how to install vista from download

[Beck]

I just purchased Vista Basic Upgrade from the MS online store.

It comes in 3 parts - an exe file and two .wim files - install.wim and
boot.wim

Unfortunately there seems to be no instructions included on how to handle
the files. I need to install it on my mini laptop and not the one I am
using now. So I was expecting it to be an ISO which I burn to DVD which I
can then use on the other machine.

Can anyone advise please on what I need to do? Do I run the exe on the
intended machine and it will compile it for me and install?

As a side note, if I need to install again in the future, can I run the
upgrade by itself without having to install XP first? IIRC with older
versions you could run the upgrade only and it will ask for your product key
for the previous os.

 

[Jane C]

I just purchased Vista Basic Upgrade from the MS online store.

It comes in 3 parts - an exe file and two .wim files - install.wim and
boot.wim

Unfortunately there seems to be no instructions included on how to handle
the files. I need to install it on my mini laptop and not the one I am
using now. So I was expecting it to be an ISO which I burn to DVD which I
can then use on the other machine.

Can anyone advise please on what I need to do? Do I run the exe on the
intended machine and it will compile it for me and install?

As a side note, if I need to install again in the future, can I run the
upgrade by itself without having to install XP first? IIRC with older
versions you could run the upgrade only and it will ask for your product
key for the previous os.

Hello Beck,

First things first - make sure that you save those three files in a safe
place. Burn them as data to a DVD or copy them to an external USB drive.
You don't want to lose them.

Now, as you want to upgrade a different computer, you will need to get those
files copied over to your mini laptop. Are your computers networked
together? If they are, transfer the files over to the mini. If you don't
have a network, then do you have a spare USB port on the mini and an
external USB drive? Copy to the USB drive, plug into the mini, then copy to
the mini.

Once you have the files copied over to the mini, then you click on the exe
file and follow the prompts to upgrade.

Unlike earlier Windows operating systems, you will need to start the upgrade
from a running activated system - there is no choice to supply a qualifying
CD during the install. As you have found out, the Upgrade purchased online
does not create an ISO for burning. It must be installed from a running
system. (There is a tutorial floating around the internet somewhere that
claims to make a bootable ISO image from these files, but I have not tested
it out).

Before you start the upgrade, make sure that your mini has sufficient
diskspace - how big is the hard drive, and how much free space is there?

 

[Gordon]

Hello Beck,

First things first - make sure that you save those three files in a safe
place. Burn them as data to a DVD or copy them to an external USB
drive. You don't want to lose them.

Now, as you want to upgrade a different computer, you will need to get
those files copied over to your mini laptop. Are your computers
networked together? If they are, transfer the files over to the mini.
If you don't have a network, then do you have a spare USB port on the
mini and an external USB drive? Copy to the USB drive, plug into the
mini, then copy to the mini.

Once you have the files copied over to the mini, then you click on the
exe file and follow the prompts to upgrade.

Unlike earlier Windows operating systems, you will need to start the
upgrade from a running activated system - there is no choice to supply a
qualifying CD during the install. As you have found out, the Upgrade
purchased online does not create an ISO for burning. It must be
installed from a running system. (There is a tutorial floating around
the internet somewhere that claims to make a bootable ISO image from
these files, but I have not tested it out).

Before you start the upgrade, make sure that your mini has sufficient
diskspace - how big is the hard drive, and how much free space is there?

And also how much RAM and how much it can be expanded? There's no
earthly use trying to update a machine to Vista that only has 512MB RAM
and no option to increase that value...

 

[Beck]

Hello Beck,

First things first - make sure that you save those three files in a safe
place. Burn them as data to a DVD or copy them to an external USB drive.
You don't want to lose them.

Now, as you want to upgrade a different computer, you will need to get
those files copied over to your mini laptop. Are your computers networked
together? If they are, transfer the files over to the mini. If you don't
have a network, then do you have a spare USB port on the mini and an
external USB drive? Copy to the USB drive, plug into the mini, then copy
to the mini.

Once you have the files copied over to the mini, then you click on the exe
file and follow the prompts to upgrade.

Unlike earlier Windows operating systems, you will need to start the
upgrade from a running activated system - there is no choice to supply a
qualifying CD during the install. As you have found out, the Upgrade
purchased online does not create an ISO for burning. It must be installed
from a running system. (There is a tutorial floating around the internet
somewhere that claims to make a bootable ISO image from these files, but I
have not tested it out).

Before you start the upgrade, make sure that your mini has sufficient
diskspace - how big is the hard drive, and how much free space is there?

Hello Jane,

Thansk for the reply. I am having problems. I transferred the files to the
mini laptop onto the desktop. I run the exe file and get the start of the
install and it asks for product key. I enter my product key then after a
few moments I get an error.

windows cannot open the required file install.wim make sure all files
required for installation are available.
error code 0x8007000D

I have tried 3-4 times now and it always returns the same error. I also
tried running the setup in the folder that the exe extracted, but I get the
same result.

