Windows to Vista

[Guest Korea92]

Hey all.. since i really badly messed up my computer i will be reformating

except that i do not have a CD. I will be buying one from Costco and i have a

few questions

 

1) Since i have a windows XP and i go to vista will it be able to reformat?

2) the Box at costco says that it is a Windows Vista Home-Upgrade. what

does that mean?

3)Will the backup i have for XP work for vista?

4) i have some programs . like power DVD and window's Exel and other..

will that be transferable?

btw i have a 2nd computer which i am using

[Guest ANONYMOUS]

Re: Windows to Vista

 

It should work but in future when you want to reinstall/reformat your HD then you

won't have a qualifying product or CD for XP and then you will have to fork out

another $300 or so. Can you not make a CD for XP from your existing system?.

 

First look on your hard disk whether you have a folder called:

 

c:\i386

 

And also check that it is not empty.

 

If you have this folder then I suggest you better make a Windows reinstallation

CD for which I will post instructions here after I receive your reply.

 

hth

 

 

Korea92 wrote:

> Hey all.. since i really badly messed up my computer i will be reformating

> except that i do not have a CD. I will be buying one from Costco and i have a

> few questions

>

> 1) Since i have a windows XP and i go to vista will it be able to reformat?

> 2) the Box at costco says that it is a Windows Vista Home-Upgrade. what

> does that mean?

> 3)Will the backup i have for XP work for vista?

> 4) i have some programs . like power DVD and window's Exel and other..

> will that be transferable?

> btw i have a 2nd computer which i am using

[Guest Korea92]

Re: Windows to Vista

 

 

 

"ANONYMOUS" wrote:

> It should work but in future when you want to reinstall/reformat your HD then you

> won't have a qualifying product or CD for XP and then you will have to fork out

> another $300 or so. Can you not make a CD for XP from your existing system?.

>

> First look on your hard disk whether you have a folder called:

>

> c:\i386

>

> And also check that it is not empty.

>

> If you have this folder then I suggest you better make a Windows reinstallation

> CD for which I will post instructions here after I receive your reply.

>

> hth

>

>

> Korea92 wrote:

>

> > Hey all.. since i really badly messed up my computer i will be reformating

> > except that i do not have a CD. I will be buying one from Costco and i have a

> > few questions

> >

> > 1) Since i have a windows XP and i go to vista will it be able to reformat?

> > 2) the Box at costco says that it is a Windows Vista Home-Upgrade. what

> > does that mean?

> > 3)Will the backup i have for XP work for vista?

> > 4) i have some programs . like power DVD and window's Exel and other..

> > will that be transferable?

> > btw i have a 2nd computer which i am using

>

> yes, i searched and it seems i have alot of the "i386" folder.

Just so you know,, the computer i am reformatting CAN NOT do anything.. it

is just too slow. If im gonna make a CD its gonna be from the one i am using

now(its the same thing)

 

I really appreciate you helping me :)

[Guest VanguardLH]

Re: Windows to Vista

 

"Korea92" wrote in

<news:D52AEF2A-2DF9-487B-B1A7-C1C57FD4B4DB@microsoft.com>:

> Hey all.. since i really badly messed up my computer i will be reformating

> except that i do not have a CD.

 

You don't have a CD for *what*?

> I will be buying one from Costco and i have a

> few questions

 

Does that mean you will be buying a Windows Vista installation CD or one

that has some other version of Windows?

> 1) Since i have a windows XP

 

"A Windows XP" WHAT? Complete the sentence or clause.

> and i go to vista will it be able to reformat?

 

"It" is WHAT? The install CD for the unindentified version of Windows?

All of them let you do a reformat of a partition. However, if you

reformat the contents of a partition then its contents are no longer

there to perform an upgrade.

> 2) the Box at costco says that it is a Windows Vista Home-Upgrade. what

> does that mean?

 

That it is an UPGRADE version. That means you need to have a prior

version of Windows already installed or you have the install CD for the

prior version.

> 3)Will the backup i have for XP work for vista?

 

Depends on what is the "backup" to which you refer. Backup programs

don't create installation CDs. If it is a full backup, you may have to

use it to restore the OS partition so the old version is visible to the

upgrade version that you intend to use to move to Vista.

> 4) i have some programs . like power DVD and window's Exel and other..

> will that be transferable?

 

Check the web sites for your applications to see if the versions that

you have are compatible with Windows Vista.

> btw i have a 2nd computer which i am using

 

Okie dokie.

[Guest Korea92]

Re: Windows to Vista

 

k i will add more information then i guess.

i have a windows XP proffesional

Costco is selling a 90$ Vista home edition - Upgrade. ~ i am asking if I

will be able to reformat my windows XP with that Vista CD.

[Guest Daave]

Re: Windows to Vista

 

"Korea92" <aznman2azn@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:95A35F34-9455-412B-A5FA-BDFD76E58C38@microsoft.com...

>k i will add more information then i guess.

> i have a windows XP proffesional

> Costco is selling a 90$ Vista home edition - Upgrade. ~ i am asking if

> I

> will be able to reformat my windows XP with that Vista CD.

 

Your question, again, is unclear.

 

In the event you mean you want to know if you can purchase a Vista

upgrade CD and install it on a PC which currently has XP Pro on it

(i.e., a "clean install"), then the answer is yes. However, you need to

determine first if your PC is new enough to run Vista. What is the

make/model and what are the specs?

 

Furthermore, I remember your other post. You were provided adequate

information to fix your malware issue (I believe it was a malware

issue... pro.exe). If I were you, I'd just fix the problem at hand; it's

probably faster and easier and definitely cheaper. Your choice, though.

[Guest VanguardLH]

Re: Windows to Vista

 

"Korea92" wrote in

<news:95A35F34-9455-412B-A5FA-BDFD76E58C38@microsoft.com>:

> k i will add more information then i guess.

> i have a windows XP proffesional

> Costco is selling a 90$ Vista home edition - Upgrade. ~ i am asking if I

> will be able to reformat my windows XP with that Vista CD.

 

If it is an "upgrade" version then it is also a retail version. OEM

versions won't do upgrades.

 

All versions of Windows (except perhaps some highly bastardized branded

versions) will let you delete and format a partition into where you can

install the new OS. I don't recall if the new install will check if

there is a qualifying version on your hard disk before or after it lets

you opt to format the partition. If it checks after doing the format,

the old version won't be around anymore to check that a qualifying old

version exists to qualify for the upgrade. I'm sure Googling would show

some pictorials that show the screens as you navigate through the

install program.

 

There is one highly hazardous problem with what you plan to do. If you

do manage to install the upgrade, what prior version are you going to

use if you later have to wipe the hard disk and reinstall that upgrade?

You destroyed the only prior version that you had. Now the upgrade

won't have a qualifying old version when to do the wipe and reinstall.

That means you'll have an upgrade version but nothing from which to

upgrade.

 

You said that you don't have a CD. You can order a replacement from

Microsoft or whomever is the manufacturer of your computer (which means

that you'll be getting an OEM version and that is probably what you have

now). Cost would probably be $20 to $30 for the replacement CDs

providing you can show proof of purchase to Microsoft (if *not* an OEM

version) or the pre-built computer manufacturer can lookup your

registration information. Rather than spend $90 on Vista Home upgrade

and another $30 on the original version replacement CDs (so you can

install the upgrade again at some later time), why not just get an OEM

version for $94 (plus maybe $2 for some qualifying hardware) and $0 for

shipping from newegg.com; see

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116202. Then

when you later need to do another clean install of Vista (on the same

host), you only need the one OEM disc.

[Guest ANONYMOUS]

Re: Windows to Vista

 

You need a special folder in the root directory called c:\i386. this folder is

normally created by computer suppliers who don't provide installation CDs. Assuming

you have this folder, then there are special prerequisites to create a full Windows XP

bootable CD and they are as follows:

 

1] An i386 folder on your root directory. This means that you will need to browse your

hard disk with Windows explorer to see if there is a folder called:

 

C:\i386

 

Please note this is not the same as i386 that is found in Windows folder

[C:\WINDOWS\Driver Cache\i386]

 

2] Your windows serial number. This should be at the back of your system or at the

bottom of your laptop. It is normally of the form:

 

XXXXX – XXXXX – XXXXX – XXXXX - XXXXX

 

If you can’t find it then you could try to use a product key retrieval tool from here:

 

http://www.nirsoft.net

 

This tool is only good if you inserted the key yourself when you received your system.

