Delete everything and Formatting C:/

[carlos]

Dear All,

I will Delete everything and Format my C:/ drive.

In XP I could do this without a problem
every 3 months.
In Vista in how many months I could do the above
without getting the risk of Microsoft rejecting my
Vista product key?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Carlos.

 

[Xenomorph]

a Clean PC is a happy PC?


Actually, it may be easier to just wipe and restore every now and then
instead of learning how to clean things up.

 

[Xenomorph]

*If* Windows will not accept your Key via automatic Activiation, all you
have to do then is set aside 10 minutes of your time to call the 1-800
number.

I've had Windows not accept my key, but a quick phone call was all that was
needed to get it working again.

Microsoft has people sitting there 24/7 to take Activation phone calls.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Carlos;
You can reinstall and activate everyday if you want just like you can
with windows XP.

As long as the hardware and Product Key are the same, internet
activation should work.
If not choose the option to activate by phone and call Microsoft at
the displayed number for your region, typically done in under 10
minutes.
All very similar to Windows XP.

However that raises the question of why reinstall every 3 months?
Normally your computer should be fine for years without a
reinstallation.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Dear All,

I will Delete everything and Format my C:/ drive.

In XP I could do this without a problem
every 3 months.

No, you could do it as often as you wanted to--every day if you like.
If you didn't do it more often than every 90 days, you could
reactivate over the internet; if it's before 90 days, you have to
activate by a quick and easy telephone call, but either way works.

In Vista in how many months I could do the above
without getting the risk of Microsoft rejecting my
Vista product key?

It's exactly the same in Vista. There is no such risk. The only issue,
as with XP, is whether internet activation works or telephone
activation is required.

By the way, reformatting and reinstalling every three months (or on
any schedule) is *enormous* overkill, either in XP or Vista. If you do
a decent job of maintaining your system, reinstallation should *never*
be required, unless you run up against a severe problem that normal
troubleshooting can't solve. I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11,
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista,
each for the period of time before the next version came out, and each
on two machines here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have
never had anything more than an occasional minor problem.

 

[Richard Hay]

Here is some info recently made available by Microsoft about the activation
process for Windows Vista.

http://community.winsupersite.com/b...oft-releases-details-on-vista-activation.aspx

On another note - I have had Vista Ultimate installed on my desktop and
laptop for several months now and have never had to do a clean install like
I used to do every 6 months or so with XP. Vista seems to maintain its
performance better IMHO.

Hope this helps.

 

[Norm75]

I think I have a similar problem. My Toshiba notebook developed wireless
problems (they replaced the wireless card today). Prior to this, I believe I
may have damaged the vista OS eith so many trials and errors. So I want to
format the drive and use the product recovery DVD. I have removed all my data
and app. software. When I try to format the drive, Vista stops me out. In
other words, I want to start over. Is this wise and any help and advice?
Thanks. Norm.

 

[Norm75]

Forgot to say, how can I get around being "stopped out" by Vista when I try
to format.
Norm.