Pre vista formatting?

Alright, I've been meaning to do this for a while. Due to space restrictions,
I need to wipe my computer. Some of you may have heard of File wiping, it's
basically just formatting your computer down to a shell. I need to do this.
I'm running out of memory, and I'm about to purchase Windows Vista. So my
question is: If I totally wipe my computer (No Windows, no programs, no
anything as far as I know), will I be able to just pop in Vista's disk and
start the setup? I've never actually done this, and after reading a little
bit on what it takes to format the computer I'm skeptical that it'll work
properly.

So, Completely wipe the computer and still be able to install Vista? Or does
formatting do just as good? Help me, oh computer wizards.

Not sure what the difference between "completely whiping" and formatting is,
but if you format and then get your Vista DVD in there, just make sure you
hit "boot from CD" and i'm sure it will be fine.

"OpticShroom" wrote:

> Alright, I've been meaning to do this for a while. Due to space restrictions,
> I need to wipe my computer. Some of you may have heard of File wiping, it's
> basically just formatting your computer down to a shell. I need to do this.
> I'm running out of memory, and I'm about to purchase Windows Vista. So my
> question is: If I totally wipe my computer (No Windows, no programs, no
> anything as far as I know), will I be able to just pop in Vista's disk and
> start the setup? I've never actually done this, and after reading a little
> bit on what it takes to format the computer I'm skeptical that it'll work
> properly.
>
> So, Completely wipe the computer and still be able to install Vista? Or does
> formatting do just as good? Help me, oh computer wizards.

"John B." wrote:

> Not sure what the difference between "completely whiping" and formatting is,
> but if you format and then get your Vista DVD in there, just make sure you
> hit "boot from CD" and i'm sure it will be fine.
>
> "OpticShroom" wrote:
>
> > Alright, I've been meaning to do this for a while. Due to space restrictions,
> > I need to wipe my computer. Some of you may have heard of File wiping, it's
> > basically just formatting your computer down to a shell. I need to do this.
> > I'm running out of memory, and I'm about to purchase Windows Vista. So my
> > question is: If I totally wipe my computer (No Windows, no programs, no
> > anything as far as I know), will I be able to just pop in Vista's disk and
> > start the setup? I've never actually done this, and after reading a little
> > bit on what it takes to format the computer I'm skeptical that it'll work
> > properly.
> >
> > So, Completely wipe the computer and still be able to install Vista? Or does
> > formatting do just as good? Help me, oh computer wizards.

Wiping is generally for times when you feel your security or data may be
compromised if someone else should get your drive and try to recover personal
information. One good example, is when you are about ready to dispose of an
old computer. In this case you should wipe your drive to prevent anyone from
retrieving information. In general the more passes (times) you wipe a drive
the less chance someone has of recovering data. Generally if you wipe it 7
times about the only one who can recover anything is the government with
their multi million dollar resources. You really do not need to wipe the
drive before installing Vista.

There are two types of formatting, quick and full. Either is sufficient for
purposes of installing. A full format will be better in that if there are
bad areas of the drive, they will be marked and not used.

Then yes, you should be able to pop in the DVD and do the whole install.

Good Luck

As long as the Vista is not an upgrade version you should be fine.

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca


"OpticShroom" <OpticShroom@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:07B4F439-8DE6-42F6-96FD-B1108D56725A@microsoft.com...
> Alright, I've been meaning to do this for a while. Due to space
> restrictions,
> I need to wipe my computer. Some of you may have heard of File wiping,
> it's
> basically just formatting your computer down to a shell. I need to do
> this.
> I'm running out of memory, and I'm about to purchase Windows Vista. So my
> question is: If I totally wipe my computer (No Windows, no programs, no
> anything as far as I know), will I be able to just pop in Vista's disk and
> start the setup? I've never actually done this, and after reading a
> little
> bit on what it takes to format the computer I'm skeptical that it'll work
> properly.
>
> So, Completely wipe the computer and still be able to install Vista? Or
> does
> formatting do just as good? Help me, oh computer wizards.

"OpticShroom" <OpticShroom@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote

> Alright, I've been meaning to do this for a while. Due to space
> restrictions,
> I need to wipe my computer. Some of you may have heard of File wiping,
> it's
> basically just formatting your computer down to a shell. I need to do
> this.
> I'm running out of memory, and I'm about to purchase Windows Vista. So my
> question is: If I totally wipe my computer (No Windows, no programs, no
> anything as far as I know), will I be able to just pop in Vista's disk and
> start the setup? I've never actually done this, and after reading a
> little
> bit on what it takes to format the computer I'm skeptical that it'll work
> properly.
>
> So, Completely wipe the computer and still be able to install Vista? Or
> does
> formatting do just as good? Help me, oh computer wizards.

What version of Vista do you want to use? There is no need to wipe the
drive (which generally means writing a series of 0's or other patterns to
the drive, before installing Vista. Vista is laid down as a block copy so
there is no residuals left there to get in the way.

--
Rock [MVP - User/Shell]