Vista Clean Install

[mrclifton]

Everything I've read said that doing a clean install would delete all of my
files during the process....which is what I needed. I wanted everything off
of my computer except what came on it. I called myself doing it correctly
but when I checked, none of my files were gone and my Recovery D drive has no
space left which is why I needed to do a clean install in the first place.

Any suggestions? Oh, and what is a partician and how do you know which one
to choose?

 

[Mr. Arnold]

Everything I've read said that doing a clean install would delete all of
my
files during the process....which is what I needed. I wanted everything
off
of my computer except what came on it. I called myself doing it correctly
but when I checked, none of my files were gone and my Recovery D drive has
no
space left which is why I needed to do a clean install in the first place.

Any suggestions? Oh, and what is a partician and how do you know which
one
to choose?

A clean install would have involved you (*formatting*/wipeout) the drive of
all data during the install process.

And what is a partition?

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial116.html

Read the introduction as it applies to Vista too.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348

I suggest you leave the D drive alone since it has the software on it to
install the O/S again the install of the O?S is on the D drive, which was
placed there by the computer manufacture for a machine that had the O/S
preinstalled.

You want to do a clean install, then you need to purchase a Vista install
DVD, boot off of the DVD, wipe everything off of the drive (format) during
the install and install the O/S.

And if you ever do a clean install, then you would need to go back to the
manufacture's site and install software form the site specific to the model
of the computer and the O/S used, apply the MS Service Pack again, and any
MS updates again.

The very first thing you should have done if you have not done so is burn a
DVD that has the contents of the D drive on it, for back-up purposes.
That's the very first thing you should have done when you purchased the
computer.

I am not trying to be smart here, but you seem bent on shooting yourself in
the foot.

 

[mrclifton]

When you say I need to purchase a Vista install DVD and boot from that, does
that mean that the OS CD that came with my laptop isn't what I need to be
booting from?

I bought an external harddrive and copied all of the stuff to it.

What can I do about my D drive being too full to be able to do anything on
my computer?

 

[peter]

With a pre-installed system the "recovery" partition usually holds all of
the Files,Drivers,etc that originally came with the system.
Placing it back into that "just Purchased " state usually involves pushing
a combination of keyboard keys upon boot up to activate the restore
process.......the manual or help file that came with your system will list
those keys as well as the proper procedure to follow.
The System CD and the Recovery CD that came with your system will do the
same thing...
1st start with the system CD and boot from the CD...then follow the onscreen
instructions.

If your Recovery Partition is D..you should not be doing anything to it..you
should not be using it during everyday usage of system.

peter



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[Mr. Arnold]

When you say I need to purchase a Vista install DVD and boot from that,
does
that mean that the OS CD that came with my laptop isn't what I need to be
booting from?

The one that came with your laptop is a manufacture's produced solution and
I don't know what is on it. However, it is not a MS Vista installation DVD
or CD that you would have purchased from a retailer.

I bought an external harddrive and copied all of the stuff to it.

What can I do about my D drive being too full to be able to do anything on
my computer?

You should remove stuff off it that you have put there as it wasn't full
when you first got the machine.

I have a D drive too which is the Restore drive, and I do not use that drive
to hold data or anything else that I would have put there. On the other
hand, I don't need the D drive, becuase I purached a MS Vista install DVD to
upgrade to a different Vista version, and I could wipe out the drive, which
I also have backed up to a DVD disc. I am not pressed for space, but that's
the only way I would wipe out the D drive knowing that I have a retail
version of the MS Vista install DVD.