(In case you missed my first attempt to install Windows Vista, it's here.)
1:10 p.m.: Okay, it's time for plan B: boot the machine from the DVD. Perhaps all is not lost.
1:11 p.m.: The welcome screen appears. I have 2 choices:
- Install Vista
- Repair Installation
Since it's possible that Vista has already been installed and it's just the bootloader that's been bunged up, I choose the “Repair” option.
1:12 p.m.: The “Repair” option does me no good. It's only good for fixing Vista installations on your hard drive, and one can't be found. This doesn't bode well — remember, I chose to upgrade XP to Vista, which keeps my programs and data.
1:13 p.m.: My suspicion is confirmed. I'm now at the screen which lets me choose between upgrading to Vista or doing a clean install, and the “new install” option is the only one available; the “upgrade” option has been greyed out. A prompt at the bottom of the screen says that I can only do a new install on this machine.
Since “new install” is the only option available, I choose it. I'm now being asked to select a partition on which Vista will be installed. There's only one on this machine, so I choose it. Just for kicks, I choose the option format the partition as well.
Formatting is quick. Now to install Vista!
1:14 p.m.: An error box appears: “Vista cannot be installed on the partition you have selected.” No “OK” button, no “Cancel” button, no button at all. I wait for a little bit, and I'm kicked back to the opening screen.
1:15 p.m.: Let's try that again. This time, I delete the partition, create a new one and then format it. That should do the trick.
1:16 p.m.: An error box appears: “Vista cannot be installed on the partition you have selected.” No “OK” button, no “Cancel” button, no button at all. I wait for a little bit, and I'm kicked back to the opening screen.
If I wanted my computer rendered useless, I would've saved myself some time by simply continuing to run Windows XP on it.
Next: Success!