Format or Update

[saintpat86]

I currently have Windows XP Pro on a system with an AMD Athlon 64 and 1GB of RAM and I would like to upgrade to Vista, but I feel like my hard drive is chalk full of tiny fragments and remnants of various programs and files that I have installed and removed over the years and although I think I'm pretty good about virus/worm/spyware/adware protection, there's a chance there's stuff I don't know about. So, my question is...will buying the upgrade version completely remove any old junk on my HD, including infections, or do I have to buy the full version and format my HD first? If that's the case, how do I format my HD?

**I don't have the installation software for Windows XP, it was pre-installed so I just have some sort of recovery disc.**

Thanks!!!

 

[Amd2800]

why buy it ? when google can help u obtain vista lol

 

[Alvin.C]

Howdy,

why buy it ? when google can help u obtain vista lol

lol.

It's always best to do a clean installation than an upgrade. You can actually perform a clean install of Windows Vista using an upgrade disc by following the instructions on any one of these webpages:

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_upgrade_clean.asp
http://vistarewired.com/2007/02/28/perform-a-clean-install-with-a-vista-upgrade-disc/
http://www.infopackets.com/channels...k_clean_install_vista_without_previous_os.htm

It will cost less than a retail version, but does require you to follow specific steps which take some time.

 

[saintpat86]

Ok, so let me make sure I get this straight and ask few more questions.

1.) a "clean" install will format my HD in the process and all the junk will be wiped away

2.) My HD is partitioned into a "c:/" and a "d:/," which serves as a backup location.
--If I were to attempt this, wouldn't it just recover all the junk from the backup?
--Should I format the backup drive first?
--Can I un-partition my HD?

I'm really not a technotard, I just tend to have bad luck when I tinker so I want to make sure I have everything right before I touch anything.

Thanks!

 

[b1gapl]

Using the XP Pro recovery discs that came with your computer, will just put the hard drive back to the state, when you first bought the computer. So it will mainly erase everything, and install back the default software. Then just use the Vista upgrade from there.

 

[Alvin.C]

Ok, so let me make sure I get this straight and ask few more questions.

1.) a "clean" install will format my HD in the process and all the junk will be wiped away

2.) My HD is partitioned into a "c:/" and a "d:/," which serves as a backup location.
--If I were to attempt this, wouldn't it just recover all the junk from the backup?
--Should I format the backup drive first?
--Can I un-partition my HD?

I'm really not a technotard, I just tend to have bad luck when I tinker so I want to make sure I have everything right before I touch anything.

Thanks!

When installing Windows XP / Vista, you choose one partition to install the OS on to. If you have more than one partition, the other partitions will be unaffected during the clean install, meaning that once the OS is installed and you're logged into the desktop, you'll be able to gain access to the files on those other partitions.

So, a clean install won't format the hard drive as such, but will format the Operating System partition. However, during the setup process, you can choose which partitions to resize or delete.

 

[saintpat86]

So should I format the backup partition before I start so that it doesn't get any unwanted garbage from there later or will it not do that?

 

[b1gapl]

It won't carry over the junk, but it is a good idea to format, if you don't have any important files on it.