Vista installl.....what am i doig wrong

Ace Modder · 25 Feb 2007 at 09:48

im trying to install vista (upgrade Home prem - retail not OEM)

Booting from DVD agets to putting in activation ciode and it complains its an upgrade version and says start from existing OS.

However my existing OS is borked and wont boot (vista)

How can i do a fresh install?

ca9phoenix · 25 Feb 2007 at 09:50

ummmm if your existing os is vista you can't upgrade.... you need xp installed or atleast the xp disk to hand

PinkPig · 25 Feb 2007 at 10:08

Vista Upgrade requires that you run the setup from an existing installation. The best (and supported) solution is to reinstall your existing operating system (if you're upgrading to Windows Vista, this will be XP or below).

There is a workaround which involves installing Vista without a product key, then running setup again while now entering your product key. If you do this without owning the appropriate version of Windows you're breaking the license agreement, and even if you do it's an officially unsupported way of installing.

Ace Modder · 25 Feb 2007 at 11:50

XP wont install, its not find my SATA drive, which it used to.

But im trying to install to my 2nd IDE HDD which copies all the files over, then when it reboots the HDD it loads up Windows Vista boot error (this is why im trying to reinstall) ive changed my boot option in BIOS to boot from the IDE HDD but nothing.

I have formated my Vista HDD but its still bring up this error boot.

How do i resolve?

mrochester · 25 Feb 2007 at 14:55

By the sounds of it, you will need to provide the WindowsXP setup with some third party drivers to get it to recognise your SATA drive. To do this, you hit F6 when it asks you if you want to install third party SCSI or RAID drivers. You then give setup the floppy disk with the drivers on. Once WindowsXP is installed, put in your Vista DVD and upgrade.

Ace Modder · 25 Feb 2007 at 15:34

I've finally got Vista installing on my IDE HDD, still cannot get the SATA drive shown,

Hopefully once vista is running i can sort it out

jeffa123 · 26 Feb 2007 at 21:19

Install the Upgrade onto a clean Hard disk without using XP.
Boot the Vista DVD select install now.
Select your Language settings etc for keyboard.
When you get to the Product key, Leave it blank and remove the tick from the Activate Now section and click next.
Select the version of the upgrade you are inteneding on installing. (will not work if you select a different version of Vista).
Install and setup your devices as normal.
Once you are happy with Vista and its device configuration and full setup.
Go to the Control Panel and select system.
At the bottom of the screen select Change product key.
Insert your product key and you will be prompted for your Windows Vista CD which will take you through the install once again but because you are inserting an upgrade key your settings will not be lost on installation. Effectively you will be upgrading windows VISTA to windows Vista.
Please note this instalation method gives you chance to install any version of Vista and try it out for 30 days also. But the best thing about buying an upgrade is the fact that you don't have to have Windows XP cluttering up your hard drive before you install.
The full versions of Vista don't allow you to do this. You can install exactly the same as I have stated above but you will not be able to keep your settings because it renames your old version Windows.old .
If you want to keep your settings from windows XP simply do Files and settings transfer onto a flash drive or another Hard drive on your system.

I hope this has helped you