Vista Reformat

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andysh

229 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 16

#20289 19-Mar-2008 15:44

Hi all,

I have got two ways to which I can reformat, so your opinion to which one you think would be better is great.

Background:
I got a Dell XPS M1210 which comes with XP and an upgradeable disk to Windows Vista Home Premium
I mainly use the laptop for university (OneNote), music via iTunes and movies via VLC. I also use it sometimes to watch TV as I have an analogue TV tuner card and at this stage use the Windows Vista Media Centre

Option 1:
Load on a fresh copy of XP Home, then upgrade to Vista Home Premium.

Option 2:
Fresh install of Windows Vista Business that I got from University.

I was thinking just putting on Windows Vista Business and use something like MediaPortal for the TV? What do you people think?

Andysh

EDIT: The reason why I was thinking using the XP -> Vista route is because of the drivers but I guess I should be able to get most of the drivers off the website correct?

Thanks again.

Referrals:

Tesla: https://ts.la/andrew897313

Sharesies: https://sharesies.com/r/XRGS77

dnb4life

312 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#117707 20-Mar-2008 00:49

i would go with the fresh copy of vista business, much easier and smoother than reinstalling xp then upgrading to vista home. i don't think you'll have too many problems with drivers either, especially if you're installing 32-bit, only 64-bit really had driver issues and they're not so bad now - most you can sort out just by spending a bit of time reading up on google. vista sp1 just got released to the public as well so vista runs much better with that.

gehenna

8667 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3883

Moderator

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#117731 20-Mar-2008 09:23

If you've got two verisons of vista you had better compare the features of both and make sure there's nothing you're missing out on in choosing one version over another.

That said, I'd modify option 1 to be just a clean install of Home Premium using the method of "upgrading" Home Premium itself That way you never have to have XP on there at all. I wouldn't worry too much about drivers either, Vista can recognise most things now but it's not hard to find missing drivers anyway.

andysh

229 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 16

#117774 20-Mar-2008 14:58

Well I am going to go for the MS Vista Business route, as hopefully it will be cleaner and the software that I use in Vista Home I should be able to find substitutes for them (MediaPortal for example).

Referrals:

Tesla: https://ts.la/andrew897313

Sharesies: https://sharesies.com/r/XRGS77

ashtonaut

631 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 120

ID Verified

#117777 20-Mar-2008 15:31

I have an XPS M1210 that came pre-installed with Vista Business. The first thing I did when I got it was put the Dell Vista disc in the drive, reboot the machine, re-partition, and install a fresh copy of Vista Business. This got rid of all the crapware and unwanted partitions that came on it (admittedly, there wasn't much crapware). Everything worked fine. If you notice anything not working 100% after the install (from memory, I think my webcam and card reader didn't), Dell has all the required M1210 drivers for Vista here.

Cheers,

Ash