Clean Install Windows Vista?

[Hammertime]

I'm having WAY too much trouble figuring this out.

I have Vista Ultimate 64x on my desktop, and I would like to wipe EVERYTHING on it and just put a clean copy of Vista on.

So I boot from my CD and I and given only the option of 'custom install.' But it clearly tells me that it will just install Vista and create a folder with all my old files on it. I select a partition and it begins to install it.

How can I do this without it creating this folder of my old files?


Specs:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Duel Core 5000+ 2.60GHz
Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H
4GB DDR RAM
Windows Vista Ultimate SP1

 

[Joe Average]

If this is some OEM DVD like a Gateway, Dell, HP, or whatever it's going to do the automagic installation without much choice on your part.

If it's a retail or regular OEM System Builder version, there will be a point where it shows the hard drives/partitions in your system. At that point you need to figure out where you want it installed - and realistically you should disconnect all the drives if you have more than one and only leave the target drive connected - and then partition it as you want.

If you're not seeing the drive(s) listing, then I'm suspecting it's a locked OEM copy that usually skips that part... who knows.

If that doesn't help, what you need to do is simply wipe that target drive clean of the partition(s) you don't want anymore - that way the Vista installer should see the blank space and it'll work normally. You can use Parted Magic as a bootable CD to wipe the drive clean of partitions so this all will be relatively simple.

And there's always Windows 7 waiting in the wings... <hint, hint> It would run a helluvalot better on that rig too...

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

DELL CD will allow you to choose, create, delete partitions, etc when you do the install. you have to go to the advanced menu.

 

[MrF]

I have Vista Ultimate 64x on my desktop, and I would like to wipe EVERYTHING on it and just put a clean copy of Vista on.

WARNING: You are asking for wiping out the old installation (at least, that is what I read from your post). If that is not what you want, do not follow these instructions.

Backup your data first.
After you click on "Custom (Advanced) Install a ...", you get a window that asks where you want to install Windows.
Instead of clicking on "Next", you need to click an option at the bottom "Drive options (Advanced)".
Now, you can delete the partition containing your old Vista installation.

Then, you can proceed with installation in the now-empty area of your hard drive. It will automatically create a partition and install Vista on it. There will be no record of your old installation since we deleted it.