upgrade - or "in-place" clean install?

[Guest]

I'll be receiving a new pc next week (c2d, 2 g ram, 1Tb HD, raid0, ati 512
pcie) which comes with vista premium. However, I want - and have already
bought - the Ultimate upgrade - and my question is whether it really makes
any difference if I choose the "clean install" over the simple upgrade, given
that this pc will not have any progs, data or settings to carry over. I've
read about upgrading from XP to vista....but wonder if those concerns apply
to upgrading from one 'fresh' vista to another.....I REALLY don't want a
hassle - eg., installing raid controller drivers - but also don't need
hassles down the lines from a sub-par installation. Plus - the Ultimate ain't
cheap!! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

Since the new PC won't have your files on it that you have to backup, I'd
clean install. Although the new pc won't have anything to 'carry over' I
haven't seen any retail PC these days that didn't come with a full load of
crapware already messing things up. You know the kinds of programs,
anything Symantec/Norton, AOHell, 'lite' versions of software that you
already have full versions of etc etc.

However if you do manage to find one that has JUST Vista Premium on it, then
upgrade.

 

[Guest]

Wow - thanks for the speedy reply - much appreciated!!
--
v.

Since the new PC won't have your files on it that you have to backup, I'd
clean install. Although the new pc won't have anything to 'carry over' I
haven't seen any retail PC these days that didn't come with a full load of
crapware already messing things up. You know the kinds of programs,
anything Symantec/Norton, AOHell, 'lite' versions of software that you
already have full versions of etc etc.

However if you do manage to find one that has JUST Vista Premium on it, then
upgrade.

 

[Frankster]

Well, just to keep the recommendations even, I'd vote for an in-place
upgrade on a brand new Vista-Premium PC. BTW, I did an in-place upgrade on
my fairly new hp PC from XP-Pro to Vista-Biz with no ill affects.

That way you will ensure all the (already present) Vista drivers will stay
in place. And, if there are one or two of the three dozen pieces of crapware
that you actually want, you can just uninstall the others. Depending on the
disks supplied by your vendor/manufacturer, it may be very difficult to load
drivers and apps back on a clean installed machine. These disks are often
tailored to "restore" an EOM installation.

If your new system comes with all necessary CDs/DVD, good. If not, make sure
you use the (most likely) built-in utility to create restore disks. These
disks should contain not only the necessary drivers, but the installation
program for them too! Just having the drivers alone can sometimes not be
enough.

-Frank