Help reinstalling Vista

hi guys after some doubts i have bought a dell studio 15 and i am totally satisfied. Now i would format vista, and reinstalling it resizeing the partition.(i have planned to install ubuntu or arch linux).
Can anyone help me listing steps to do for install a clean version of vista?

Thanks

 

get ALL drivers...
save all data if u have
rpartition as u wish
install
w8 for about 1 hour
have fun

 

Can you tell me steps to boot vista's dvd for reinstallation...
Thank you

 

You can repartition the hard drive in the original Windows Vista preinstalled by Dell (if you havent already reformatted it away.)
I'm not sure if the "Operating System Restore Disc" from Dell allows you to customize partitions as you install. If it does, you can partition your drive as you reinstall Vista. If not, you can let the OEM disc just install Vista on C: but don't bother loading drivers just yet. Once you get Vista to work in basic mode (aka without video drivers and stuff but able to run,) you can repartition the hard drive within Vista. Install Ubuntu. If things went well, you'll have both Vista and Ubuntu. Once everything is stable and youre sure you dont need to reformat anymore to fix any issues, load drivers. THEN HAVE FUN. =)

Let me know if you need more details.

 

use this guide here...

now, it seemed that when i did it on my studio 17, there was an issue where during the vista install, the CD drive was not recognized...

way to go around this was to get a flash drive and install vista off a flash drive.

you will find instructions on the link...

you will need to get the ACHI drivers and install it in the flash drive and install it manually...

and then, go through the steps.

it's a long thread... but worth going through it...

 

oh sure my bro...
since u have a dell, i spect the same key for boot with my old dell... so... basically.. insert DVD, restart... press f2 when de DELL logo apears... press BOOT from DVD, then it will tell you what u want to do, select install, select your version, insert code(if asks)
finally u should get to the disk part... u have to select the one u want vista to be in (for some reason i need to delete the partition prior to install, dunno why vista needs me to do this, but its ok.. just press ERASE in the partition) u will have uformatted space, and tell it to install... (only do the erase thing if it demands u a valid partition to install when u select NTFS one)
finally hit install.. and presto

 

great guide thanks for linking here

 

What' s dell media direct? Is really necessary, can i format this partition?

 

hmm... i think it's some kind of media software that dell provides... some like it... i had no need for it so i did not even install it...

 

i have followed the guide but my media direct disk doesn't boot (after a black screen my studio load vista os) why ? I have boot up with vista Os bah... What i should do?

 

do you get an error message because CD drive is not recognized?

 

ehm no after some seconds studio loads vista

 

I have modified the boot sequence but with media direct dvd no results :|

 

Ok, here's what i did... mind you, i did this only because my ODD does not get recognized when i try to do a fresh install of Vista.

Prepare Bootable Install USB Flash Drive...
here's the instructions i got from this website...

Getting ACHI Drivers:
you can get the ACHI Driver here and install it in the same USB drive... as long as you have capacity...

B) Installing Windows... please note, i've gotten the images and instructions off from here and there so it's easier for you to see... but credit is due to the original folks who made these processes easier...

a) Insert USB disk and boot, hit F12, select USB Storage Device

Note: select USB Storage Device, not the CD/DVD...

Installing Windows:
Windows will begin installing off your USB, then you enter your product key, then when this windows comes up, as indicated on the image, Click on "Drive Options Advanced"


click on "Load Driver"


Indicate/Select where you placed the ACHI drivers


when you see the driver to be installed in the window, click next


click next again here...


and i guess at this point, you can select to partition the drives to your heart's content...

follow the rest as any regular vista install...

the Dell CD's have all the drivers you need to install after you install Vista.

hope it helps.

 

oh, dunno if this is the right way about doing this... but i think you can set on bios as for boot sequence... so it boots off your USB...

 

mmm... there are other ways to do this simple operation... my older asus laptop simply boot from dvd-rom ... In this case i must buy a 4 gb flash drive

 

yea, my other systems went thru easily... for some reason, when i boot from CD/DVD, the ODD is not recognized... hence i opted to run from USB...

sorry my solution was not so simple...

i know some folks DID install vista... with much ease... but i just can't seem to figure it out... lol...