upgrade assistant ???

Question

So I load my dell copy of Vista on a second drive and all went fine.. I have Xp on the original drive for now. I followed instructions on using the upgrade disc to do a clean install. I just realized that the upgrade assistant disc has dell supplied programs that are not on my Vista drive... So I tried running that disc.. (the blue one) in Vista.  The self start .exe would not run.. even when clicking on it, so my next thought was to go directly into the apps folder and install the apps I want.. it started but then stopped a told me it was an upgrade and could not continue.. I don't really know what apps and driver I want or really need from that disc, but would like to see if there is some important things. I have not done too much with Vista yet, but so far all is well.  One program on the disc that I know I wanted is the Cineplayer... So can I get this disc to install its stuff ?? Joel

querry1 · Answer

Just do the upgrade from XP. Mine came out perfect. Be sure to install every program and hardware you could possibily use before you do it. Some programs and hardware are not supported in Vista but if you install in xp, Vista will run the program. I think the upgrade path is actually a better way than clean install. I was able to run my scanner and norton systemworks 2003 (clean sweep only) in vista by just installing in XP first. They now run just fine in Vista but are not actually supported in Vista.

Do the Upgrade and not the clean install.

Inspiron E1505 T5500 Core 2 Duo

2gb 667 mhz 5400 DD2

Intel 950 Graphics

Windows XP Media Center 2005 - Express Vista Home Premium Upgrade

querry1 · Answer

I am saying the people that are doing the clean install are losing an advantage by doing so. Its better to upgrade with the assistant. That assistant is a very cool utility. Do this to try it.   Take your new hard drive and mirror your old hard drive to the new one. Run the upgrade program you recieved on the new hard drive. It should come out perfect.   People with Vista Preinstalled lose a lot of software and hardware. Vista will not load it. Upgrade customers however can install the programs in XP ...then upgrade ....Vista runs the program.   Also Customers with Vista preinstalled have the Quick restore program. Upgrade customers do not. We have the old program (ctrl+f11 key. This is disabled in Vista but fixable. If you do the clean install you could wipe out the partition containing your quick restore. If you do the Clean Install be sure not to delete the partitions.

jojodwolf · Answer

I don't know what you mean by that... Are you saying put the disc in while running XP and tell the upgrade to install on my Vista drive, or are you saying to just upgrade my XP all together, which I don't want to do yet, and many say a clean install is the better way to go ??

jojodwolf · Answer

Still a bit confused with your responce... One thing it sounds like you are saying is copy the entire original hardrive to the new one and then do the upgrade ??  Now some say intalling Vista over Xp can end up being a mess ?? Okay so if I did do the Upgrade over XP... I already clean loaded Vista on that second drive... I would need to clean that drive first... and how would I do that ?

jojodwolf · Answer

oh one more thing.. I ran the assistant in XP. It only came up with 4 or 5 things it needed to do... some Dell support upgrades and the Cineplayer.  Many of the other apps that came preloaded such as the simple Roxio program and other photo programs I had already removed from my computer.. so in truth am I really missing out on anything ?

querry1 · Answer

Do you have a desktop or a laptop? Cloning a hard drive with a laptop might prove impossible unless you have a usb hard drive or some enclosure that is usb? If you clone your hard drive you can experiment with the new hard drive while leaving your original hard drive intact. Desktops are easy. I could send you a file im ...just burn it to disk and boot to the disk with both harddrives plugged in and connected. The Acronis file will load and you can clone the entire harddrive in minutes. With a laptop you must have the usb function for it to work.

The only function you will be losing will be your original configuration with XP and the Dell Symantic Quick restore (ctrl+f11). I think both are priceless. We paid for it and may come in handy.

If you would like the Acronis file just load Yahoo messenger and send me an im to ( querry1 ) . I'll have messenger open. Just burn the file to disk and you will have a handy utility for working with files on your hard drive. You could also just purchase a copy of Acronis True Image and have the entire program.

I have an apt in an hour so get if i am not there just send the im and i will send the file as soon as i return.

