Formatting Windows XP Before installing Vista

[mtmuller]

Hi,
okay I will try to make this quick and clear. 
Christmas i bought my daughter a new computer.  (windows xp home ed.)
She is good with comps, or was before the teen aged hormones hit. 
She had a virus on the comp. 
Tried to clean it. 
did not work.  I am in another country so can't be there to do it myself. 
So i simplified and just bought Vista. 
I would like to confirm the directions for formatting her comp before installing Vista on it. 
The simpler the reply the better, as i will be relaying the into to her. 
Thanks in advance. 

[unlovedwarrior]

so you bought vista to fix the virus?

[mtmuller]

no evidently not. 
i was planning on upgrading anyway
there is nothing on the comp to keep anyway.
so it kills two birds with one stone, so to say

[unlovedwarrior]

is it an upgrade version or the full version of vista

[mtmuller]

the full vista of course. 
i am basically going to tel her to open the bios and check the comp to boot from the c drive. 
then stick the vista in and restart. 

am i missing anything, or anyone have other suggestions

[unlovedwarrior]

nope thats pretty much it, i think when it comes to installing vista..


just make sure the computer components are compatiable with vista to check go here to check compatiablity

[dl65]

mtmuller .......

i am basically going to tel her to open the bios and check the comp to boot from the c drive.  
then stick the vista in and restart.

Did you mean to say, set the boot sequence to c: drive ............. ( that is usually a hard drive) or ......
set the boot sequence to cd-rom as first boot ,then put vista in the cd-rom and restart ?

dl65  

[patio]

Then during setup when prompted tell her to choose delete the existing partition and then choose create new partition...this will get rid of anything that was on that drive...

[mtmuller]

dl65 and patio yes can we pull all the directions together. 
I need them clearer
I am currently in Italy, and my husbands comp is completely pirated. (it appears to be a bit of an italian tradtion as even blockbuster here sells pirated musc cds, or at least the one i go to) As well as the language being in italian, which is great for my husband, but irksome for myself.  And not everything translates directly.
Its also not the same version so its imposible for me to tell her exactly what and where she should look. 
She is pretty good, just nearly 15 and gets irritated easily, so the more point blank the directions the better. 
 
Currently she has done a system restore and things are working fine.  but my husband is a water bomber pilot and he is already now in Istanbul, and i am going soon.  I prefer everything to be content and happy in my household in Canada, while I am away and before she begins her summer vacations.  I like to be prepared.  As my Mother, uses the internet to shop and dislikes having her shopping days interupted.  (she found ebay)

Thanks in advance. 

[patio]

Click Here  for a decent step-by step guide to installing Vista. Once you have given her the info on booting to CD she can start here.
Microsofts page was more written for techies and this one is easier to understand. It's more than one page so have her get familiar with it before she even starts. She could also print it out just in case...

[mtmuller]

Thanks so much. 
I will put everything together on my end before she starts and ensure she has copies as well. 

[contrex]

Those water bomber pilots are so brave and they do such a good job. I see Canadairs in action in France and Italy every summer, with global warming they are going to be busier in future I think.

[mtmuller]

The Canadairs are awesome planes. 
There is a sticker on the inside door of one of the ones that Italy has sent to Istanbul that says 'We put out'.
My husband is Italian, but speaks english to me, so he understood the double meaning and was able to relate it to the others. 
Frankly its a wonderful change from having him fly airliners.  I was right sick of that. 
The one he is flying In Turkey this year, is a piston engine.  Not an easy thing to fly.  They are older models without 'power' steering.