my computer won't let me format from Vista x64 to XP Pro x64

  • Thread starter Thread starter Denise
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Denise

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What do I need to do to format my pc to XP Pro x64? I did all the right
things but when I pressed F to format my C drive, it said that I couldn't do
it.
--
Denise
 
Re: my computer won't let me format from Vista x64 to XP Pro x64

Did it say why? I assume from your description that you booted with the cd,
right? What are the "right things" that you did?

"Denise" <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2A4DDB3E-B587-48E6-A4C2-5FAF4D70BF53@microsoft.com...
> What do I need to do to format my pc to XP Pro x64? I did all the right
> things but when I pressed F to format my C drive, it said that I couldn't
> do
> it.
> --
> Denise
>
>
 
Re: my computer won't let me format from Vista x64 to XP Pro x64

Well, the 4th try was a piece of cake.

The other times, I did the same thing. I'm used to formatting because I'd
rather format than try to find and remove problems that my pc picks up over a
few months' time. I'm on it at least 12 hrs a day. This was about my 9th or
10th format in about 18 months.

I went into bios and told it to make my dvd drive the first in the boot
sequence. I put my XP Pro x64 disk in the DVD drive. When my computert
restarted, it asked if I wanted to boot from the CD and I pressed 'any key'.
The next few questions were about whether I wanted to format or repair and
then, press Enter to format and the F to format the C drive. The first 3
times, it got to 20% and I received a pretty long message that said that I
can't install Windows XP Pro x64 on that drive because Vista x64 was on it.
I don't remember the exact wording. I tried it 2 more times and I received
the same response. I asked a friend about it who has several computers and
he couldn't get it to install over Vista x64 either. I decided to try one
more time and it went smoothly along. I can't tell you why. I didn't do
anything different each time.
--
Denise




"Colin Barnhorst" wrote:

> Did it say why? I assume from your description that you booted with the cd,
> right? What are the "right things" that you did?
>
> "Denise" <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2A4DDB3E-B587-48E6-A4C2-5FAF4D70BF53@microsoft.com...
> > What do I need to do to format my pc to XP Pro x64? I did all the right
> > things but when I pressed F to format my C drive, it said that I couldn't
> > do
> > it.
> > --
> > Denise
> >
> >
>
 
Re: my computer won't let me format from Vista x64 to XP Pro x64

Next time delete the partition and then recreate it. You won't have the
issue.

"Denise" <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:212254C5-3EFD-459D-A5E5-69FA3395FDFD@microsoft.com...
> Well, the 4th try was a piece of cake.
>
> The other times, I did the same thing. I'm used to formatting because I'd
> rather format than try to find and remove problems that my pc picks up
> over a
> few months' time. I'm on it at least 12 hrs a day. This was about my 9th
> or
> 10th format in about 18 months.
>
> I went into bios and told it to make my dvd drive the first in the boot
> sequence. I put my XP Pro x64 disk in the DVD drive. When my computert
> restarted, it asked if I wanted to boot from the CD and I pressed 'any
> key'.
> The next few questions were about whether I wanted to format or repair and
> then, press Enter to format and the F to format the C drive. The first 3
> times, it got to 20% and I received a pretty long message that said that I
> can't install Windows XP Pro x64 on that drive because Vista x64 was on
> it.
> I don't remember the exact wording. I tried it 2 more times and I
> received
> the same response. I asked a friend about it who has several computers
> and
> he couldn't get it to install over Vista x64 either. I decided to try one
> more time and it went smoothly along. I can't tell you why. I didn't do
> anything different each time.
> --
> Denise
>
>
>
>
> "Colin Barnhorst" wrote:
>
>> Did it say why? I assume from your description that you booted with the
>> cd,
>> right? What are the "right things" that you did?
>>
>> "Denise" <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:2A4DDB3E-B587-48E6-A4C2-5FAF4D70BF53@microsoft.com...
>> > What do I need to do to format my pc to XP Pro x64? I did all the
>> > right
>> > things but when I pressed F to format my C drive, it said that I
>> > couldn't
>> > do
>> > it.
>> > --
>> > Denise
>> >
>> >
>>
 
Re: my computer won't let me format from Vista x64 to XP Pro x64

I didn't want to delete the partition because I have about 150G of files on
it and I wasn't sure if I'd have enough room on an ext hdd to place them. I
was going to try to create a partition in the C drive but I wasn't sure if it
could be done. I'm glad it worked out the way it did.

