I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade to
Vista premium.

The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to install.
As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets -- just in
case.

I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files were
lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
resolution.

So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean new
reinstall -- all my files were lost.

Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
installed.

Frankly, if you lost anything, I have no sympathy for you. It was
idiotic to do this without an image backup, and an image backup would
have restored EVERYTHING to EXACTLY the way it was before you started.

Beyond that, I don't think that your story will prove to be typical. I
think that most people will get through the upgrade without extreme
difficulty. Now as to whether, having made the leap from XP to Vista,
they are happy, well, that's another matter, and quite a few may elect
to go back to XP. Partly, that will reflect Vista's strengths and
weaknesses, and partly it may be the normal aversion to anything that's
different.


Ray wrote:
> I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade to
> Vista premium.
>
> The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to install.
> As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets -- just in
> case.
>
> I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
> started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files were
> lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
> resolution.
>
> So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean new
> reinstall -- all my files were lost.
>
> Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
> installed.
>
>

Had no problems doing it.
Should have had a backup.


Ray wrote:
> I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade to
> Vista premium.
>
> The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to install.
> As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets -- just in
> case.
>
> I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
> started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files were
> lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
> resolution.
>
> So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean new
> reinstall -- all my files were lost.
>
> Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
> installed.
>
>
>

"Ray" <rayj.balt@DELTHISverizon.net> wrote in message
news:jbHLh.10188$el3.6549@trndny01...
>I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade
>to Vista premium.
>
> The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to install.
> As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets -- just in
> case.
>
> I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
> started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files
> were lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
> resolution.
>
> So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean
> new reinstall -- all my files were lost.
>
> Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
> installed.
>

First, if you did not back up before attempting the upgrade, then you have
no one but yourself to blame.

Second, what are the "three or four" steps you talk of?

I have a dv6045nr. I upgraded to Windows Vista Ultimate using a retail
disk, I made sure I backed everything up, and that I downloaded all the
current drivers from the HP website.

The instructions that came with your upgrade disc, which you apparently did
not read, state plainly that the nVidia Video drivers will not be installed
until after the 2nd reboot, and that you may have to set it manually to the
native resolution of the screen; this is a result of the nVidia drivers and
not Vista.


Honu

"Ray" <rayj.balt@DELTHISverizon.net> wrote in message
news:jbHLh.10188$el3.6549@trndny01...
>I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade
>to Vista premium.
>
> The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to install.
> As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets -- just in
> case.
>
> I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
> started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files
> were lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
> resolution.
>
> So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean
> new reinstall -- all my files were lost.
>
> Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
> installed.
>

Did you check the Windows.old directory the upgrade created? All your old
files should be there.

Art

The very first words on the printed instructions that came with my HP/MS
supplied upgrade disks say:

"WARNING: Windows Vista is a new installation. Any personal files and
programs installed on the computer will be overwritten during the operating
system installation."

How much more clear could it be?


"Ray" <rayj.balt@DELTHISverizon.net> wrote in message
news:jbHLh.10188$el3.6549@trndny01...
>I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade
>to Vista premium.
>
> The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to install.
> As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets -- just in
> case.
>
> I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
> started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files
> were lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
> resolution.
>
> So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean
> new reinstall -- all my files were lost.
>
> Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
> installed.
>

Actually, I did have a fairly recent complete backup. I only lost about a
month of newly added files. But HP certainly led me to believe that in
creating the recovery discs, I was copying everything on my laptop.

"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:45ff4c9d$0$1350$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> Frankly, if you lost anything, I have no sympathy for you. It was idiotic
> to do this without an image backup, and an image backup would have
> restored EVERYTHING to EXACTLY the way it was before you started.
>
> Beyond that, I don't think that your story will prove to be typical. I
> think that most people will get through the upgrade without extreme
> difficulty. Now as to whether, having made the leap from XP to Vista,
> they are happy, well, that's another matter, and quite a few may elect to
> go back to XP. Partly, that will reflect Vista's strengths and
> weaknesses, and partly it may be the normal aversion to anything that's
> different.
>
>
> Ray wrote:
>> I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade
>> to Vista premium.
>>
>> The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to
>> install. As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets --
>> just in case.
>>
>> I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
>> started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files
>> were lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
>> resolution.
>>
>> So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean
>> new reinstall -- all my files were lost.
>>
>> Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
>> installed.

