Installing Win 7 on a XP Computer

Clean install

Hi  

As there is NO upgrade from xp to 7, it WILL format your drive when you start the 7 install...

Make sure you can get 7 drivers FIRST though...

All the best Brett  

To install Windows 7 using the Custom option and formatting the hard disk

To format your hard disk during Windows 7 installation, you'll need to start, or boot, your computer using the Windows 7 installation disc or USB flash drive.

Turn on your computer so that Windows starts normally, insert the Windows 7 installation disc or USB flash drive, and then shut down your computer.

Restart your computer.

Press any key when prompted, and then follow the instructions that appear.

On the Install Windows page, enter your language and other preferences, and then click Next.

If the Install Windows page doesn't appear, and you're not asked to press any key, you might need to change some system settings. To learn how to do this, see Start your computer from a Windows 7 installation disc or USB flash drive.

On the Please read the license terms page, if you accept the license terms, click I accept the license terms, and then click Next.

On the Which type of installation do you want? page, click Custom.

On the Where do you want to install Windows? page, click Drive options (advanced).

Click the partition that you want to change, click the formatting option you want to perform, and then follow the instructions.

When you've finished formatting, click Next.

Follow the instructions to finish installing Windows 7, which include naming your computer and setting up an initial user account.

Recommend a freeware for wiping the HD? Or will Win 7 Prof 64bit Disc do it for me?

Edit: Thank, will use the 7 disc to wipe the HD.

Cheers for quick reply guys, will let you know how it goes!

Or will Win 7 Prof 64bit Disc < will have you format before install

BEST METHOD:
Create the Ultimate Boot CD: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

You can then boot to it and not only format, but also run diagnostics on the drive.

I can't remember if installing Win 7 on a previous disc saves over data, i.e. "oldc" but the above method will wipe absolutely everything.

i.e. use "Hard Disk Wiping-> Active Killdisk"

MEMTEST:
You can also use this disc to run MEMTEST which is a good idea to test your RAM.

**BOOT ORDER:
Your disc drive must be set prior to your hard drive in the boot order in the BIOS to boot CD's or DVD's. Just try the boot disc and if it jumps into Windows instead then change the order in your BIOS.

Going from 32 bit WinAnything to Win7-64 requires starting from a freshly formatted disk. So you need to be sure to back up any data on that disk.

Best answer selected by tenmantaylor.

Formatted and removed the unnecessary partitions using the Windows 7 custom installer, was all formatted and Win 7 installed in about 20 minutes! I was a bit concerned that the disc formatting was so quick, but it all seems fine.

PC works an absolute dream in Win7 64bit now. 8gb ram, 3ghz xeon quad core, 1gb GeForce GTX560Ti B) Can run full settings in iRacing at 200fps! Looking forward to trying Battlefield 3 on PC, completely unplayable on PS3 due to graphics/controller lag.

Photonboy - thanks for that, thats the one I used to have and have used in the past but been so long since I did it I forgot the name! I remember this used to take a few hours to do a full HD format if you did double/triple pass. Would this have given any significant advantage over the way I did it with the Win 7 install disc?