Upgrade version without a previous qualifying o/s installed?

I am having problems installing Windows 2000 onto my computer so that I can
then install Vista Home Premium upgrade edition.
On selecting a partition to install, it doesn't seem to understand the ntfs
or perhaps can't handle the large hard drives I have 500GB and 300GB.

So... I ran the upgrade from my RC2 install instead. And I am now using the
retail version I bought a couple of hours ago. I thought that Windows XP or
Windows 2000 had to be installed first? Not that I am complaining, and I do
own a windows 2000 liscence to qualify for the upgrade price.

I used to have XP installed on this computer, but I deleted the folders
after I installed RC2.