Knowledge Base

How to install Windows Vista

Article ID: 918884

Article Last Modified on 11/5/2007

APPLIES TO

Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Ultimate
Windows Vista Business
Windows Vista Enterprise
Windows Vista Starter

SUMMARY

This article describes how to upgrade to Microsoft Windows Vista from an earlier version of Microsoft Windows and how to perform a clean installation of Microsoft Windows Vista. To upgrade to Windows Vista, the operating system that is currently installed on the computer must be supported in the upgrade path to Windows Vista. This article lists the operating system requirements to upgrade to Windows Vista. This article also lists some methods that you can use to troubleshoot scenarios where you receive an "Upgrade has been disabled" message when you try to upgrade to Windows Vista. Additionally, this article describes two methods that you can use to start the Setup program to perform a clean installation of Windows Vista.

INTRODUCTION

This article contains information about how to upgrade to Windows Vista from an earlier version of Windows and how to perform a clean installation of Windows Vista.

MORE INFORMATION

Upgrade to Windows Vista

Important To make sure that you have the best possible experience when you upgrade to Windows Vista, follow these steps:

Exit all applications that are open before you upgrade to Windows Vista. This includes browsers and media players.
Make sure that you are connected to the Internet when you start the upgrade process.
When you are prompted, Get important updates for installation, click Go Online.

Recommended minimum hardware requirements for Windows Vista

To view a list of recommended minimum hardware requirements, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

919183 System requirements for Windows Vista

Operating system requirements to upgrade to Windows Vista

To view a list of Windows versions that can be upgraded to Windows Vista editions, see the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradepaths.mspx

Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor

Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor provides information about hardware and application compatibility issues and makes performance recommendations. To obtain Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx

Upgrade procedure

To upgrade your computer to Windows Vista, follow these steps:

Start the computer by using the current operating system. Verify that the Microsoft Windows operating system that is currently installed on the computer is eligible for upgrade to Windows Vista.
Insert the Windows Vista DVD in the computer's DVD drive.
Use one of the following procedures, as appropriate:
- If Windows automatically detects the DVD, the Install now screen appears. Click Install now.
- If Windows does not automatically detect the DVD, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type Drive:\setup.exe, and then click OK.
    
    Note Drive is the drive letter of the computer's DVD drive.
  2. Click Install now.
When you reach the Which type of installation to you want? screen, click Upgrade to upgrade the current operating system to Windows Vista.

The Upgrade option is unavailable, and you receive an "Upgrade has been disabled" message

When you try to upgrade to Windows Vista, the Upgrade option is unavailable. Additionally, you receive the following message:

Upgrade has been disabled

This issue may occur if one of the following conditions is true:

The operating system that is currently installed on the computer is not supported in the upgrade path to Windows Vista.
You did not start the computer by using the current operating system. Instead, you started the computer from the Windows Vista DVD. To resolve this issue, start the computer by using the current operating system, and then run the Setup program from the current operating system.
The operating system is installed to a partition that uses the FAT32 file system. To resolve this issue, convert the file system on the partition to use the NTFS file system. For more information about how to resolve this issue, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

307881 How to convert a FAT16 volume or a FAT32 volume to an NTFS file system in Windows XP
The partition on which you want to upgrade to Windows Vista has insufficient free hard disk space. To resolve this issue, free additional space on the hard disk. For more information about how to use the Disk Cleanup tool to free hard disk space, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

310312 Description of the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows XP

Perform a clean installation of Windows Vista

Warning In a clean installation, existing data is removed. This data includes personal data and settings. After you install the operating system, you must also reinstall all programs. Make sure that you back up personal data before you perform a clean installation.

To perform a clean installation of Windows Vista, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Run the Setup program after you start the computer by using the current operating system

Start the computer by using the current operating system.
Insert the Windows Vista DVD in the computer's DVD drive.
Use one of the following procedures, as appropriate:
- If Windows automatically detects the DVD, the Install now screen appears. Click Install now.
- If Windows does not automatically detect the DVD, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, click Run, type Drive:\setup.exe, and then click OK.
    
    Note Drive is the drive letter of the computer's DVD drive.
  2. Click Install now.
When you reach the Which type of installation do you want? screen, click Custom (advanced), and then follow the instructions that are displayed on the screen to install Windows Vista.

Method 2: Run the Setup program after you start the computer by using the Windows Vista DVD

Start the computer by using the Windows Vista DVD. To do this, insert the Windows Vista DVD in the computer's DVD drive, and then restart the computer.

Note To start the computer from the Windows Vista DVD, the computer must be configured to start from the DVD drive. For more information about how to configure the computer to start from the DVD drive, see the documentation that is included with the computer, or contact the computer manufacturer.

When the "Press any key to boot from CD" message is displayed on the screen, press a key.
Follow the instructions that are displayed on the screen to install Windows Vista.

REFERENCES

For more information about Windows Vista, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista

For more information about the system requirements for Windows Vista, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: