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I have an ISO of Windows 7 Professional through MSDNAA. I don't want to simply upgrade my current Vista. I want a fresh install and then remove Vista completely.

I honestly have no idea how to being doing this.

The biggest issue is: in what hard-disk space will Windows 7 end up and how do I get rid of Vista?

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4 Answers

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Burn the ISO image to disc, boot from it and go through the Win7 setup. During setup it'll ask you where you want to install Windows and should present you with the partition information already on your drive. Delete the partition with Vista and create a new one for Win7. That'll get rid of Vista.

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+1 mentioning the partitioner in the setup and to delete partitions and create a new one for Win7, for the leanest way of starting from scratch as asked for – Oskar Duveborn Sep 18 '09 at 21:25
Deleting the partition will also get rid of all of your data. Make sure you've backed up everything you need. Windows 7 has an "Easy Transfer Wizard" you can run from the CD to save your files to an external hard drive and restore after installing Windows 7. – Chris Thompson Sep 18 '09 at 21:31
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up vote 1 down vote

When you do a fresh install you typically format the drive or partition.

  • Burn ISO image to DVD
  • Change BIOS settings to boot from CD/DVD device
  • insert DVD and press any key when prompted to boot from CD
  • follow on-screen directions

The partitioner in the installer is very straightforward, it will show you drive letters if you have a partitioned disk or one large volume if you don't. You then select the drive you wish to install on and format the disk (NTFS more than likely).

If you'd like to back up your data, use Windows Easy Transfer.

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up vote -1 down vote

I always do an FDISK to delete the old partitions, then repartition, then do a FORMAT.

Make sure you have all the correct hardware drivers on hand.

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-1 for recommending the use of a utility no longer included with Windows and that stopped being useful with the death of the 9x product line. All Windows NT based OSs have partitioning capabilities built in to the setup routine. – Multiverse IT Sep 18 '09 at 21:55
There are a few layers of ignorance shown in your comment, that show a lack of experience, and inattention to what was actually said. – Lance Roberts Sep 19 '09 at 1:02
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up vote -1 down vote

Quickest method is to download CDBurnerXP or Depburner Free.

Burn the ISO image using either of these utilities to a new DVD.

Next, make sure you have a backup of all the items you want to keep (even try running Windows Easy Transfer, I am not a fan, but I know that everyone who has actually used it is mostly happy).

Now, reboot with that DVD in, you may need to press f12 or go in to the BIOS and set your DVD drive to be the boot device.

Just follow the on screen instructions and you should be able to install Windows 7. Any issue during the install, feel free to ask and I am sure people will be happy to help.

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The function key used to enter BIOS is different across motherboards. You may want to just tell them to read the quick prompt that asks to press a key to enter BIOS, and press it. – John T Sep 18 '09 at 19:59
Why -1? if it is because of the above, I put f12 as 70+% of machines I see now use that for boot selection, but I also wrote OR... oh well – William Hilsum Sep 18 '09 at 22:27
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