Formatting and reinstalling a laptop os

aandy501

Some time ago, I reformatted a Compaq laptop and reinstalled WinMe for a friend. There was nothing but problems as the reinstall wouldn't work for some obscure reason - I think it was due to some special Compaq formatting of the HD. Can't remember too clearly now.
Just remember that there were many problems doing what is really easy on a desktop PC.
Now, another friend has asked me to format and reinstall his Acer Aspire 4720Z laptop. It currently runs WinXP Pro but he wants Vista. Am I going to run into problems if I simply run the Vista DVD from boot up and do an install as you would on a desktop PC?
Any advice/help would be REALLY appreciated!!

Thanks.

Firilacroco

I don't know what was the problem. But boot the DVD, format the partition disk and simply install it. There are no reasons to be problems.

Diablosblizz

Also, you may want to make sure his laptop can actually run Vista. There is a tool that can be found:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx

If his computer cannot run it then I would advise not to install Vista as he will be regretting it majorly. As for the format and installations just put in the disc, delete the partition, then press Install, then reformat then tada. Should work around those lines.

Good luck.

ocalhoun

^And you want it to be very overqualified for vista! Just because it meets the minimum requirements, doesn't mean it will won't slow down horribly.
My computer uses over 2GB of RAM just running vista, though supposedly you could run it with less. I wish I had XP on it though; make sure he really wants to upgrade; after all, so many people have expressed a desire to downgrade.

nTonio

If installation fails in some way, it could be fault of installation cd, but if it's checked it could be hardware cause, that appeared before this guy wanted new os because with this one is something wrong...

Kelvin

if there is something wrong with the current OS, why not do a fresh XP install? Vista definately requires the recommended 2GB of RAM else you'll hav to live with the slowdown in speed. I wouldn't really recommend VIsta on systems not on a Core 2 Duo processor or equivalent. Also, does the current notebook model have readily available drivers for Vista?

How long your windows is working without reinstall?
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