Re: upgrading xp to vista premium question

AllanF:
What sense of humor? By the way......do any of the fire exstinguisher
manufacturers have newsgroups with advice on how to put out electrical fires
without losing any data on a computer?

xiowan...............in tucson

"AllanF" wrote:

xiowan,

It's good to see you've kept a sense of humour through it all.

I received the same type of warning from the Upgrade Advisor about my
Toshiba RAID Console. Made me scratch my head because I wanted to keep the
RAID config. In the end I uninstalled it because it is simply an Application
that gives access to RAID. Its not vital.

My limited understanding of RAID is that once the drivers are installed
(which needs to be done before all else), everything that comes after will
only see the disk(s) as configured by RAID. For example, I have two
harddisks in a RAID0 Array and just one Partition, but when I look at
Windows' "Disk Management", it says that I have just a single HardDisk,
"Disk 0:Basic" with a size equal to both disks put together. When Vista
Upgrade was installing, I assume it also saw a single disk with a single
partition.

I think that a lot of the other drivers could be uninstalled, but not
necessary unless you enjoy belting the "Found New Hardware" wizard on the
head. :) An increasing amount are in Vista's "on-board" database, or
available from Windows Update, and are updated automatically.


"xiowan" <xiowan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:73673091-A31B-45BD-BB9F-A539D0EB9792@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi AllanF:
I wasn't sure I could do a clean install of Vista originally and
preserve the RAID0 volumes I already had on the MCE2005 pc. The RAID
drives
were partitioned into 3 different volumes and during the install of Vista
I
used the 70 GB volume for Vista and left my remaining software and files
on
the other two volumes. I just did an upgdrade install to the O.S. volume
and
didn't realize that Vista would consult with the other two volumes and
leave
me with so many problems lol. It was very difficult for me to figure out
how
to remove some of the software & drivers already being used in the
MCE2005
O.S. since some might be needed to upgrade to a new O.S. For instance,
would you remove the Intel Raid Management console, chipset drivers,
audio &
graphics drivers? There were several warnings about various Intel
software
in the Vista Upgrade Advisor saying "unknown compatibility". I don't
think
you can remove the RAID related stuff without losing the content of the
drives. No question, the advice many give in the newsgroups about buying
a
factory built system with Vista pre-installed is the safest & easiest way
to
have a Vista pc! They say that anticipation is the best part about
getting
something new and as long as it took me to get a working Vista pc I had
plenty of time to enjoy the anticipation LOL. Now that the pc's are all
working fine all I have left to do is by a fire exstinguisher for
electrical
fires..........just in case LOL.

xiowan..........in tucson


"AllanF" wrote:

xiowan,

Sata, Ide, Masters and Slaves.... are you talking about the book,
"Arabian
Nights"? :) You've lost me. I think the only way to learn is to get
your
hands dirty and build as you have done. Me... I have a Laptop, and I'm
stuck
with whatever is inside it.

I do have two Hard Disks configured as RAID0, and had no problems with
the
Vista Upgrade. As I recall, the Clean Install simply required F6(?) and
loaded RAID drivers from CD. (It was a relief that the installation
didn't
demand an A: Drive.)

And I have some experience with Image Files because that is how my OS,
MCE2005 was delivered to me; on a Recovery Disc. An inalterable Image
that
plonks itself word-for-word, sector-for-sector on my Hard-Drives each
time I
need to reinstall the OS.

My understanding is that any type of installation of Vista will do the
same
type of thing at some stage in the installation. An Upgrade catalogs and
stores pre-existing stuff including Documents and Settings then
re-installs
it after the Image is laid down. If there is no pre-existing stuff apart
from the OS, would you end up with a Clean Install after an Upgrade? It
was
just a mad thought. :)