My laptop is an Advent 4312 subnote. It has a 1.6ghtz atom processor, 120gb
hdd, 1gb ram. I have run the upgrade advisor and it tells me all is well.

 

[Beck]

Hello Jane,

Thansk for the reply. I am having problems. I transferred the files to
the mini laptop onto the desktop. I run the exe file and get the start of
the install and it asks for product key. I enter my product key then
after a few moments I get an error.

windows cannot open the required file install.wim make sure all files
required for installation are available.
error code 0x8007000D

I have tried 3-4 times now and it always returns the same error. I also
tried running the setup in the folder that the exe extracted, but I get
the same result.

My laptop is an Advent 4312 subnote. It has a 1.6ghtz atom processor,
120gb hdd, 1gb ram. I have run the upgrade advisor and it tells me all is
well.

Oh stop press!
Originally I transferred it over with an external hdd. So I decided to try
a thumbstick instead.
Install has now got past the problem part is checking compatibility.
Fingers crossed...

 

[Beck]

Originally I transferred it over with an external hdd. So I decided to
try a thumbstick instead.
Install has now got past the problem part is checking compatibility.
Fingers crossed...

Balls! Windows could not update the computers boot configuration.
Installation cannot proceed.
Seeing as I have yet to install this damned thing is there any way I can get
a refund?
I am not sure it is worth the hassle.

 

[Gordon]

Balls! Windows could not update the computers boot configuration.
Installation cannot proceed.
Seeing as I have yet to install this damned thing is there any way I can
get a refund?
I am not sure it is worth the hassle.

Have you got the latest BIOS flashed?

 

[Beck]

Have you got the latest BIOS flashed?

I have no idea whether I have the latest bios, but it is somethign I do not
wish to try as it is a brand new computer and I do not wish to brick it.

 

[Gordon]

I have no idea whether I have the latest bios, but it is somethign I do
not wish to try as it is a brand new computer and I do not wish to brick
it.

If it's a brand new computer, what OS did it come with?

 

[Andy]

How To Make Vista Bootable DVD with WIM Downloaded Files
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/05/10/how-to-make-vista-bootable-dvd-with-wim-downloaded-files/

 

[Beck]

If it's a brand new computer, what OS did it come with?

Hi Gordon, It came with XP home (oem).
I have had a look around forums and it turns out that on this particular
model, Vista can be installed but what is causing the error is the incidence
of a folder called BOOT in the C drive root. Apparently renaming the folder
to something else will override the boot and ensure a safe install. However
I tried that and it still failed with error - cannot upgrade boot
configuration.

 

[Gordon]

Hi Gordon, It came with XP home (oem).
I have had a look around forums and it turns out that on this particular
model, Vista can be installed but what is causing the error is the
incidence of a folder called BOOT in the C drive root. Apparently
renaming the folder to something else will override the boot and ensure a
safe install. However I tried that and it still failed with error -
cannot upgrade boot configuration.

I found this on Google:
"This bug happens when partition manager is missing as upper filter for
disk. The following steps will fix this:

1. Open
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E
967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} using regedit.
2. Confirm that UpperFilters is empty and UpperFilters.bak is present.
3. Rename UpperFilters.bak to UpperFilters.
4. Reboot and re-attempt the upgrade."

Try that.

 

[Beck]

I found this on Google:
"This bug happens when partition manager is missing as upper filter for
disk. The following steps will fix this:

1. Open
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E
967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} using regedit.
2. Confirm that UpperFilters is empty and UpperFilters.bak is present.
3. Rename UpperFilters.bak to UpperFilters.
4. Reboot and re-attempt the upgrade."

Hi,

This was one of the things I looked at and something which MS support got me
to check.
I have an upfilters which has PartMgr in it, and I do not have an
upperfilters.bak - MS seemed to think this was correct.
At the moment I feel like I have exhausted all options I can find on Google.

 

[Beck]

I found this on Google:
"This bug happens when partition manager is missing as upper filter for
disk. The following steps will fix this:

1. Open
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E
967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} using regedit.
2. Confirm that UpperFilters is empty and UpperFilters.bak is present.
3. Rename UpperFilters.bak to UpperFilters.
4. Reboot and re-attempt the upgrade."

I found the culprit. The BOOT folder was there, but it was a double hidden
file.
I had to uncheck hide system files aswell as uncheck hide hidden files.
Just finishing the installation now and everything seems okay.

 

[Gordon]

I found the culprit. The BOOT folder was there, but it was a double
hidden file.
I had to uncheck hide system files aswell as uncheck hide hidden files.
Just finishing the installation now and everything seems okay.

Glad it's sorted!