Easy wipe of system before Win7 install?

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Wondering how much I can clear out of my computer and start clean. I have an HP Pavillion Media Center PC which came with Vista upgraded onto XP. What can I uninstall before installing Win 7? I have weird problems such as my CD drive not working consistently, that have eluded troubleshooting. I’d like to start over as much as possible. All my data is backed up. I don’t really want to mess with partitions or anything too complex. Any advice?

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Run the windows upgrade advisor to make sure all your hardware is compatible. You cannot upgrade from XP so there’s no use uninstalling anything. Just save all your personal files on disks or external hard drive and use the upgrade disk to format the drive and do a clean install. Choose Custom Install when installing Win 7. Do not wipe the disk beforehand or you might not qualify for upgrade disk.

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Wondering how much I can clear out of my computer and start clean. I have an HP Pavillion Media Center PC which came with Vista upgraded onto XP. What can I uninstall before installing Win 7? I have weird problems such as my CD drive not working consistently, that have eluded troubleshooting. I’d like to start over as much as possible. All my data is backed up. I don’t really want to mess with partitions or anything too complex. Any advice?

Hi and welcome

Clean install is always better. If you can put up with the hassle of re installing your apps do it. Win 7 will give you the option of formatting. If you cant stand the though you can do the upgrade. Both of these are dependent on if you have the full retail version or the upgrade version of course

Ken

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Okay so the system came with XP and a Vista upgrade already installed on top of it. Can I use a Win 7 upgrade and will it wipe the XP AND Vista if I choose that upon Win 7 install?

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Okay so the system came with XP and a Vista upgrade already installed on top of it. Can I use a Win 7 upgrade and will it wipe the XP AND Vista if I choose that upon Win 7 install?

You can do a clean install. See Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows: Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media for details.

Joe

--Joe

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Okay so the system came with XP and a Vista upgrade already installed on top of it. Can I use a Win 7 upgrade and will it wipe the XP AND Vista if I choose that upon Win 7 install?

Yes, you can do an upgrade installation that will save all your previous files and settings. You may encounter a program or two that has a conflict with Windows 7, and it will let you know when you try to run such a program.

You don’t necessarily have to do a clean install IF your edition of Windows Vista is on the upgrade path for your edition of Windows 7.

I am currently dual booting XP Pro that was upgraded over Windows 2000 Pro that was upgraded over Windows 98 that was upgraded over Windows 95 OSR2. I’m not a believer of “the clean install is the only way to go” mindset. If you keep you system clean and fit, there is nothing to fear from an upgrade.

On the other hand, if you have frequent crashes, hangs, BSOD’s, etc. you might want to get your system cleaned up and error free before you upgrade.

There is no substitute for regular system maintenance and frequent total system backups (my preference is drive imaging).

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

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