"xiowan" <xiowan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:E145F47E-E03E-4932-94BF-13351C10AF7A@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi AllanF:
That's an interesting idea to remove all the add in software &
hardware
(except dvd drive) prior to using an upgrade install of Vista. My
first
install of Vista Home Premium full retail version was to my main
MCE2005
which was on a Raid0 volume and I did an upgrade install to preserve
the
RAID0. I wound up with so many problems I have since moved it to a new
pc
I
built and did a clean install and love it. Some of the problems were
with
the motherboard software and since then Intel has provided Vista
chipset,
audio and graphics drivers which I used successfully on the new pc with
the
same m-board. I also have since found a vista compatible 56k modem for
the
new pc. It's an older US robotics modem than the one that didn't have
Vista
drivers lol. The failed install on that first pc also involved an
installation on a pc that has 7 hard drives......6 SATA and 1 IDE. The
IDE
drive was set as Master and the DVD drive was Slave.
Well..........With 2
Sata Drives in RAID0, 4 ACPI Sata Drives and 1 IDE drive, wouldn't you
know
it, Vista put the boot files on the IDE drive. I found out later I
would
have been better off disconnecting all but the 2 RAID0 drives and
re-installing the others after the O.S. install. It's been a fun
learning
process but for a senior citizen who built his first computer last
December
it was a real challenge. I think it has re-juvenated my brain.........I
beat
the Vista Titan Chess game at level 10 two out of the last three games
LOL.
The tips and input from the volunteers in the newsgroups has been
invaluable.
I've decided to buy another full retail version of Home Premium and do
a
clean install on my main pc as soon as the "coming soon" drivers for
it's
modem arrive. I need another challenge to complain in newsgroups about
lol!

xiowan.........in tucson

"AllanF" wrote:

The upgrade paths are an interesting mish-mash (with a bit of logic
thrown
in). For instance, with XP Pro x64 and Windows 2000, you are eligible
for
the Upgrade but need to do a Clean Install. And from MCE2005 and XP
Pro,
if
you wanted to do a Downgrade Upgrade to Home Basic, you would need to
do
a
Clean Install (buy the full version?), but to Ultimate get the
Upgrade.
(See:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradepaths.mspx)

From what I can see, the only reason to buy a Full Version would be if
you
don't have an Upgrade Path (pre Windows 2000 or no OS). The discount
on
the
Upgrade Versions is a reward for having previously purchased an OS
which
has
an Upgrade Path. What you do after that is up to you.... the method of
performing a Clean Install from an Upgrade Version was leaked by MS,
and
I
can't believe it will cause any future problems. Time will tell, but
as I
indicated in my previous post, I really can't see any benefit in a
Clean
Install when you have an Upgrade Path. Installing Vista is a different
kettle of fish to previous OSs.


"AllanF" <not.known@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:O4946HsiHHA.492@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
My two-bobs-worth...

With Vista RC1, I tried the Upgrade method, then the Clean Install.
Much
preferred the Upgrade because it saved time, and managed to install
and
configure my hardware (noteably a USB Tuner), which caused some
problems
installing manually after a Clean Install.

My understanding is that the Upgrade performs a perfectly Clean
Install
from an Image File, then automatically reinstalls pre-existing
compatible
software and hardware for you.

I guess you would prefer a Clean Install if you were not happy with
your
pre-Vista setup, and wanted to manually install your hardware and
software
bit by bit.

Wonder what happens if you uninstall all your pre-Vista hardware and
software, then perform an Upgrade. Would you end up with a Clean
Install
of the Vista Image (plus a bit extra like the archive of your "old"
system.)?

"xiowan" <xiowan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:A0B85751-2B0F-4628-A2D2-E7A00D7ABDC3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi tomlives2000:
Thanks for the info. Good to know of that scenario. My main
concern
was that I'd be violating M-S's license to use an upgrade version
to
do a
clean install.....if they permit that soon no one would buy the
retail
version and that would put a dent in their revenues. It may be
that
they
intended for some people to do this because of early adopters of
Vista
having
lots of problems with software & hardware driver compatibility and
will
continue to allow it. I don't know if they would have to change
the
software to prevent clean installs or if they can later discover
the
systems
that were installed in this "clandestine" lol manner and take some
kind
of
action to enforce their license terms. In the end I'm guessing
it's
just
a
matter of conscience as to whether to take advantage of this
loophole
in
their O.S. procedure.

xiowan...........in tucson

"tomlives2000" wrote:

I did a clean install from an upgrade. then later had to do it
again.
I
did
not have to put original software on it first. Hope it helps.

"xiowan" <xiowan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:F165A21C-5C76-4A15-8AEE-111BAB7003F6@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Gary Tsang:
Sorry....I knew it was a dumb question! I'm about to change
another pc
over to Vista and it tempts me to use the upgrade version and do
a
clean
install but I don't want to later be stuck re-installing XP
MCE2005
from
the
back up disks I made for my Gateway pc and then update it,
validate
it,
all
before I can re-install from Vista Upgrade version. Then when
I'm
done,
I
won't have a good clean, smooth running pc anyway LOL! Guess
I'll
have
to
wait til my budget allows another retail version.......darn it.

xiowan..........in tucson

"Gary Tsang" wrote:

I suppose anything is possible, but I don't know the answer to
that.

Sorry.
.

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