Upgrading WindowsXP Pro to Vista Ultimate on a FAT 32 HD

[Cary]

I have a AMD Turion 64 based notebook - Acer Ferrari 4005 - with 2GB
RAM, an ATI Mobility Radeon 128MB card and a 100GB hard drive with 2
partitions. A has 8GB free, B has 40GB free. The Windows Vista
feasibility test says that it needs 15GB free in order to laod.

My thought is to use a partition program such as Acronis Disk Director
10 and resize the partitions by adding 15GB to A from B. Then install
the upgrade edition of Windows Vista Ultimate.

Question: the HD is currently configured as FAT 32 (Acer did this prior
to purchase). Should this pose a problem?

I often hear that a "clean install" is the way to go but doesn't that
mean I'd have to wipe my HD clean, purchase a FULL edition og MS Vista
Ultimate ($400!) and the reinstall all my applications? (If this is the
case, it seems hardly worth the effort)

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

No, Vista does not support FAT32 drives, you will need to convert it to
NTFS:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926069
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918884

As for upgrading, its technically a clean install no matter how you put it
when it comes to Vista. But, for license compliance in the future you would
need to have a copy of Windows XP installed to qualify for the upgrade.

To do a clean install with the Upgrade DVD:
How do I do a clean install with the Windows Vista Upgrade media?

1. Boot with the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD.
2. Click "Install Now."
3. Do not enter a Product Key When prompted.
4. When prompted, select the Vista product edition that you do have.
6. Install Vista normally.
7. Once the install is complete, restart the DVD-based Setup from within
Windows Vista. Perform an in-place upgrade.
8. Enter your Product Key when prompted.