Of course that's clear, and I understood it perfectly. But I believe I was
misled by HP in thinking that creating the "All-in-One" Recovery discs, I
was saving my system exactly as it was at the time the discs were made.

I realize this is an HP problem, not a Vista problem, but the fact remains
that Vista did not install properly. I very carefully followed every
instruction, and I was no more than six steps into the install before things
began to go haywire. And this definitely was a Vista problem.

-- Ray
"Val" <vmanes@NOSPAMrap.midco.net> wrote in message
news:vJadnbiJyZnK9GLYnZ2dnUVZ_uygnZ2d@midco.net...
> The very first words on the printed instructions that came with my HP/MS
> supplied upgrade disks say:
>
> "WARNING: Windows Vista is a new installation. Any personal files and
> programs installed on the computer will be overwritten during the
> operating system installation."
>
> How much more clear could it be?
>
>
> "Ray" <rayj.balt@DELTHISverizon.net> wrote in message
> news:jbHLh.10188$el3.6549@trndny01...
>>I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade
>>to Vista premium.
>>
>> The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to
>> install. As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets --
>> just in case.
>>
>> I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
>> started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files
>> were lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
>> resolution.
>>
>> So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean
>> new reinstall -- all my files were lost.
>>
>> Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
>> installed.
>>
>
>

The recovery discs are only for recovering the operating system. They
do not restore your drive to "as it was", in fact, quite the contrary,
they first TOTALLY DESTROY the drive, then they restore it to the way
that it was the day it left the HP factory.

You needed to have made an image backup.


Ray wrote:
> Actually, I did have a fairly recent complete backup. I only lost about a
> month of newly added files. But HP certainly led me to believe that in
> creating the recovery discs, I was copying everything on my laptop.
>
> "Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:45ff4c9d$0$1350$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>> Frankly, if you lost anything, I have no sympathy for you. It was idiotic
>> to do this without an image backup, and an image backup would have
>> restored EVERYTHING to EXACTLY the way it was before you started.
>>
>> Beyond that, I don't think that your story will prove to be typical. I
>> think that most people will get through the upgrade without extreme
>> difficulty. Now as to whether, having made the leap from XP to Vista,
>> they are happy, well, that's another matter, and quite a few may elect to
>> go back to XP. Partly, that will reflect Vista's strengths and
>> weaknesses, and partly it may be the normal aversion to anything that's
>> different.
>>
>>
>> Ray wrote:
>>> I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade
>>> to Vista premium.
>>>
>>> The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to
>>> install. As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets --
>>> just in case.
>>>
>>> I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
>>> started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files
>>> were lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
>>> resolution.
>>>
>>> So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean
>>> new reinstall -- all my files were lost.
>>>
>>> Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
>>> installed.
>
>

Barry....
What software do you recommend for this?
Thanks
Larry


"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:45ff4c9d$0$1350$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> Frankly, if you lost anything, I have no sympathy for you. It was idiotic
> to do this without an image backup, and an image backup would have
> restored EVERYTHING to EXACTLY the way it was before you started.
>
> Beyond that, I don't think that your story will prove to be typical. I
> think that most people will get through the upgrade without extreme
> difficulty. Now as to whether, having made the leap from XP to Vista,
> they are happy, well, that's another matter, and quite a few may elect to
> go back to XP. Partly, that will reflect Vista's strengths and
> weaknesses, and partly it may be the normal aversion to anything that's
> different.
>
>
> Ray wrote:
>> I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade
>> to Vista premium.
>>
>> The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to
>> install. As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets --
>> just in case.
>>
>> I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
>> started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files
>> were lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
>> resolution.
>>
>> So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean
>> new reinstall -- all my files were lost.
>>
>> Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
>> installed.

Acronis TrueImage. Actually, I prefer PowerQuest drive image, but it's
no longer sold (although it can still be obtained). Ghost is the 3rd
alternative. All of them will work, it's just personal preference.