Thanks for your help and advice.
--
Denise




"Colin Barnhorst" wrote:

> Next time delete the partition and then recreate it. You won't have the
> issue.
>
> "Denise" <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:212254C5-3EFD-459D-A5E5-69FA3395FDFD@microsoft.com...
> > Well, the 4th try was a piece of cake.
> >
> > The other times, I did the same thing. I'm used to formatting because I'd
> > rather format than try to find and remove problems that my pc picks up
> > over a
> > few months' time. I'm on it at least 12 hrs a day. This was about my 9th
> > or
> > 10th format in about 18 months.
> >
> > I went into bios and told it to make my dvd drive the first in the boot
> > sequence. I put my XP Pro x64 disk in the DVD drive. When my computert
> > restarted, it asked if I wanted to boot from the CD and I pressed 'any
> > key'.
> > The next few questions were about whether I wanted to format or repair and
> > then, press Enter to format and the F to format the C drive. The first 3
> > times, it got to 20% and I received a pretty long message that said that I
> > can't install Windows XP Pro x64 on that drive because Vista x64 was on
> > it.
> > I don't remember the exact wording. I tried it 2 more times and I
> > received
> > the same response. I asked a friend about it who has several computers
> > and
> > he couldn't get it to install over Vista x64 either. I decided to try one
> > more time and it went smoothly along. I can't tell you why. I didn't do
> > anything different each time.
> > --
> > Denise
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Colin Barnhorst" wrote:
> >
> >> Did it say why? I assume from your description that you booted with the
> >> cd,
> >> right? What are the "right things" that you did?
> >>
> >> "Denise" <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:2A4DDB3E-B587-48E6-A4C2-5FAF4D70BF53@microsoft.com...
> >> > What do I need to do to format my pc to XP Pro x64? I did all the
> >> > right
> >> > things but when I pressed F to format my C drive, it said that I
> >> > couldn't
> >> > do
> >> > it.
> >> > --
> >> > Denise
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
>
 
Re: my computer won't let me format from Vista x64 to XP Pro x64



"Denise" <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:BE6AEEBA-1D44-4948-8128-DEF19A0B9C00@microsoft.com...
> I didn't want to delete the partition because I have about 150G of files
> on
> it and I wasn't sure if I'd have enough room on an ext hdd to place them.
> I
> was going to try to create a partition in the C drive but I wasn't sure if
> it
> could be done. I'm glad it worked out the way it did.

You formatted a partition with 150 GB of data on it? Did you recover that
data?
If the data was on another partition, you could've deleted just the OS
partition
and recreated that.

Tom Lake
 
Re: my computer won't let me format from Vista x64 to XP Pro x64

Denise,
Having to reformat every two months is quite uncommon.
Here are a couple of suggestions that can make your life easier.
Once you have your installed your OS and put all the necessary drivers, do a
full backup to an external media.
Acronis True Image Home is an excellent choice for doing it.
That way you won't have to install your OS again when things go wrong, just
bring the image back and you are in business again.
OS's don't get screwed up by themselves so there must be "things" that you
do along time that finally break it down.
So, before installing any new piece of software or hardware, do manually
create a system restore point.
That way you will be able to fold back in case new problems show up.
When you have a problem, analyze very carefully what did you do that might
have created it. Try to undo your last actions. That's the way to learn and
gain experience without having to nuke your installation every two months.
Also once a month, if you find your OS stable and reliable, do an additional
backup to an external media.
Finally, visit this NG after the first problem starts.
:)
Carlos


"Denise" wrote:

