Don

Dick wrote:
> Thanks Don for the feedback I can really use the help!
>
> The first question you asked was,
>
> I think that is a wise choice, but did you repartition and/or format the
> Disks, and if so, how did you do it?
>
> No I did not format or repartition the disk. The disk is already partition
> with a C: being about 490 GB of Storage & D: being 10 GB with HP Recovery
> information.

Oops, wait. That doesn't fit with your stated goal of doing a clean
install. Your XP is already installed in C:, which uses up all of the
space on the disks. To do a truly clean install you must first shrink
the existing XP partition to free up space for a second, new, Vista
partition. AFAIK the only way to do that safely is to use a third-party
program like Acronis Disk Director or BootItNG. (Acronis will let you
try Disk Director free for 30 days.)

The second biggie you need to know is that to do a clean install using
an upgrade disk you must *not* enter your product key during the install
-- just skip that step. The resulting Vista will not be activated and
will expire in 30 days unless you do activate it. But meanwhile you can
test Vista and decide if it works well for you.