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A clean install of the operating system is our preferred method for installing Windows Vista. It is not difficult to perform a clean installation.
Before you perform the installation I recommend that you check Windows Vista system requirements to ensure that your computer hardware meets the Vista minimum requirements.
Be sure to back up your important data before performing a clean install. Also, make sure you have all the installation disks for the applications and hardware drivers you'll need to reinstall after Vista is up and running.
Here are the step-by-step guides to install Windows Vista:
1. Start the computer and enter the CMOS setup screen by pressing the Delete key several times.
2. Windows Vista DVD disc is bootable. So, you need to set the boot sequence. Look for the boot sequence under your Advanced BIOS Features and make sure that the first boot device is set to CD-ROM/DVD-ROM. Then, save and exit CMOS setup.
3. PC will restart and you will see a message alerting you:
Boot from CD / DVD:
Press any key to boot from the CD or DVD…
Press any key to boot from the CD or DVD…
Once you see the message, immediately press Enter. Windows Vista will start to boot up from the DVD disc and you will get the following progress screen will appear while the DVD content is read.
4. After a few moments you will see the first prompt that allows you to setup your language, time and currency format, keyboard or input method. Choose your required settings and click Next button to continue.
5. The next screen allows you to repair or install Windows Vista. Since we are doing a fresh install, so click on Install now button.
6. Next screen you're be prompted to enter the product key. Type-in the Vista product key.
7. If you do not enter the product key you can still proceed with the installation in which case Windows will ask you which version of Vista you have purchased. Choose the Vista version and check "I have selected the edition of Windows that I purchased" box. Click Next button to continue.
Note: Although you can select any version of Windows and proceed to next stage. Please do not select a different version to the one you have purchased because you will NOT be able to activate Windows at a later stage. Windows Vista can detect which version you have purchased once you enter your product key.
8. Read the terms and check "I accept the license terms" box then click the Next button.
9. Choose the type of installation you want to perform. You will notice that Upgrade option is disabled as we installed from the DVD disc. Choose this option only if you upgrade from the earlier versions of Windows. Therefore we can only select Custom (advanced) option to installs a fresh copy of Windows.
10. Choose where you would like to install Windows Vista. If you have a new unpartitioned hard drive you would get your hard drive listed as shown on the screen below.
If you have an old hard drive with data or other partitions, you can select the Drive options (advanced) to format, delete, or create new partitions.
11. Since we are using a single unpartitioned new hard drive, click the New option and you will see the screen below. We just create a single partition, so click the Apply button. Click the Next button to continue. Windows will create a partition on all the available disk space and format it using NTFS files system.
12. Windows starts the installation process and starts copying all the necessary files to your hard drive and installing updates. This will take some time.
13. After some time (the exact amount of time will depend on your computer's hardware), the setup process will install updates for the operating system.
14. The computer will then automatically restart. When your PC restart it attempts to boot from DVD as its the first boot device. Do NOT press any key during the boot prompt (as in part 1 - step 3) so it will continue setup Windows Vista by booting from your hard drive.
15. Now comes a long waiting period, where the installation process configures the system to complete the installations. So, be patient!
16. After the long wait, the system will then restart (reboot) once again. You will think something went wrong because of the relative long time it take the system to display anything besides the black screen, but finally, after a few moments you will note a small colored circle.
Note: If you are using old CRT monitor, you may not seeing anything after the restart. This is due to the monitor H.V frequency over range. Try to change to LCD monitor to let you continue setup Windows Vista.
17. After installation process is complete you are presented with the Setup Windows dialog box as show below. You need to type a user name, password and a picture for your user account.
Note: Although the setup process will let you continue without entering a password, note that it is very advisable to enter a password here. Also pick your user's display picture (can be changed later). The account you create here is the Administrator account which is the main account for your Windows Vista that has all the privileges. Click Next button to continue.
18. Choose a name for your computer. The setup program will create one based upon the username you chose in the previous step, but you can change it now (and later). Also pick a background for the user's desktop. This also can be changed later.
19. Choose what sort of protection your computer gets to protect Windows automatically. Select "Use recommended settings" to continue. This setting is best for someone that doesn't plan to hide their computer behind a corporate firewall. If you plan to install a 3rd-party firewall later you can opt to be prompted later.
20. Review your time and date settings. Select your time zone, change the date and time settings if necessary and click Next button to continue.
21. Next screen presents you to select your computers current location. You can choose between home, work, public location. Choose Home to continue. You will finally get a "Thank you" screen which confirms the end of the interactive installation process. This is not the end of the setup process. Click Start button to continue.
22. Windows now checks the performance of your system. You will see a status bar at bottom which shows the progress. Once the process is complete you will be presented with the following few screens before you will be presented with welcome centre.
23. The following are few screens that you will see before finishing setup Windows Vista:
24. Finally, you can see the welcome centre. You can use the welcome centre to configure, customize, and update Windows vista.
This is the entire process to setup Windows Vista. I hope that the instructions here is clear enough to help you install the Windows Vista even you never try to install any versions of Windows before.
