Ok I'm slightly confused by this paragraph.. When you say "Custom Install" are you talking about a Clean Install?
A Clean install is just that. You are correct in that if you choose to do a Clean install you are brought to a menu where you can format/delete/create partitions.. When doing a Clean install you format the partition that contained your previous OS or you create a new partition if the drive is empty.. You then install the new OS to that freshly formatted/created partition.. Any other partitions will not be erased (normally), thus any files you have sitting on them will indeed still be there when the installation is complete.. But nothing is moved anywhere in this case..
If you do an Upgrade install then you are simply installing the new OS over the old OS without physically erasing anything.. In this case yes, all the files you had sitting on the c: will be moved into the Windows.Old folder.. Any other partitions you had will also stay as they were. No files are moved from those seperate partitions even in the case of an Upgrade install, only files that were on the c: are moved..
I see what you're getting at, and I can see why I keep confusing you. Hehe, I'm really sorry lol.
2 options: Upgrade and Clean. When you click on Clean it gives you the option for a "Custom Clean" (Located under advanced options).
Now there are 3 options. Upgrade, Clean, and Custom.
I thought I was confused in how the process to installations works, so I consulted the guide to installing W7.
An upgraded installation will only move the operating system's 'system files' (C:\Windows and temp files like thumbnails) to the windows.old folder. All the programs you installed on lets say, Vista, will remain installed on W7 (like any installed games, office programs, applications) rendering them usable on the new OS. Any personal files in your Vista folders are now moved to the personal folders in W7 -- integrating previous files into a new operating system.
All W7 did was move your old system files to write over that space with the new ones. Clean install just wipes the partition clean, leaving nothing. Custom Clean does the same thing Clean does, with one exception: A Custom Clean install will not physically erase anything except the registry, pagefile, and boot sector.
Instead of erasing any files on the partition, it will move them *all* to the newly created Windows.old folder -- leaving your previous operating system environment intact, though permanently boot-inaccessible. This means that you can grab any files or folders previously created in your former operating system, you just cant boot the former operating system. Are you guys kinda getting it?
And Radenight, yes I am appreciating your emotes. It shows that both of us are not arguing or attacking eachother, but are simply trying to clarify our points of view. Very respectful. Especially when we're not talking face-to-face, it shows your concern for my feelings. I can understand how it gets when people misinterpret what you're trying to say, considering human communication is based on perception. If I could give you any more reputation, I would but it won't let me. Looks like you're maxed out.
And so here's my question... Were you aware at any point that that advanced option existed during the installation? I
perceived your responses as if you didn't know about it and that I was confusing Custom with Clean even though both options existed. However, I accept the simple fact that I may have been mistaken. Please point me in the right direction.
As far as you and I have gone with this, I'm almost convinced that we should start another thread lol.