If you did nothing to setup your system, then the key you will get is of no help to you

in this respect.

 

3] Device drivers: you always need these when you do a clean install of the operating

system. Drivers identify various devices in your system. If you didn’t receive the

driver’s CD from your computer supplier, then you can back up the drivers already in

your system by using the special free program available from here:

 

<

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=176359&package_id=255124

>

 

4] CD/DVD Burning software like Nero version 6 upwards or Roxio.

 

5] Windows XP SP3 Iso file from here:

 

<https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=2FCDE6CE-B5FB-4488-8C50-FE22559D164E&displaylang=en>

 

You need this because it contains some other files which are only available on Windows

CD which you normally buy from the shops etc. Microsoft has very kindly supplied these

for free with SP3!!

 

6] CD Boot sector which you get from here:

 

<http://www.nu2.nu/download.php?sFile=wxp10.zip>

 

When you have got all this, tell us so that I can instruct you step by step how to go

about creating a proper Windows XP CD. Please note that the instructions I give you

will be for XP Professional because this is the only one we use here.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

Korea92 wrote:

> yes, i searched and it seems i have alot of the "i386" folder.

> Just so you know,, the computer i am reformatting CAN NOT do anything.. it

> is just too slow. If im gonna make a CD its gonna be from the one i am using

> now(its the same thing)

>

> I really appreciate you helping me :)

[Guest Daave]

Re: Windows to Vista

 

"VanguardLH" <V@nguard.LH> wrote in message

news:5OadnWldt_hJiqbVnZ2dnUVZ_qzinZ2d@comcast.com...

> There is one highly hazardous problem with what you plan to do. If

> you

> do manage to install the upgrade, what prior version are you going to

> use if you later have to wipe the hard disk and reinstall that

> upgrade?

> You destroyed the only prior version that you had. Now the upgrade

> won't have a qualifying old version when to do the wipe and reinstall.

> That means you'll have an upgrade version but nothing from which to

> upgrade.

 

Not necessarily! There *is* a way to perform a clean install of Vista

using the Upgrade disk but without qualifying media!

 

From http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_upgrade_clean.asp

 

<quote>

 

Here's how it works.

 

Step 1: Install Windows Vista

 

Boot your PC with the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD. After the preliminary

loading screen, click the Install Now button to trigger Vista Setup. In

the next screen, you normally enter your product key. However, there's a

little-known trick in Windows Vista Setup whereby you can simply skip

this phase and use the install media (Upgrade or Full, any version) to

perform a clean install of virtually any Vista product edition. What you

do is leave the Product Key field blank, deselect the option titled

"Automatically activate Windows when I'm online," and then click Next.

Vista Setup will ask you whether you would like to enter your Product

Key before continuing. Click No.

 

In the next Setup screen, you'll be presented with a list of the Windows

Vista product editions you can install. This list may vary from locale

to locale, but in the US, you'll see Vista Home Basic, Home Premium,

Business, Ultimate, and some N editions. Choose the product edition you

actually own. You'll be asked to verify that you've chosen the correct

version. Do so to continue past the End User License Agreement (EULA)

screen.

 

In the next screen, you select the type of install. Choose Custom

(Advanced) instead of Upgrade. Next, you choose the partition to which

to install Windows Vista. If you need to format the disk, select the

Drive options (advanced) option to do so and then continue.

 

Now, Setup copies the Vista install image to your PC, expands it, and

installs Windows. This phase of Setup should take about 15 to 20 minutes

and trigger at least one reboot. When Vista is installed, you'll step

through the penultimate phase of Setup in which you enter, in

succession, your user name and password, computer name, and the date,

time, and time zone. Then Setup runs its final task, a performance test

that could take about 5 minutes. If everything goes well, and you're

running fairly modern hardware, you should hit the Welcome screen and,

after logging on, the new Vista desktop less than 30 minutes after you

began this process.

