Windows Vista Reinstall VistaHomePremium from recovery partition?

styzer

New Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2008
Hi all,

I've been cruising the web for hours trying to find an answer to my situation.

I purchased a new HD and installed it. My main drive has VistaHomePremium and all my programs. Using Photoshop and music software, I wanted to have a second drive to free up the main drive from slower performance caused by the reading/writing dynamics.

The main drive has had a lot of trial software installed, and before I can use my new drive in connection with it, I wanted to clean the main one and reinstall Vista. Vista came with the computer (HP Pavilion a6200n) but I noticed a partition called Factory (8.87 GB). I assumed this was the operating system, or am I wrong?

1- I want to format the main drive after backing up/moving my files and documents unto the new drive.
2- Is it possible to reinstall Vista from this "factory" partition?
3- I have one DVD/CD RW, and a 1 GB USB drive.

Thanks!

styzer
 
Noob: Vista with XP on 2nd HD

(Sorry about the double post, I couldn't find how to delete my first post).

Hi all,

I've been cruising the web for hours trying to find an answer to my situation.

I purchased a new HD and installed it. My main drive has VistaHomePremium and all my programs. Using Photoshop and music software, I wanted to have a second drive to free up the main drive from slower performance caused by the reading/writing dynamics.

The main drive has had a lot of trial software installed, and before I can use my new drive in connection with it, I wanted to clean the main one and reinstall Vista. Vista came with the computer (HP Pavilion a6200n) but I noticed a partition called Factory (8.87 GB). I assumed this was the operating system, or am I wrong?

1- I want to format the main drive after backing up/moving my files and documents unto the new drive.
2- Is it possible to reinstall Vista from this "factory" partition?
3- I have one DVD/CD RW, and a 1 GB USB drive.
4- I want to then reinstall my main programs on the Vista drive and install XP on the 2nd drive: any issues with that I should know about?

Thanks!

styzer
 
Hi styzer,

look in your start menu and you may find settings to return the laptop to it's 'factory condition'.. Thats probably what the factory partition is about.

PS. I merged your posts to save confusion...:)
 
thanks for the reply, kemical,

So since I have 2 partitions on the disk, one for the programs and one for recovery, can I wipe the program partition (300gb) entirely, and then reinstall Vista from the recovery disk?

I found a recovery disk maker in the System Tools, so I'll be burning 2 DVDs tomorrow and follow the steps. i'll let you know what comes of it...

I should be able to then use those disks to reinstall Vista on the main disk as well as the new HD, yes?

thanks again!

styzer
 
Great stuff! I'd create the recovery disks first as you may be able to boot from them. If that is the case you'll then be able to wipe and reformat the drive/partition.
Post back once you've created the disks..:)
 
OK, I was able to create the DVDs for the recovery. Now, I'd like to know if I get this right:

- it's better to install the OS on a partition of about 30 GBs with all my programs, and then use the rest of the drive as another partition for storage?

- it's better to install the OS on a partition, and then use the rest of the drive as another partition to install my programs and storage?

- and would the same apply if I install XP Pro on my new drive?

thanks!

styzer
 
I guess it depends on what partition size you want and ultimately how big the drive is..
If you have a 1GB drive why not split it into two and have one partition as a backup?
In answer to your questions though, I'd say the first one applies in this instance but 30GB is a tad small, see above suggestions..
 
Sorry, I should have said that my boot drive is 320GB and the new drive is also 320GB. The boot drive has a partition (drive D) called Factory. So that's the recovery.

I read it's best to have the OS on one partition, and the programs on another, but how to do that so late in the game?

thanks!

styzer
 
UPDATE: I've installed XP on the new drive, on a 25GB partition. Booted perfect, but lacks many important drivers.

Then reconnected the Vista drive, and now I don't have anywhere to make a selection as to which OS I want to boot. Is it possible to fix this from within Vista, or do I have to install a boot manager, and if so, any particular one is recommended for my particular situation?

Thanks again!

styzer
 
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