hello i have xp pro on my computer and i want vista ultimate clean install (not upgrade)
i need to format xp pro off the drive and put on vista ultimate
btw i have the discs specs and drivers etc

i used to boot from the xp disc and format and reinstall xp but not sure if i still do this then swap discs after the format part or what..

Why bother with the XP disk? The Vista one can format and install on its own.

Richard

Boot with Vista DVD, choose custom instalation, delete XP partition, then use Vista to create new partition whatever size you want or use the whole drive.
No need to format, Vista will do so automaticly after setup started.

yes found it but the only thing that bothers me is
when i used to clean reinstall xp the full format took more than 40 minutes on a 250 gig drive
but when i have booted off the vista disc and select the format in the advanced it seems to do it in less than a minute.
so whats going on does it just hide the previous operating system till it overwrites it or what..

Quick format vs Regular format

sabertooth when i format xp (full format) on a 250 gig drive it takes 40 minutes
but when i try to format xp and install vista on any computer i select the format from the advanced settings and it takes less than a minute
so if you are saying this is a quick format how do you do a full one on vista as the only option when booting from the vista disc is format (no choice between quick and full)

You'll need to accept the reality that the option for a full format is no longer available when running setup to install Vista.

This is in part because it would a great amount of time to the setup routine when you consider the average size of the typical HDD commonly found in PC' today. Also, these disks have been tested for optimum integrity & zeroed out at least once at the manufacturer's facility before being distributed .... so there isn't really a compelling need for the more invasive full format procedure during Vista setup.

So what happens if i were to sell my pc without a full format someone could use software and get my personal files
or worse if you were a buisness cant software not get back files if there is no full format facility..

Data on a hard disk can be recovered after a full format too -- it all depends on the motive behind the recovery exercise. IMHO, simply deleting any & all critical files is sufficient enough for the average computer sale, exchange or giveaway. Although a format (quick or full) is recommended & a zero wipe is even better.

If you think a quick format is not acceptable, just delete the system partition when you are ready to sell the system.

Good luck!

thanks for the time you put in to help sabertooth