 

Step 2: Upgrade

 

What you've installed is decidedly temporary. You've got 30 days during

which you can run this non-activated version of Windows Vista. If you

try to activate Windows now, it will fail, because you've performed a

clean install of Vista and you only have an Upgrade product key.

 

What to do, what to do? If you read Microsoft's support note carefully,

you will have seen that the Upgrade versions of Vista support upgrading

from "a compliant version of Windows, such as Windows Vista, Microsoft

Windows XP, or Microsoft Windows 2000." Well, you just installed Windows

Vista, so why not just upgrade from this install? That's right: You're

going to upgrade the non-activated clean install you just performed,

which will provide you with a version of the OS that you can, in fact,

activate.

 

To do this, just open Computer and double click on the icon for the DVD

drive that contains the Vista Upgrade media. Run Setup again, this time

from within Vista. Choose Install Now, and then "Do not get the latest

updates for installation" in the next screen. Then, in the now-familiar

Product Key phase, enter your product key. It's on the back of the

pull-out Vista packaging. You can choose to automatically activate

Windows when online or not, it's your choice. In the next screen, accept

the Windows EULA.

 

Now, choose the Upgrade option. Windows will install as before, though

you might notice that it takes quite a bit longer this time. (Upgrade

installs seem to take up to 45 minutes, compared to 30 minutes or less

with clean installs, and reboots at least one additional time.)

 

Because you've just completed an upgrade install, you won't be prompted

to enter your user name and so forth (only the time zone screen is

presented). Instead, you'll just boot directly to the Welcome screen

when the performance check is complete. Using the user name and password

you created during the first install, logon to Windows.

 

Once again, you have 30 days in which to activate Vista. However, this

time activation will work: To activate Vista immediately (unless you

told it to do so during Setup), open the Start Menu, right-click

Computer, and choose Properties. Then, at the bottom of the System

window that appears, click the link titled Activate Windows now.

 

Is this legal?

 

One might naturally wonder whether the aforementioned instructions

describe an action that is legal or ethical. After all, anyone could

purchase an Upgrade version of Windows Vista (therefore saving a lot of

money when compared to a Full version) and use it to perform a clean

install even if they don't own a previous, compliant Window version.

 

After telling my "Windows Vista Secrets" coauthor Brian Livingston about

this workaround, he wrote that using this process was indeed ethical, in

his opinion. "Microsoft itself created the upgrade process," he wrote in

a newsletter article describing the workaround. "The company designed

Vista to support upgrading it over a previously installed copy of XP,

W2K Pro, or Vista itself. This isn't a black-hat hacker exploit. It's

something that's been deliberately programmed into the approved setup

routine."

 

Fair enough. Of course, if you do use this workaround to clean install

Vista with the Upgrade media, and you don't own a previous, compliant

version of Windows, you're most certainly violating the Windows EULA

and, thus, breaking the law. Proceed at your own risk.

 

Final thoughts

 

This is an interesting and viable workaround for anyone who owns a

previous Windows version but would like to perform a clean install of

the new operating system on their existing hardware. While I'm a bit

nervous about legal implications and Microsoft's ability to cut off this

process in the future, I'm glad that innocent Windows upgraders do in

fact have all the options that were available to them in previous

Windows versions. For its part in this silliness, Microsoft gets a

virtual slap on the wrist: Sometimes, it seems, the company forgets that

Windows is expensive and paying customers should be able to easily

install the new OS without taking on the added clutter of a previous

Windows installation.

 

--Paul Thurrott

February 3, 2007

 

</quote>

[Guest Korea92]

Re: Windows to Vista

 

 

 

"Daave" wrote:

> "Korea92" <aznman2azn@hotmail.com> wrote in message

> news:95A35F34-9455-412B-A5FA-BDFD76E58C38@microsoft.com...

> >k i will add more information then i guess.

> > i have a windows XP proffesional

> > Costco is selling a 90$ Vista home edition - Upgrade. ~ i am asking if

> > I

> > will be able to reformat my windows XP with that Vista CD.

>

> Your question, again, is unclear.