Inspiron E1505 T5500 Core 2 Duo

2gb 667 mhz 5400 DD2

Intel 950 Graphics

Windows XP Media Center 2005 - Express Vista Home Premium Upgrade

jojodwolf · Answer

Well I feel you didn't answer my questions... first what is the benefit of installing over XP that has lot of programs installed, where it seems most say that's not a good idea.. and if I were to consider this option I already installed vista on the second internal drive (desktop)... what to do about that ??

scott784 · Answer

Joel, you are correct. There are many people who will advise you that a clean install "IS" in fact the best way to go. Yes, it requires more effort in that you must manually reinstall any/all apps that you want in Win Vista. However, it ensures that you are getting rid of the clutter that you don't want/need from an old operating system. Personally, I would NEVER install a new operating system as an in place upgrade. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I am just giving you my two cents worth here :smileyhappy:

As far as extracting things off the upgrade CD that Dell sent, you must keep in mind that there are a number of things on that CD that are not relevant to all Dell systems. For example, if you were looking for your sound card driver, you would need to navigate to the specific one that is relevant for your system.

You will find, Joel, that you may be better served to type in your service tag number and go to support.dell.com once you install Vista (clean install hopefully!). Be sure you toggle to tell the site that you are using Vista 32 bit or whatever the case is though. If you do not advise support.dell.com which OS you are using, it may default to Win XP and you will NOT receive the relevant upgrade postings that you need to be looking at for Vista. So just keep this in mind whenever you visit support.dell.com because it does default to the OS that came with your PC but you can toggle to any other one. Even when you use support.dell.com with your service tag, it may list various things (such as a multitude of drivers for video cards) that are not relevant for your system. So you still have to sift through these updates and determine which ones are applicable to your PC. However, at least using your service tag and support.dell.com does ensure not only the latest information, but it does help isolate more relevant information for your system. Just know your stuff, such as what type of sound card you may have, video card, peripheral devices, etc.

Remember, support.dell.com and Windows Updates should have the latest drivers for any of your hardware so you would most likely be better served by grabbing these things online anyway versus trying to extract them off the CD.

If you find that there are any apps that you want off the upgrade CD, be sure you locate the "setup" file, right click on it and run it as administrator in Vista. For example, I used the CD to grab the app called Intel Viiv Software because it wasn't posted on support.dell.com. However, this was one of the exceptions. I have my PC restored with a clean install of Vista and I've got almost everything on here that I used to have under Win XP. I hardly used that CD to grab anything and as I've said, that CD was deffinately not my preferred route to go. You are forced to sift through what is relevant for your machine on the CD and then (particularly if it's a driver) wonder if it is the most current.

Best of luck to you. I'm just giving you my opinion here and certainly no offense to the other forum member who is trying to help you. In the end, you must make the decisions that best fit your needs.

One other tip, if you are unsure if which Win XP programs are compatible with Vista, check it out first! if you don't it sometimes leads to bugs and other issues. A good tool (not perfect) but a good tool is the Vista Upgrade Advisor that can be installed in XP or Vista (itself). It will scan your system for apps and other stuff that it doesn't recognize as being compatible with Vista. Again, it's not perfect and won't catch everything but it is a good tool overall. You can also go on the web sites of these apps to see if they claim vista compatibility. Lots of stuff is now compatible with Vista (in the 32 bit version)....assuming you have the latest version of the product! but of course not everything. One thing I am still waiting for is Apple's Quicktime to become fully supported in vista. Until that happens, I refuse to put it on my system.

Message Edited by scott784 on 05-01-2007 12:48 AM

querry1 · Answer

So if you do not mind losing your original configuration and the Dell Symantic and a very few hardware and software programs, do the clean install.

I however have all the original configuration , my Dell Symantic Quick Restore and all my original hardwares and softwares.

Inspiron E1505 T5500 Core 2 Duo

2gb 667 mhz 5400 DD2

Intel 950 Graphics

Windows XP Media Center 2005 - Express Vista Home Premium Upgrade

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upgrade assistant ???

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