Going to Vista64 questions

[goofybastard]

I did an admittedly quick search and didn't find an answer for my question.

I have 2 HDDs, C & D. If I just update to Vista on the C, will I need to format the D for Vista to recognize anything on it? Or is the 64 bit stuff limited to the C drive?

My understanding is I will need to re-install all apps so that they are useable in Vista. But does anything need to happen with data files and folders, or are they completely independent?

I think that I am getting confused between 64 bit questions and HDD file systems. Both my drives are NTFS and I think that only the C would be affected by a move to a 64 bit setup. Is this correct?

If this is the case, could I replace my current C with a new drive to install Vista64 on and then be able to transfer any important information from my XP32 install on the old drive to the Vista 64 new drive? I am mainly concerned with email, favorites, and things like that.

If questions like this have already been asked and answered, sorry about wasting your time. But I hope that someone could help me out.

Thanks.

[ghostchamber]

You won't need to format the D drive for Vista to recognize it. The file system is independent of the OS, so you shouldn't have any trouble with the storage aspect. But you will need to reinstall your applications and whatnot.

As far as putting Vista on a fresh drive and transferring your information from your old drive on to it, you shouldn't have any trouble with that either. The one issue I can see is that your motherboard might try to boot off the old HD, but you should be able to work your way around that in the BIOS.

In fact, installing Vista on a fresh, cleanly formatted HD is the best way to go. Then you can just transfer over whatever you need to.

EDIT:

One question ... are you doing an upgrade to Vista from XP, or a completely clean install?

[DeaconFrost]

You really should do a clean install, so back up all your data to the D drive, and then disconnect it completely. Then, wipe the C drive clean, and install Vista. Once Vista is installed and booting on it's own, reconnect your D drive, and you are good to go.

[Gott]

You won't need to format the D drive for Vista to recognize it. The file system is independent of the OS, so you shouldn't have any trouble with the storage aspect. But you will need to reinstall your applications and whatnot.

As far as putting Vista on a fresh drive and transferring your information from your old drive on to it, you shouldn't have any trouble with that either. The one issue I can see is that your motherboard might try to boot off the old HD, but you should be able to work your way around that in the BIOS.

In fact, installing Vista on a fresh, cleanly formatted HD is the best way to go. Then you can just transfer over whatever you need to.

EDIT:

One question ... are you doing an upgrade to Vista from XP, or a completely clean install?
You can't upgrade to Vista 64 from XP (32).

[goofybastard]

I'm thinking of going from 32 bit xp to Vista 64. I was thinking of just getting a new drive and installing fresh with Vista. I am just concerned about information I want to keep from my old drive and would like it available on the new Vista setup. Once Vista was up and running, I was hoping to be able to re-connect my old C drive and take any information I may need or want. But I was unsure whether the information could be used.

I guess my real question is: When I go to Vista64 do I have to lose all of my current history in emails and favorites for IE? Or can these items be brought over into Vista64 so I don't lose anything but get a fresh start with the new OS?

Can I take information from the old drive (such as email) and transfer to the new drive?

[silent-circuit]

It will be available and there will be zero issues getting your data off the other drive.

It's not as simple as just dragging the email back to Vista, of course. You'll probably have to export from within your old email app.

[Forceman]

They can be brought over. Microsoft has a Vista migration tool available on their website - I haven't tried it, but I'd guess it works for most.

[DeaconFrost]

You can take all of the information with you. I wouldn't trust the transfer tool, as I've seen that not work more often that not. There's no easier way than to follow my steps above. Just get all your important data, such as favorites, documents, etc and move them to the D drive before disconnecting it. E-mails can also be saved, but the process varies depending on what app you use, and what type of e-mail it is. This is why i always recommend a data drive, which is what your D drive is.

[goofybastard]

I use outlook 2003 for email.

I'll have to go through everything to see just what I want to keep.

Are there any sites that would detail out an update of the OS? I was hoping there would be something out there that I could use to help me determine what I'll need to copy to ensure I have what I want.

Thanks for all the help so far to everyone.

[Forceman]

Your best bet, if you have the space, is to back up/copy your entire C drive to another location, then after you install Vista you can go to wherever your backup is and retrieve anything you might need. That's the way I did it, but I had an extra HD laying around to clone my C drive to.

[DeaconFrost]

I was hoping there would be something out there that I could use to help me determine what I'll need to copy to ensure I have what I want.
How would an online guide determine what is important to you? If you really can't figure that part out, it would be a good time to have a friend watch over your shoulder. Outlook 2003 is easy, as you can just export a PST file. Favorites are easier, as you can just copy the folder over to D. Games saves, documents, etc all can just be copied over. If you really can't figure out what is important, use one of several drive imaging tools, and make an image of your C drive to your D (as a file). Then you can extract anything you might have forgotten.

[goofybastard]

How would an online guide determine what is important to you? If you really can't figure that part out, it would be a good time to have a friend watch over your shoulder. Outlook 2003 is easy, as you can just export a PST file. Favorites are easier, as you can just copy the folder over to D. Games saves, documents, etc all can just be copied over. If you really can't figure out what is important, use one of several drive imaging tools, and make an image of your C drive to your D (as a file). Then you can extract anything you might have forgotten.

Up until the last couple of years my brother took care of my computer and I never really had to deal with any of the stuff involved in migrating from 1 OS to another and keeping things like email. That option is no longer available and I am now looking into learning what is needed to do this myself. The last ime I really knew much about Windows was when I had 95 OSR2. After that my brother got into computers heavily and sorta just took over all of the maintenance involved. Because of this I never really learned a lot of the things I should have and now find myself posting topics like this to help figure out what I need to do to get what I want form my computer.

Thank you for letting me know about the pst file and the favorites. I will look into that more and figure out what I need to do to keep that while migrating to Vista. I will also try to get in touch with my brother, though it has been awhile since we talked. I was also hoping to get some insights in what others try to keep when they migrate from one OS to another so that I can learn from any insights they had when went through this type of thing.