>

> In the event you mean you want to know if you can purchase a Vista

> upgrade CD and install it on a PC which currently has XP Pro on it

> (i.e., a "clean install"), then the answer is yes. However, you need to

> determine first if your PC is new enough to run Vista. What is the

> make/model and what are the specs?

>

> Furthermore, I remember your other post. You were provided adequate

> information to fix your malware issue (I believe it was a malware

> issue... pro.exe). If I were you, I'd just fix the problem at hand; it's

> probably faster and easier and definitely cheaper. Your choice, though.

>

>

>

On my other post.. i tried most of the methods that the people told me to

do, but i ran into some problems.. Sometiems my computer went so slow the

programs wouldnt load or sometimtes it just restarted itself( i think because

the resource was at 100%)

 

To the person who wanted to know what i am upgrading from..you just gave me

a thought..

IF i am UPGRADING.. wouldnt that mean the malware would still be on my

computer? T.T *cry

 

Myabe i will order the 30$ CD from microsfot like the other poster has said..

hmm~

[Guest ANONYMOUS]

Re: Windows to Vista

 

 

 

Daave wrote:

>Not necessarily! There *is* a way to perform a clean install of Vista

>using the Upgrade disk but without qualifying media!

>

>

>

>

All versions of Windows allowed you to to a clean install even with an

Upgrade CD. The only requirement is/was to have a qualifying product

either on a CD or installed on the HD. That is all there is to this.

 

hth

[Guest Daave]

Re: Windows to Vista

 

"Korea92" <aznman2azn@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:DC4FFC7D-F7FE-46BF-9199-30A3CDDF5217@microsoft.com...

>

>

> "Daave" wrote:

>

>> "Korea92" <aznman2azn@hotmail.com> wrote in message

>> news:95A35F34-9455-412B-A5FA-BDFD76E58C38@microsoft.com...

>> >k i will add more information then i guess.

>> > i have a windows XP proffesional

>> > Costco is selling a 90$ Vista home edition - Upgrade. ~ i am asking

>> > if

>> > I

>> > will be able to reformat my windows XP with that Vista CD.

>>

>> Your question, again, is unclear.

>>

>> In the event you mean you want to know if you can purchase a Vista

>> upgrade CD and install it on a PC which currently has XP Pro on it

>> (i.e., a "clean install"), then the answer is yes. However, you need

>> to

>> determine first if your PC is new enough to run Vista. What is the

>> make/model and what are the specs?

>>

>> Furthermore, I remember your other post. You were provided adequate

>> information to fix your malware issue (I believe it was a malware

>> issue... pro.exe). If I were you, I'd just fix the problem at hand;

>> it's

>> probably faster and easier and definitely cheaper. Your choice,

>> though.

> On my other post.. i tried most of the methods that the people told me

> to

> do, but i ran into some problems.. Sometiems my computer went so slow

> the

> programs wouldnt load or sometimtes it just restarted itself( i think

> because

> the resource was at 100%)

 

That's why you should have tried the clean boot method, which I

suggested. :-)

> To the person who wanted to know what i am upgrading from..you just

> gave me

> a thought..

> IF i am UPGRADING.. wouldnt that mean the malware would still be on my

> computer? T.T *cry

 

If you are doing an in-place upgrade, then yes, your malware will

remain, so this would not be recommended! If you are using the Vista

upgrade disc to perform a clean install (instructions outlined in my

reply to VanguardLH), then the malware will be definitely be removed.

> Myabe i will order the 30$ CD from microsfot like the other poster has

> said..

> hmm~

 

Which poster? What CD?

[Guest Daave]

Re: Windows to Vista

 

"ANONYMOUS" <ANONYMOUS@EXAMPLE.COM> wrote in message

news:eZBDkY3vIHA.4916@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>

>

> Daave wrote:

>

>>Not necessarily! There *is* a way to perform a clean install of Vista

>>using the Upgrade disk but without qualifying media!

>>

>>

>>

> All versions of Windows allowed you to to a clean install even with an

> Upgrade CD. The only requirement is/was to have a qualifying product

> either on a CD or installed on the HD. That is all there is to this.

 

That is the general rule. The exception was outlined in the rest of my

post you snipped!