Upgrading WindowsXP Pro to Vista Ultimate on a FAT 32 HD

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cary
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Cary

I have a AMD Turion 64 based notebook - Acer Ferrari 4005 - with 2GB
RAM, an ATI Mobility Radeon 128MB card and a 100GB hard drive with 2
partitions. A has 8GB free, B has 40GB free. The Windows Vista
feasibility test says that it needs 15GB free in order to laod.

My thought is to use a partition program such as Acronis Disk Director
10 and resize the partitions by adding 15GB to A from B. Then install
the upgrade edition of Windows Vista Ultimate.

Question: the HD is currently configured as FAT 32 (Acer did this prior
to purchase). Should this pose a problem?

I often hear that a "clean install" is the way to go but doesn't that
mean I'd have to wipe my HD clean, purchase a FULL edition og MS Vista
Ultimate ($400!) and the reinstall all my applications? (If this is the
case, it seems hardly worth the effort)

Thoughts? Suggestions?
 
No, Vista does not support FAT32 drives, you will need to convert it to
NTFS:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926069
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918884

As for upgrading, its technically a clean install no matter how you put it
when it comes to Vista. But, for license compliance in the future you would
need to have a copy of Windows XP installed to qualify for the upgrade.

To do a clean install with the Upgrade DVD:
How do I do a clean install with the Windows Vista Upgrade media?

1. Boot with the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD.
2. Click "Install Now."
3. Do not enter a Product Key When prompted.
4. When prompted, select the Vista product edition that you do have.
6. Install Vista normally.
7. Once the install is complete, restart the DVD-based Setup from within
Windows Vista. Perform an in-place upgrade.
8. Enter your Product Key when prompted.
 
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