Hi everyone,

First off please take note only have one hand to type, so excuse any typos, will try best to type clean. LOL

I am a NEWBIE AT THIS! Here is my problem:

Started with XP already present I now have dual OS on computer right now, Xp-Vista HP. Was to have done a clean install but made wrong choice when I installed Vista I need step-by-step instructions to reformat entire hard drive and then and only then install my Windows Vista.

Xp is corrupted and have many security problems which is affecting Vista so need to wipe clean entire hd, can NOT just remove XP can NOT even access it! , want to start with a clean hd....can anyone HELP a.s.a.p !

Regards,
Dlira

hi first delete both partitions that contains xp and vista and again create a primary partition then u can install...... hope u will get thru it.....

Grungesabin,

Thank you for your reply to my post, however I am a dummy when it comes to technical stuff so do NOT know how to do what you instructed to do,

Looking for someone to give me STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL.

Thanks again.

Regards,
Dlira

First you need to know what type of harddrive you have or the original model of the computer to determine if you have a SATA ot IEDE controller for your harddrive.

SATA drives need third party drivers installed during the set-up process which must be installed using the F6 method of installation. These drivers must be on a different media than what the installation disc is on. They usually come from the motherboard driver CD or from the manufacturer's website and have explicit instructions for installation.

1) Boot to the Vista installation CD and follow the prompts closely
2) set-up starts and you are prompted to install third party or SCSI drivers by press F6 If you do not need this then do nothing
3) Set -up inspects the drive (if set-up finds no drived installed then you will have to start over and use the F6 option to install the drivers.
4) Set -up finds the harddrive and shows all the available partitions and prompts you as to where you wish to install vista or delete the partitions.
Highlight the partition and choose to remove (delete) and follow the prompt to do so by pressing the L key. Do this for each partition shown till there is just a total unallocated partition or 1 single space designated.

Note Here is where you need to decide as to you wanting to repartition your harddrive. I personally don't like large partitons and drives and partition mine into smaller units depending on the size of the harddrive. I keep 100 gig drives or less as single partitions. On larger drives I partition them to smaller sizes. You only need to select the first partition at this time. To choose the partiton size select to create partition size.

5) choose to create the partition and set-up will do the rest including formatting the partition.
6) Just follow the prompts and when finished you will have a clean installation of vista.
7) you will then need to install all the missing driver files and then visit windows update to get the security patches and all that.
Once finished you use the disc managent program to sub-divide and partition the rest of the drive if needed.

Hi lurkswithin,

Thanks so much for replying to my post.

I will print out your instructions and give it a go!

Hope this dummy can get it right this time around.

So, I am understanding right, that I boot from the Vista Disc and follow your instructions and also the prompts. Correct? All that will totally remove both OS and clean install Vista again?

Don't mean to sound stupid but like I said that I am a dummy when it comes to technical stuff and screwed it up the first time around, so just want to be sure I am understanding.

Regards,
Dlira

Just follow the prompts and read them carefully and you will be able to first ...delete all partitions and then recreate a partition and once created it will format the newly created partition and start installing the operating system. One note though....when asked to boot to CD press any key at the very first you do not have to do that but once....when system reboots and that prompt shows up, just ignore it!