Everything from xp is still on my hardrive! Help!

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Guest

Vista didn't reformat the hard drive, I am wondering if anyone knows how to
do this so that the "clean" install is actualy clean. As of now everything is
still in NTFS so I can't even see it in Vista. Email me at
(e-mail address removed) if you can help.
 
Which Vista product and type did you use ( Full or Upgrade ) :?
Vista can only install to a NTFS formatted volume, so that's normal.

Your post is a little unclear as to what you actually did.
 
My appologies, but thank you for your intrest.

I installed Vista Premium over xp using the upgrade option at first. Then I
noticed alot of errors and problems, namely it was stuck at the windows load
screen for 45 min. So I booted from my cd-rom and selected clean install.
Which works to a point. But I noticed I only had 76 gig left out of 260.
Also some of the old program folders are still in the tree. I used the MIS
help, but I have to say there is yet to be an answer to any of my questions
there. So my questions is, how do I wipe my hard drive clean? The only thing
I can think of is to use the restore disk that came with my Dell XPS which
wipes the hard drive. Then install Vista. So my question is, is there a way
to wipe my HD clean and install vista without using the method above?
 
Should be, just boot the Vista DVD. When it reaches the destination
or install location you can delete all existing partitions/volumes using
the Vista DVD. Again, after you do that I'd reboot the Vista DVD &
verify the disk is blank - then create a single partition and install Vista
there. Once completed use Disk Management from within Vista to
structure the rest of the physical drive.
 
Although the article isn't to clear:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/930985/en-us

You can't do a 'clean' install like you used to with XP, where it would ask
for your qualifying media during setup.

When I asked about this KB article, I received this response:

"Upgrade must be started from within an existing Compliant OS. You can
choose custom install and do a clean which will create the Windows.old
folder. You cannot do a format or re-partition.

Compliance checking was so easy to beat in XP that Deployment decided to
skip it and just limit the use of the Upgrade Key to installing from within
a running OS."


--
Arie Slob,
MVP, Windows Shell/User


http://www.helpwithwindows.com
http://www.windowsbbs.com
http://www.windowsnewsletter.com
 
During this step be careful not to delete any restore or diagnostic
partitions that Dell may have installed.
 
I am having a problem with my 2nd hard drive. I installed Vista on my C
Drive, and backed up everything on my 200 Gig drive before. After doing a
fresh install on C drive, it won't let me access my other drive. It showes up
in the device mgr, but not under my computer. I called Microsoft, but they
weren't able to help me much either. They said all I could do was reformat it
and lose everything or install windows xp again.. Besides that.. any other
suggestions?

(e-mail address removed)
 
I bit the bullet and did a full reformat of all my hard disks. Didn't want
old settings around.

A hard reformat helps systems anyway. Think of it as a facelift and vitamin
injection :)

Dan
 
Typically you go to the security properties of the drive and "take
ownership". Then you can access it. Haven't tested this with Vista, but,
should work.

-Frank
 
ehcomputer:
In device manager verify that a drive letter is assigned to the hard
drive. Have a great day.
 
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