Larry wrote:
> Barry....
> What software do you recommend for this?
> Thanks
> Larry
>
>
> "Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:45ff4c9d$0$1350$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>> Frankly, if you lost anything, I have no sympathy for you. It was idiotic
>> to do this without an image backup, and an image backup would have
>> restored EVERYTHING to EXACTLY the way it was before you started.
>>
>> Beyond that, I don't think that your story will prove to be typical. I
>> think that most people will get through the upgrade without extreme
>> difficulty. Now as to whether, having made the leap from XP to Vista,
>> they are happy, well, that's another matter, and quite a few may elect to
>> go back to XP. Partly, that will reflect Vista's strengths and
>> weaknesses, and partly it may be the normal aversion to anything that's
>> different.
>>
>>
>> Ray wrote:
>>> I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade
>>> to Vista premium.
>>>
>>> The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to
>>> install. As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets --
>>> just in case.
>>>
>>> I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
>>> started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files
>>> were lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
>>> resolution.
>>>
>>> So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean
>>> new reinstall -- all my files were lost.
>>>
>>> Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
>>> installed.
>
>

Ray wrote:
> I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade to
> Vista premium.
>
> The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to install.
> As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets -- just in
> case.
>
> I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
> started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files were
> lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
> resolution.
>
> So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean new
> reinstall -- all my files were lost.
>
> Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
> installed.
>
>

Vista RTM, in doing an upgrade, takes all existent document files and
stores them in Windows.old, in the root of the installation partition.
Of course, it overwrites all old installed files. If you decline to
store you personal files in My Documents, then your documents will not
be saved.

Q

Ray wrote:
> Of course that's clear, and I understood it perfectly. But I believe I was
> misled by HP in thinking that creating the "All-in-One" Recovery discs, I
> was saving my system exactly as it was at the time the discs were made.
>
> I realize this is an HP problem, not a Vista problem, but the fact remains
> that Vista did not install properly. I very carefully followed every
> instruction, and I was no more than six steps into the install before things
> began to go haywire. And this definitely was a Vista problem.
>
> -- Ray
> "Val" <vmanes@NOSPAMrap.midco.net> wrote in message
> news:vJadnbiJyZnK9GLYnZ2dnUVZ_uygnZ2d@midco.net...
>> The very first words on the printed instructions that came with my HP/MS
>> supplied upgrade disks say:
>>
>> "WARNING: Windows Vista is a new installation. Any personal files and
>> programs installed on the computer will be overwritten during the
>> operating system installation."
>>
>> How much more clear could it be?
>>
>>
>> "Ray" <rayj.balt@DELTHISverizon.net> wrote in message
>> news:jbHLh.10188$el3.6549@trndny01...
>>> I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade
>>> to Vista premium.
>>>
>>> The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to
>>> install. As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets --
>>> just in case.
>>>
>>> I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
>>> started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files
>>> were lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
>>> resolution.
>>>
>>> So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean
>>> new reinstall -- all my files were lost.
>>>
>>> Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
>>> installed.
>>>
>>
>
>

Yet an UPGRADE version of Vista stores all existent files in My
Documents in windows.old in the root of the intallation partition.

Q

"Ray" <rayj.balt@DELTHISverizon.net> wrote in message
news:jbHLh.10188$el3.6549@trndny01...
>I got a new HP Pavilion dv6000us laptop for Christmas with a free upgrade
>to Vista premium.
>
> The other day the upgrade disc came, and it seemed easy enough to install.
> As urged, I made one of those "All-in-One" recovery disc sets -- just in
> case.
>
> I was no more than three or four steps into the install before things
> started to go haywire. I finally got Vista installed, but all my files
> were lost. And in addition, it allowed me no more than 1040 by 768 screen
> resolution.
>
> So I used the recovery discs to go back to XP. I could only get a clean
> new reinstall -- all my files were lost.
>
> Just a cautionary note. If you want Vista, buy a machine with it already
> installed.

Just a thought. Maybe you should have checked the fragmentation levels.
Windows can go awry with fragmentation too high.


>