Help with installing windows vista?

Question

I want to install WIndows Vista but am scared to because I dont want to lose my personal files. Can someone who knows what they are talking about, tell me if I install it will i lose my files? What are the steps in installing?

Answer 1

The first option is to do an in-place upgrade of XP, a path I do not recommend but it will keep your files and settings intact. With the upgrade version of Vista, that is your only option. If you purchase the full version of Vista then you can boot from the DVD, format your drive and perform a fresh install, which is what everyone should do, it has the least problems. What I recommend you do, is to first back up any and all files you need to removable media (a flash drive, a CDR or DVDR disc) and then once you are sure you have ALL the files you need, boot from the full version Vista DVD, format your drive and install Vista that way.

If you have two hard drives then you can just transfer the contents over to the other hard drive, format and install Vista to the C drive and all your files will be safe and sound on the other hard drive.

Note, that you cannot boot from the upgrade version of Vista, you must have the full version if you want to boot from and format the hard drive. You can do something they call a "clean" install, in which your old XP installation is backed up to a different directory and Vista is installed to a fresh directory, that's not really a clean install as junk files and old settings are still left over from XP.

Backup, format, install Vista, that's what I did. Be wary that some programs you have may not run under Vista and some hardware may not work, run the upgrade Advisor before you buy or install Vista. It is an upgrade I recommend, far superior to XP in almost every single respect.

Answer 2

Honestly, before upgrading I would backup your files. You can do this by copying the contents of your My Documents and Desktop to a CD using your CD Burning software. You may need a couple of CDs, if you have a DVD burner that is best. But certainly before upgrading I would recommend doing the backup.

Technically you are not supposed to lose your documents, but their is the chance that you could. If you use Outlook or a similar program for email you will want to backup that up as well. You can usually do this by clicking on File >Import/Export > Export to a file and then put the file somewhere so you know how to find it, (i.e. on your desktop).

Hope this helps.