First check what type SATA Cable you need for your Dell PC(some models like
my E-520 needed a straight to right angle Sata cable). After connecting the
new HD make what ever changes are needed in your bios to have this drive
seen then format the new HD before doing a clean install of Vista. Once
that's done and the HD is seen by windows and given a Letter(F:drive for
example) reboot, go into bios and set the new HD as your Boot drive, have
the Vista disk in the DVD ready to go and after saving your changes in the
Bios and booting up install will begin... Just follow these procedures,
should only take an hour total for both installs of Vista.
Step 1. Boot the PC from the Vista DVD.
Step 2. Select "Install Now," but do not enter the Product Key from the
Vista packaging. Leave the input box blank. Also, turn off the option
Automatically activate Windows when I'm online. In the next dialog box that
appears, confirm that you really do want to install Vista without entering a
Product Key.
Step 3. Correctly indicate the version of Vista that you're installing: Home
Basic, Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate.
Step 4. Select the "Custom (Advanced)" install, not the "Upgrade" install.
Step 5. Vista copies files at length and reboots itself one or more times.
Wait for the install to complete. At this point, you might think that you
could "activate" Vista, but you can't. That's because you haven't installed
the Vista upgrade yet. To do that, run the DVD's setup.exe program again,
but this time from the Vista desktop. The easiest way to start setup again
is to eject and then reinsert the DVD.
Step 6. Click "Install Now." Select Do not get the latest updates for
installation. (You can check for these updates later.)
Step 7. This time, do enter the Product Key from the Vista packaging. Once
again, turn off the option Automatically activate Windows when I'm online.
Step 8. On this second install, make sure to select "Upgrade," not "Custom
(Advanced)." You're not doing a clean install now, you're upgrading to
Vista.
Step 9. Wait while Vista copies files and reboots itself. No user
interaction is required. Do not boot from the DVD when asked if you'd like
to do so. Instead, wait a few seconds and the setup process will continue on
its way. Some DOS-like, character-mode menus will appear, but don't interact
with them. After a few seconds, the correct choice will run for you
automatically.
Step 10. After you click a button labeled Start in the Thank You dialog box,
Vista's login screen will eventually appear. Enter the username and password
that you selected during the first install. You're done upgrading to Vista.
Step 11. Within 30 days, you must "activate" your copy of Vista or it'll
lose functionality. To activate Vista, click Show more details in the
Welcome Center that automatically displays upon each boot-up, then click
Activate Windows now. If you've dismissed the Welcome Center, access the
correct dialog box by clicking Start, Control Panel, System & Maintenance,
System. If you purchased a legitimate copy of Vista, it should quickly
activate over the Internet. (You can instead activate by calling Microsoft
on the phone, which avoids your PC exchanging information with Microsoft's
server.
"dwolf" <> wrote in message
news:ZInVh.2$x%...
>I know I posted questions about this, but now that I'm getting ready to go
>for it all the info is scattered and so is my head...
> I'm going to pick up the drive today.. A Seagate.. That's the easy part
> so far...
> So I will install it.. been told that should be easy.
> I have the Dell upgrade disc and the assistant disc.. for now this will
> all be foreign country.. hopefully friendly.
> So if I could get some guidance on this, that would be fab.. If you can
> describe what I will need to do, or point me in the direction of someone
> else who has already explained it..
> Thanks so Much
>
> JDWolf
>
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