> Well, the 4th try was a piece of cake.
>
> The other times, I did the same thing. I'm used to formatting because I'd
> rather format than try to find and remove problems that my pc picks up over a
> few months' time. I'm on it at least 12 hrs a day. This was about my 9th or
> 10th format in about 18 months.
>
> I went into bios and told it to make my dvd drive the first in the boot
> sequence. I put my XP Pro x64 disk in the DVD drive. When my computert
> restarted, it asked if I wanted to boot from the CD and I pressed 'any key'.
> The next few questions were about whether I wanted to format or repair and
> then, press Enter to format and the F to format the C drive. The first 3
> times, it got to 20% and I received a pretty long message that said that I
> can't install Windows XP Pro x64 on that drive because Vista x64 was on it.
> I don't remember the exact wording. I tried it 2 more times and I received
> the same response. I asked a friend about it who has several computers and
> he couldn't get it to install over Vista x64 either. I decided to try one
> more time and it went smoothly along. I can't tell you why. I didn't do
> anything different each time.
> --
> Denise
>
>
>
>
> "Colin Barnhorst" wrote:
>
> > Did it say why? I assume from your description that you booted with the cd,
> > right? What are the "right things" that you did?
> >
> > "Denise" <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:2A4DDB3E-B587-48E6-A4C2-5FAF4D70BF53@microsoft.com...
> > > What do I need to do to format my pc to XP Pro x64? I did all the right
> > > things but when I pressed F to format my C drive, it said that I couldn't
> > > do
> > > it.
> > > --
> > > Denise
> > >
> > >
> >
 
Re: my computer won't let me format from Vista x64 to XP Pro x64

I've been using Windows Home Server for this, Carlos. I love it. Faster and
more "automatic" that Acronis by a significant margin. (And I used to use
and like Acronis for this.) And restores are quick - either individual
files, or entire partitions.

There's a public beta of PP1 which includes x64 Vista support.

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel

"Carlos" <Carlos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5A278D01-BE38-4DB8-9D86-A52508278179@microsoft.com...
> Denise,
> Having to reformat every two months is quite uncommon.
> Here are a couple of suggestions that can make your life easier.
> Once you have your installed your OS and put all the necessary drivers, do
> a
> full backup to an external media.
> Acronis True Image Home is an excellent choice for doing it.
> That way you won't have to install your OS again when things go wrong,
> just
> bring the image back and you are in business again.
> OS's don't get screwed up by themselves so there must be "things" that you
> do along time that finally break it down.
> So, before installing any new piece of software or hardware, do manually
> create a system restore point.
> That way you will be able to fold back in case new problems show up.
> When you have a problem, analyze very carefully what did you do that might
> have created it. Try to undo your last actions. That's the way to learn
> and
> gain experience without having to nuke your installation every two months.
> Also once a month, if you find your OS stable and reliable, do an
> additional
> backup to an external media.
> Finally, visit this NG after the first problem starts.
> :)
> Carlos
>
>
> "Denise" wrote:
>
>> Well, the 4th try was a piece of cake.
>>
>> The other times, I did the same thing. I'm used to formatting because
>> I'd
>> rather format than try to find and remove problems that my pc picks up
>> over a
>> few months' time. I'm on it at least 12 hrs a day. This was about my
>> 9th or
>> 10th format in about 18 months.
>>
>> I went into bios and told it to make my dvd drive the first in the boot
>> sequence. I put my XP Pro x64 disk in the DVD drive. When my computert
>> restarted, it asked if I wanted to boot from the CD and I pressed 'any
>> key'.
>> The next few questions were about whether I wanted to format or repair
>> and
>> then, press Enter to format and the F to format the C drive. The first 3
>> times, it got to 20% and I received a pretty long message that said that
>> I
>> can't install Windows XP Pro x64 on that drive because Vista x64 was on
>> it.
>> I don't remember the exact wording. I tried it 2 more times and I
>> received
>> the same response. I asked a friend about it who has several computers
>> and
>> he couldn't get it to install over Vista x64 either. I decided to try
>> one
>> more time and it went smoothly along. I can't tell you why. I didn't do
>> anything different each time.
>> --
>> Denise
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Colin Barnhorst" wrote:
>>
>> > Did it say why? I assume from your description that you booted with
>> > the cd,
>> > right? What are the "right things" that you did?
>> >
>> > "Denise" <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> > news:2A4DDB3E-B587-48E6-A4C2-5FAF4D70BF53@microsoft.com...
>> > > What do I need to do to format my pc to XP Pro x64? I did all the
>> > > right
>> > > things but when I pressed F to format my C drive, it said that I
>> > > couldn't
>> > > do
>> > > it.
>> > > --
>> > > Denise
>> > >
>> > >
>> >
 
