Create Clean Vista Install Disc?

I have a laptop with vista installed, but would like to start over with win7. However, I do not want to end up losing my vista license as I do not have any media from HP. Is it possible to create a clean vista install disc from within an already established vista environment? I do not want to end up with a copy of all of the current settings, programs, files, etc.

For my Sony laptop, the closest I could get to a 'clean' vista install was to have the regular bloatware vista install disk, press some buttons during a certain part of the install, then the bloatware would not be installed. I think it's referred to as a 'semi-clean' install; maybe try google it for your particular HP model?

jamesgig said:

Is it possible to create a clean vista install disc from within an already established vista environment?

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No, you need an install disc unrelated to your specific installation.

The only thing you can do is create a drive image file of your drive or partition. Then use that image file to restore your system back to the state it was at the moment the drive image was created.


I partition my drive and only install the operating system on one partition. Then install large programs on another partition. That way I can restore my OS partition in a coupla minutes.

Will my activation code work on any vista install disc? If I were to download and image of an install disc and use my code, would that work?