madhusudhan

Introduction


So you want to install Windows Vista? Well, we’ll walk you through all the various ways, including a clean install, where Windows Vista is the only operating system on your PC, where you can upgrade an existing version of Windows to Windows Vista, leaving all of your data, settings, and application of integral part, and a dual-boot, where you leave Windows XP on your PC but install Vista to a different hard drive.

Taking the Easy Way of Acquiring Windows Vista with a New PC

The simplest way to get a completely working copy of Windows Vista is to buy a new PC. Even though PC makers given to fill their machines with a larg number of useless utilities, add-on programs, and other sludge, the one thing you can always be sure of when you buy a new PC is that Windows Vista is going to work out of the box. That is, all of the hardware that comes as part of your new PC purchase will work, without any additional effort on your part. In fact, if you did purchase a PC with Windows Vista preinstalled, You should be able to simply turn your new PC on and get to work.



Interactive Setup

If you purchased a copy of Windows Vista on DVD at a retailer or online store, you can install Vista using Microsoft’s new Interactive Setup application, which guides you through a series of steps while installing Vista. There are three primary ways to install Windows Vista using Interactive Setup. A clean install, where Windows Vista will be the only operating system on the PC, where you upgrade an existing operating system to Windows Vista, replacing the old with the new, and a dual-boot, where you install Windows Vista alongside your old operating system and use a boot menu to choose between them each time you reboot.


Clean Install

A clean install of the operating system is our preferred method for installing windows Vista. Although it’s possible to upgrade to Windows Vista from certain previous Windows versions, this path is perilous and can often result in a Frankenstein-like system where only some of your applications work properly.


Step-by-Step: Windows Vista Interactive Setup

We’re going to tell you about the entire Windows Vista Setup process, using Microsoft’s interactive Setup application. This application was completely overhauled for Windows Vista, and it’s much more streamlined, simplified, and faster-moving than the version used in Windows XP.

Follows these steps to install Windows Vista as a clean install:

1. Insert the Windows Vista DVD in your PC’s optical drive and reboot. After the BIOS screen flashes by, you may see a message alerting you to Press any key to boot from the CD or DVD. If so, press a key. Some systems, however, do not provide this warning and will instead boot from the DVD by default.

A black screen with a progress bar and the text “Windows is loading files” will
appear, as shown in Figure 2-1.

2. Eventually, the screen will display a multicolored drape effect and the initial Setup window appears, as shown in Figure 2-2. Here, you can preconfigure the language, time and currency formats, and keyboard or input method you’ll use during Setup.



Figure 2-1: From inauspicious beginnings such as these come great things.



Figure 2-2: These settings apply only to Setup, not the eventual Windows Vista installation.

3. Click Next. The Install Now window appears, as shown in Figure 2-3. To continue with Interactive Setup, click Install Now.



Figure 2-3: This window jumpstarts Setup and the Windows Vista recovery tools.

4. In the next window (shown in Figure 2-4), enter your Windows Vista product key. This is a 25-digit alphanumeric string—in blocks of 5 separated by dashes— that you will find on a bright yellow product key sticker somewhere in your windows Vista packaging. You can also optionally choose to have Windows Vista automatically activate for you.



Figure 2-4: Spread ’em. This is where Microsoft ensures you’re genuine.

5. In the next window, you must agree to the End User License Agreement (EULA). Although very few people actually read this document, you should take the time as it outlines your legal rights with regards to your usage of Windows Vista. Our understanding of the legalese in this document is that Microsoft exerts certain rights over your first born and soul. In Figure 2-5, you can see the EULA window.



Figure 2-5: Sign over all your rights simply by clicking a single check box.

6. In the next window, select the partition, or disk, to which to install Windows Vista. On a clean install, typically, you will be installing Windows Vista to the only disk available, as shown in Figure 2-6.



Figure 2-6: New to Vista Setup is a more graphic disk configuration phase.

7. Typically, you will see a link called More Options on this window. Clicking this link brings you to a screen where you can delete, format, or extend the current disk, if possible, or create a new partition if the hard drive is brand new and unformatted. This window is shown in Figure 2-7.



Figure 2-7: Here, you can perform various disk-related tasks, including resizing partitions.

8. After you’ve selected the disk and formatted if it necessary, it will take time to format 20–45 minutes, depending on your hardware. During this time, Setup will copy the various files it needs for installation to the hard drive, expand the Vista image file from the DVD, install Windows Vista and any included software updates, and complete the installation by attempting to load drivers for your hardware. A screen like that shown in Figure 2-8 will display during this entire process.



Figure 2-8: Grab lunch while Setup installs Windows Vista.

9. A reboot or two later, and your PC will launch into the second, and final, interactive phase of Setup. In the first screen, shown in Figure 2-9, you are prompted for a user name (typically a short name like Paul or Brian and not a full name like Ferris Bueller), password, and display picture. If you don’t choose a picture, you get the flower by default.



Figure 2-9: Here, you specify the account you’ll typically use in Windows Vista.

10. Type a name for your PC and choose a desktop background (see Figure 2-10). By default, Setup picks a PC name that is based on your user name. This is probably not a great name for your PC, but you’re free to change it.



Figure 2-10: Here, you configure computer-related options.

11. Choose whether to enable Automatic Updates, as shown in Figure 2-11. You can use the recommended settings, in which Windows automatically downloads and installs all updates, can install only important updates, or can choose to be prompted later.



Figure 2-11: In this part of Setup, you configure Automatic Updates.

12. Configure the time zone, date, and time as shown in Figure 2-12.



Figure 2-12: Curious that the time zone defaults to Pacific Time.


13. Setup announces when Interactive Setup is complete and you’re ready to start (see Figure 2-13).



Figure 2-13: The moment we’ve all been waiting for.

14. Before the Windows Vista desktop appears, Setup takes a final bow by testing your system’s performance characteristics. But during this time, you’ll see a screen like that shown in Figure 2-4. This process generally takes about 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on the speed of your PC.



Figure 2-14: During the performance test, Microsoft displays a few small Windows Vista.