DVD drive - Will it work?

[robnobrobnob]

My DVD drive is dead and i need to format to be able to play BF2!! I do have 2 HD's though, i am downloading Vista and i am going to mount it was a virtual DVD drive. Will i be able to install Vista on my 2nd HD and then wipe my 1st HD and install a fresh copy of windows Vista? Will this work, installing windows with out doing it the normal way though a start up and boot from a DVD?

Will my data on my 2nd HD be safe?

(I have a Genuine Vista serial that i will be using so no illegal cracks!!)

[Lofty]

if you start the installation from windows on a virtual drive, theres a chance it could work as it copies most of the files needed before rebooting to complete installation. but i think some files still need to be copied from the DVD during the second part of the install phase. during this time the virtual DVD drive will be unavailable as the service isnt able to start, so the virtual DVD driv you have in the 1st installation of windows will be unavailable during the installation of the 2nd version on your 2nd HDD

[Milkrunner]

I'm not sure about the specifics, but some OSes have the ability to install via a network connection.. so if you have another computer, you can set up a network, place the Vista ISO (or .msi or whatever it is) in a shared directory, and point to it from your BIOS. If none of that makes sense, don't do it.

[robnobrobnob]

Yer that makes sence thanks guys, i dont have my second pc any more tho

I will have a play and see if i can get around it, if not i will buy a new DVD-RW by the W-E so i can join the action

[Lofty]

another way you could do it is by extracting the files from the ISO file to a folder then run it that way. That way, all the files will still be available.