reformat/install vista ultimate

Hello Everyone, first off if any questions I have asked may be covered somewhere on the forums I apologize, I have done some searching and had no luck, but its possible I missed something. This is my first post on the boards after reading about the dell-ays across the web, being someone who had just ordered a new inspiron 1520 I quickly became "shipping obsessed" and found this site to be very accommodating.

Anyhow, I have received my laptop(however I am out of the country and will not have access to it until next week, but at least it is safe) and I definetly would like to reformat my HD to remove the bloat. I previously bought Vista Ultimate to use on my old computer which has now died.

First question: Since my old computer with Vista Ultimate is no longer in any form of use, is it possible to install on my new inspiron and activate using the same key?

Second question: I am assuming Dell installed the 32-bit version of Vista Home Premium, does the driver cd included in the package contain drivers compatible with the 64-bit version of windows? or will I need to download the 64-bit drivers from the dell website since I want to install the 64-bit version?

Third Question: I believe from what I have read that the hard drive will contain 4 seperate partions? One for windows, one for storage, another for recovery, and one for media direct; is it possible to merge the C: drive and the storage drive partitions without effecting the recovery and media direct partitions?



Thank you for the help! and again I apologize if any of the questions have been covered in previous threads.

 

Yes, you can activate it using the same key. If for some reason it does not, you will be automatically provided a toll-free telephone number to call Microsoft directly for manual activation and they will take care of that for you no problem

For the x64 drivers, support.dell.com has SOME of them - but for a full list, you'll have to search around. I have every single one of the x64 drivers, but they didn't come easy and I had to search around for some of them.

Lastly, no there is no storage partition. There is the recovery partition, the media direct partition, and the system partition. Since you are installing Ultimate, you'd get rid of the system partition and recovery partition and create a new one using all available space

 

It is very easy to just re-install with your current disc. Click my username, and look at my recent posts. I had the same questions earlier, and someone gave me their link to their youtube video. He goes through and shows how to do it. It's very easy and makes a big difference.

 

Great, looking for the drivers seems like a pain but at least theyre out there.
I appreciate the information, thanks again