Vista upgrade or fresh install?

I have a very healthy system. I really do not want to risk a clean install. But, I'm iffy about the "upgrade" as I, again, don't want to risk anything.

{Vista Home Premium from Windows XP Media Center}

Here is a list of Software I have:

Office 2003
Norton Internet Security 2007
Sonic Creator Plus - Dell Edition
CCleaner
AIM 6

I'm wondering how these will be affected by Vista.

 

Doesn't the upgrade force you to have XP installed previously in order for it to work?

 

A clean install is always recommended over an upgrade. An upgrade now will save you some time and hassle, but in the long run it may cause unexpected behavior or stability issues. A clean OS + application installation wont take more than couple of hours anyways.

 

You won't be able to do a clean install of Vista Home Premium from the upgrade DVD that they'll send you (at least until MS reverses their current position), so your dilemma is moot, unless you're considering going out and buying the full version.

As for your software, check out this compatibility list for starters. I can pretty much guarantee that Office 2003 will work (assuming it's legal). The most iffy one is your OEM version of Sonic, but there are plenty of inexpensive DVD-burning programs out there to take its place.

 

as cogitatus says; u wont be able to do clean install from the upgrade dvd (which i thing the one u got). upgrade install is not really what you would call trouble free. your computer will not run as well as you hope for. looking at the past; upgrade install will yield slower performance and less reliability/stability than if you do a clean install. i stick with ur original copy of XP MCE if you can't do a clean install of Vista.

 

I would suggest backing up the files you need and doing a clean install that way in the long run you don't run into any problems.

 

Could you post a link or elaborate on this? It has been very simple to do a format and fresh install with all other MS upgrade discs I've used in the past.

After a quick search I found this as my first result, it doesnt mention anything about OEM upgrades, just the retail , I honestly dont see why it would be any different though.

http://www.pcuser.com.au/pcuser/hs2.nsf/web/D4B3E602B1B4C190CA2572680075C948

I found this on Microsofts site, looks you can do a clean install, you just do the format after you start the upgrade

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradepaths.mspx

 

I found this article that suggests that the upgrade is more or less a clean upgrade anyway:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-Vista-039-s-Upgrade-Architecture-41541.shtml

 

Absolutely:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070128-8717.html

...was the first to break the story, but MS itself pretty much lays it out here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/930985/en-us

Note how the title of that little bulletin pretty much says it all: you must have XP or Win2000 physically present on your HD in order to use the upgrade discs this time. But it sounds like this policy could be reversed if there's massive public outcry...

And in the name of full disclosure, I got wind of all this through this article on Gizmodo the other day.

 

I'm having trouble understanding your concern... 4 of your the 5 programs you listed are major software titles and 1 of the 4 is a microsoft title. The only program I would be concerned about is CCleaner. This is insane that you're even asking this with so few programs. I'm around 15 programs almost flawlessly and could care less if I had to reformat 2moro. 5 programs is no feat of magic... It's time to put on the daddy pants and take a chance, if you could call this one.

 

The most recent version of CCleaner claims (on its website -- I don't have it so I can't say for sure) to be Vista-compatible. Just be sure that you've downloaded the most recent version...

Actually, that's good advice for any of your programs before you do a Vista upgrade: download as many software updates as you can find, because all these companies have had Vista for months now, and most of them have already released their Vista patches.

 

I see what your saying, but you can still get a clean install, its just a bit more of a pain, you cant just start with a clean hard drive, but the drive can be cleanly formatted during the install. I'm not thrilled about that change, but I think its something I could live with, I was under the impression that you had no other recourse but to double decker with xp, which I wouldnt be happy about.

 

Unless I'm going crazy, I think MS added the bit about how to do a clean install during the upgrade process just today! I swear that the title of that article and a few other particulars have been changed since I posted the link (note the January 30 revision date).

I guess the lesson here is that information on Vista is changing by the minute, and a nasty rumor posted before noon will probably be proven false by sunset.

I thought about posting this link to an article about how the Vista upgrade DVD will invalidate your XP key, rendering dual-boot installs impossible (or at least illegal) -- to say nothing about reverting to XP afterwards. But for all I know, it might be blown out of proportion, too.

See, Microsoft: you wouldn't have misunderstandings like this if your EULA didn't read like Kafka's psychotherapy notes...

 

I have read also that the Vista Upgrades do not allow you to do a clean install of the OS. MSDN subscribers however can do a clean install of the OS. I can testify that some applications right now currently do not work with Vista. I am currently running Vista Ultimate (64 Bit Edition) and I was not able to install PC-Cillin Internet Security Suite, which I purchased through Dell, also Sonic MyDVD which I also got through Dell doesn't work either. I am going to presume that those applications do not have support for 64 Bit OS (currently). As far as CCleaner goes it will work, I have it installed on my computer now. For Anti-Virus I went with Avast Home Edition and I have not had any complaints.

 

This workaround allows users to perform a “clean install.” The process is a bit tedious, but is not hard at all to complete. Users have to perform these simple steps to perform a clean install of Vista without a previous version of Windows installed with an upgrade DVD:

1. Boot from the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD and start the setup program.
2. When prompted to enter your product key, DO NOT enter it. Click "Next" and proceed with setup. This will install Windows Vista as a 30-day trial.
3. When prompted, select the edition of Vista which you have purchased and continue with setup.
4. Once setup has been completed and you have been brought to the desktop for the first time, run the install program from within Windows Vista.
5. This time, type in your product key when prompted.
6. When asked whether to perform an Upgrade or Custom (advanced) install, choose Custom (advanced) to perform a clean install of Vista. Yes, this means that you will have to install Vista for a second time.
7. Once setup has completed for the second time, you should be able to activate Windows Vista normally. You can also delete the Windows.old directory which contains information from the first Vista install.