Vista to windows 7

[Emile]

I decided to move from Vista to Windows 7 on an Acer M1640 machine.
When I loaded the Win7 dvd and started to install it did not give me the option to format the HDD. So I loaded it on the 'system' (C) partition of the disk. I noticed that there were two other partitions. A small partition and another D partition.
Now when I boot up the option of starting window 7 or Vista comes up.
How can I format the whole drive so I can load Windows 7 onto the whole drive again?
Thanks.

 

[bigmck]

I decided to move from Vista to Windows 7 on an Acer M1640 machine.
When I loaded the Win7 dvd and started to install it did not give me the option to format the HDD. So I loaded it on the 'system' (C) partition of the disk. I noticed that there were two other partitions. A small partition and another D partition.
Now when I boot up the option of starting window 7 or Vista comes up.
How can I format the whole drive so I can load Windows 7 onto the whole drive again?
Thanks.

The Win 7 DVD should have given you an option to do a Clean Install. I am guessing you just missed it. It sounds like you want to format your HD and install Win 7 again, is that correct? Make sure your files are backed up, because everything will be gone on the Clean Install. I don't remember when the DVD asks you to format, but it is right at the start of it. Depending on what kind of DVD you have use one of these tutorials.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

Check back and let us know how things went

 

[gregrocker]

Please post back a screenshot of your full Disk Mgmt drive map and listings, using Snipping Tool in Start Menu.

Does Vista open if you click it on the Dual Boot menu given?

Did you make the Recovery Disks off the Recov partition using Acer eRecovery? If so, do you want to wipe the Recov partition as well as the useless Acer OEM utility partition since Acer's factory utilities won't be available after a clean Win7 install anyway?

If you want any of those utilities you would need to run an in-place Upgrade of Vista, which can still be done by running Vista Recovery if necessary to start over.

If you want to wipe the entire HD, use this method: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html

 

[Emile]

Thanks you for the reply.
Yes, I want to clean the whole HDD, including the recovery Partition, before linstalling Windows 7, but only if
Win 7 will be able to recognize the sata hdd from Boot up and load without complications.

 

[DeaconFrost]

You definitely should have had the screen in which you could have deleted the partitions and continued on. I usually prefer to do this with some third-party software, like gdisk, so I can start with a blank drive, but either way, you should have gotten those options. Most people who say they didn't, clicked through the screens too fast.

 

[Orbital Shark]

Hi,

In order for Windows 7 to give 'Format' options you need to select 'Custom Installation' (or similar) from the initial options after choosing to 'Install' Windows 7

Once you have selected 'Custom install' you can then click the 'Drive options' which will give you all the required options to delete ALL partitions and creating a new one (normally merging any single drive partitions into 1 depending on physical hardware).

Hope this helps


OS

 

[gregrocker]

Yes, I want to clean the whole HDD, including the recovery Partition, before linstalling Windows 7, but only if
Win 7 will be able to recognize the sata hdd from Boot up and load without complications.

Is there a problem now with the Win7 DVD recognizing the SATA drive when you boot it to try install? Check now to see if the drives show in window and it gives you the Drive options shown in steps 7-8 here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

If so you can Delete/Repartition/Format using those tools, or wipe the HD: SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation and then partition and format using installer.

It sounds like you might have run installer from Vista before, which is why you didn't see the Drive Options to repartition and format. This can happen if you miss the prompt to "Press any key to boot from DVD" or need to enable DVD drive to boot first in BIOS: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/tipstricks/ht/bootcddvd.htm