Windows 7: 32 bit Vista to 32 bit Win7, Clean or dirty?

Hi all,
Glad I found you!! Now I'm hoping for some quick advice. I currently am running 2 computers, a desktop and laptop, both with 32 bit Vista. I purchased Windows 7 Family Pk today and am preparing to install. However, I've a couple questions. I wanna "Wipe the slate clean." With my kids on my systems all the time, I'm sure I've got some bugs somewhere...lol, even with all the security I run. So, I am wanting to do an install that will wipe the hard drive clean. I guess Windows 7 refers to this as a "custom install," though I've always referred to it as a "clean install." I plan to back up everything I want to save onto an external hard drive.
I'm wanting to make sure I'm doing it correctly and am a little confused about how to go about partitioning the hard drive. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Hello Sid, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Depending on what type (Full or Upgrade) od Windows 7 you have, these should help. You would just format the drive during the installation of Windows 7 at boot.

Full:
Clean Install Windows 7

Upgrade:
Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

Hope this helps,
Shawn

ok, my version is a family pk of Windows 7 upgrade, designed for Vista. My desktop is an EMachine, laptop is an HP Pavillion, both pre-installed with Vista. After upgrading to Windows 7, in the future, if I want to do another "clean install," will I have to first re-install Vista? Or will option 3 allow me to do a future clean install of just Win 7?

You should be able to do a clean install directly from your Upgrade Windows 7.

Okay, I just need to make sure I've got this right, before diving in. So, I'm in the process of backing up anything important, to an external HD. Then I'll start the clean install of Windows 7.

You're saying that, no matter which of the 3 options I go with, in the future, if I decide to do another clean install of Windows 7, I shouldn't need to re-install Vista first? I only ask because I typically do a clean install about once a year, just to get rid of all the garbage my kids tend to add...lol.

Thanks for all the great help and advice. Your tutorial was very detailed and easily understood!!

You most welcome Sid.

Correct. If it's a retail copy, you will be able to do a clean install from your Upgrade Windows 7 without having to install Vista first.

Awesome!!! Thanks so much!! I'll report back when done, or if I have any complications!!

Forgot to mention one concern I have. I purchase this Family Pk, used. It contains 2 disks, 32 and 64 bit upgrades. I'm really hoping that the fact of it being a used product doesn't cause any issues. I do have the original packaging and original disks, along with activation codes. I guess I should have asked questions on here about this concern BEFORE making the purchase...lol.

If you have any problems with doing the normal online activation since it had been installed on another computer prior, then you should just be able to do a phone activation instead.

Ummm, wow, that was QUICK and EASY!! I booted from DVD and chose custom install, formatted HD Partition and a few minutes later, was done!! Activation is complete and everything. Now comes the long process of re-installing all of my backed up items...lol. Thank you so much!!

Sooo, now, how do I go about optimizing Windows 7 for the best and most secure performance?