have to do now. One
more quick question, if i dont want to keep all of my programs, program
folders, etc then all i do is custom install and during install they will
be
moved to windows.old or just deleted correct?

Once again thank you all very much for clearing up my confusion!

You're welcome. Whatever is on the XP installation will be wrapped into
windows.old retrieve data from there if you need to and then delete it.

 

[Guest]

Ok, cool. Ordered Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade (Academic) being that i
am a student and it is way cheaper! Thanks again for all of your help.

Joseph