Question about upgrading to Vista

[haggard21]

I am going to be building my first computer this week and I purchased XP MCE 2005 with the Vista upgrade coupon. My question is, if I install XP and all of the other software I have, such as Office Proffesional and my anti-virus software that I purchased, and then upgrade to Vista, will I lose the software I installed or will it stay on there? Also, when I install the upgrade, does it remove XP from the partition?

[pam123]

Get the copy of Vista but don't install it till you're sure all the apps you need will run under it or have updates.
This is one time you don't want to be first if you don't have to.
I'm also not thrilled to find out that M$ has already started work on SP1 for Vista Danger Will Robinson.

[haggard21]

Thans for the help. So if I install Vista, I won't have to re-install my software? Just search and see if there are any updates?

[pam123]

Yes, you'll be doing the upgrade over the already installed XP.
It's not the recommended way but if you're careful to see to it that all your software is compatible with Vista you should be OK.

[haggard21]

Okay, what about if I do a clean install where it removes my files and everything? Will I run into any problems re-installing my anti-virus software and such, I don't know if they use serial keys or not, does it matter because I am not worried about losing all of my files because the hard drive will be brand new and everything I want to transfer over (songs and other files) will be on a dvd.

[pam123]

If you check to make sure your software is compatible with Vista you won't have problems with a clean install.

[glc]

I wouldn't worry about the antivirus - you can use a freebie. I haven't paid for antivirus in several years, I use AVG.

[haggard21]

Yeah, but I already purchased and recieved mine, ESET NOD32.