Re: my computer won't let me format from Vista x64 to XP Pro x64

No, I said that I didn't want to have to create another partition for XP Pro
x64 because I didn't want to have to move all the files that I had on my D
drive (a partition on my main drive). It would've been my only option but
when I tried to format it to XP Pro x64 for the 4th time, it finally worked
so I didn't have to create another partition. If I remember correctly,
without a program such as Partition Magic, a drive has to be empty in order
to create a new partition. I might be mistaken though, but I have XP Pro x64
installed again and I didn't lose any files.
--
Denise




"Tom Lake" wrote:

>
>
> "Denise" <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:BE6AEEBA-1D44-4948-8128-DEF19A0B9C00@microsoft.com...
> > I didn't want to delete the partition because I have about 150G of files
> > on
> > it and I wasn't sure if I'd have enough room on an ext hdd to place them.
> > I
> > was going to try to create a partition in the C drive but I wasn't sure if
> > it
> > could be done. I'm glad it worked out the way it did.
>
> You formatted a partition with 150 GB of data on it? Did you recover that
> data?
> If the data was on another partition, you could've deleted just the OS
> partition
> and recreated that.
>
> Tom Lake
>
 
Re: my computer won't let me format from Vista x64 to XP Pro x64

It's excellent advice. I have my entire C drive backed up on an external
hard drive but what I'd like to do is to make Automatic Recovery Disks. I
just got Acronis True Home so hopefully I won't have to format again. I also
didn't know how to do a Repair because it wouldn't continue after a certain
point but I found out that the first time the option comes up to either
Repair or Format, Format should be chosen and the next time, Repair should be
chosen. SFC scan might help too, but all of this has been a lesson along the
way.

Denise




"Carlos" wrote:

> Denise,
> Having to reformat every two months is quite uncommon.
> Here are a couple of suggestions that can make your life easier.
> Once you have your installed your OS and put all the necessary drivers, do a
> full backup to an external media.
> Acronis True Image Home is an excellent choice for doing it.
> That way you won't have to install your OS again when things go wrong, just
> bring the image back and you are in business again.
> OS's don't get screwed up by themselves so there must be "things" that you
> do along time that finally break it down.
> So, before installing any new piece of software or hardware, do manually
> create a system restore point.
> That way you will be able to fold back in case new problems show up.
> When you have a problem, analyze very carefully what did you do that might
> have created it. Try to undo your last actions. That's the way to learn and
> gain experience without having to nuke your installation every two months.
> Also once a month, if you find your OS stable and reliable, do an additional
> backup to an external media.
> Finally, visit this NG after the first problem starts.
> :)
> Carlos
>
>
> "Denise" wrote:
>
> > Well, the 4th try was a piece of cake.
> >
> > The other times, I did the same thing. I'm used to formatting because I'd
> > rather format than try to find and remove problems that my pc picks up over a
> > few months' time. I'm on it at least 12 hrs a day. This was about my 9th or
> > 10th format in about 18 months.
> >
> > I went into bios and told it to make my dvd drive the first in the boot
> > sequence. I put my XP Pro x64 disk in the DVD drive. When my computert
> > restarted, it asked if I wanted to boot from the CD and I pressed 'any key'.
> > The next few questions were about whether I wanted to format or repair and
> > then, press Enter to format and the F to format the C drive. The first 3
> > times, it got to 20% and I received a pretty long message that said that I
> > can't install Windows XP Pro x64 on that drive because Vista x64 was on it.
> > I don't remember the exact wording. I tried it 2 more times and I received
> > the same response. I asked a friend about it who has several computers and
> > he couldn't get it to install over Vista x64 either. I decided to try one
> > more time and it went smoothly along. I can't tell you why. I didn't do
> > anything different each time.
> > --
> > Denise
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Colin Barnhorst" wrote:
> >
> > > Did it say why? I assume from your description that you booted with the cd,
> > > right? What are the "right things" that you did?
> > >
> > > "Denise" <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > > news:2A4DDB3E-B587-48E6-A4C2-5FAF4D70BF53@microsoft.com...
> > > > What do I need to do to format my pc to XP Pro x64? I did all the right
> > > > things but when I pressed F to format my C drive, it said that I couldn't
> > > > do
> > > > it.
> > > > --
> > > > Denise
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
 
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