formating when installing

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Guest

When installing Vista will it format the drive you are installing too, or
will it leave the file structure in place and allow you to use the files that
are on it already?

Also if the former is the case will the data on a secondary hard drive still
be useable?
 
Stoop said:
When installing Vista will it format the drive you are installing
too, or
will it leave the file structure in place and allow you to use the
files that
are on it already?
Click to expand...

I believe both options are available if the drive was previously
formatted in NTFS.
Also if the former is the case will the data on a secondary hard
drive still
be useable?
Click to expand...

Yes, you can have a backup drive with data that you want to maintain,
and the first disk will be the primary Windows drive.

To help reduce problems, I recommend you let Windows format and do a
clean install.
 
From somebody who's been there, done that (twice) and now my kids want it (2
more installs) - here's my approach. You want a dual-boot setup (i.e. XP on
C: and Vista on a new partition. You need to create a new partition of at
least 30GB (although MS recommends 40GB). Name that partition Vista RC1 (or
whatever). Now, boot up and go into XP. Put in your .iso burned Vista in
the DVD drive AND INSTALL FROM WITHIN XP. If you don't install within XP,
you have the potential of losing your drive letter assignments, and XP
itself. Choose "custom" install - NOT upgrade. Choosing the custom install
will propmpt you for which drive you want to install it on. Choose the
partition you just created (i.e. x:Vista RC1). Enter your key, and you
should be good to go. Allow plenty of time (at least an hour or more), and
DO not shut down, turn off, or anything. There will be times you think
things aren't working. But you should see the 3 little dots moving during
the copy/expand stage, and your screen may even go blank. Your PC will also
re-boot several times. Again, let the install do the work. So far I'm
liking RC1. It's much more stable than beta-2, and Internet access is
blazingly fast. Good luck, and post your expiriences/horrors.
 
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