Installing Vista HP over Enterprise

[Jeff]

Vista asks for my product key. I put it in and it is a key from home
professional. An MS tech installed the enterprise version at work.

I purchased Vista Home pro and want to install it. I have been trying to
format the c: drive but get "format cannot run because the volume is in use
by another process. Format may run if this volume is dismounted first. All
opened handles to this volume would then be invalid. Would you like to force
a dismount?

I replied y and got " Cannot lock the drive. The volume is still in use.

Not sure what to do now. I got a cmd prompt through accessory and used the
administrator option.

 

[DL]

You have to boot from the Vista cd in order to delete partitions then
install, all data will be lost

 

[Leroy]

How to clean install Windows Vista:
http://www.theeldergeekvista.com/vista_clean_installation.htm

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Jeff,

You are trying to format a running installation, this is not possible.

Insert the disk, then restart the machine. After the initial POST, you
should get a message to "press any key to boot from CD/DVD". Hit <enter> to
begin setup. At the point where you choose the installation location, you
can then format C: before continuing installation (it's not necessary to as
long as there is sufficient free space, but you can if you want to).

If the system does not give you an option to boot from the disk, you will
need to enter the BIOS during the initial POST and change the boot order so
that the optical drive is ahead of the hard drive, then exit saving changes.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org