Upgrading from vista to xp, some sort of error

[lambo2124]

Hello all,
I have a dell inspiron 1420 laptop using windows vista home premium x32.
I have Windows 7 ultimate x32 in my usb and when I boot it up... and go through the installation menus until I get to that one part where I have to choose either "upgrade" or "Custom" there is a problem.

I do not want to loose my files at all nor do I want to back them up... I have so much installed that I just dont wanna go thorugh the process of reinstalling all my software and etc. I beleive the option I should choose is "upgrade" so I go and click it and this comes up:

the computer started using the windows installation disk. remove the installation disc and restart your computer so that windows starts normally. then insert the installation disc and restart the upgrade(do notselect "custom(advanced)" to perform an upgrade." custom(advanced) installs a new copy of windows and deleted your programs and settings.)

 

[bobkn]

That's normal.

When you're doing an upgrade-in-place from Vista to Win7, you boot the PC into Vista, and launch the Win7 DVD from within Vista.

I hope that you have a backup (image) of the Vista installation on the Inspiron. Upgrading the OS is like surgery: it'll probably be OK, but there's a small chance that there will be complications.

It'd also be good to have installation media for most of your software. An upgrade-in-place is supposed to preserve installed software, but some programs may not work properly. All of your stuff may be OK, but it's not guaranteed.

 

[lambo2124]

thanks a lot its starting the installation process : ) ill get back here if it turns out to be succesful