installing old programs

Will I have to re-install all my existing programs and files once I upgrade from Windows XP proffesional to Windows Vista Beta 2. (i.e will the hard drive in essence be re-formated)
(ps. seems like this would be most common question below "can my machine run Vista" but for some reason I have had trouble finding an answer)

If you upgrade, programs that were installed should remain installed. There are a few things that you should not have installed when you upgrade though as they can cause problems, like antivirus software and firewall software. The installer should do a compatibility check before hand and recommend the uninstallation of anything that may break the system when Vista is installed. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org>
Sean wrote:

Will I have to re-install all my existing programs and files once I upgrade from Windows XP proffesional to Windows Vista Beta 2. (i.e will the hard drive in essence be re-formated)
(ps. seems like this would be most common question below "can my machine run Vista" but for some reason I have had trouble finding an answer)

Hi, Actually you don't want to do an upgrade, especially if you have programs in XP you use frequently, vista is not 100% compatible with most programs out there. Also if you upgrade you cannot uninstall vista and return to XP you will have to wipe out the drive and reinstall everything again. Best thing would be to do a clean install to a clean partition or empty hard disk from within XP or boot from the DVD and do a clean install there, don't install it to the same partition where XP is installed. -- Gregory P. Getchell
"Mark Dietz" wrote:

If you upgrade, programs that were installed should remain installed. There are a few things that you should not have installed when you upgrade though as they can cause problems, like antivirus software and firewall software. The installer should do a compatibility check before hand and recommend the uninstallation of anything that may break the system when Vista is installed. ---------- Mark Dietz PROnetworks <http://www.pro-networks.org
Sean wrote: Will I have to re-install all my existing programs and files once I upgrade from Windows XP proffesional to Windows Vista Beta 2. (i.e will the hard drive in essence be re-formated)
(ps. seems like this would be most common question below "can my machine run Vista" but for some reason I have had trouble finding an answer)