Clean Migration from Vista to W7

Good Day,

Last year, I bought an HP/Compaq PC with a German OEM Vista Version. Now, I wish to reformat and re-partition the HD and install my own English W7 version.
How do I best proceed?
How do I prepare for it? (besides backing up etc).
What do I need to consider?
What about the drivers? No DVD was delivered with the machine; so, where do I get them drivers? And how do I re-install them, assuming of course that the existing H/W is compatible with W7.

Thanks for your support.
Saeed

Other than backing up important information, a full install is always better than an upgrade so the reformat is the best idea. As for drivers, you could search the websites of the items you use for the newest drivers, download them and burn them to a disk ahead of the install.

For example, say you have a printer made by Canon. Find out the model number and go to the Canon website. Look for the newest drivers for it and download the Vista (or Windows 7) ones. The drivers are usually in .exe format which are a simple double click to install. Then once you've collected all the drivers you may need, burn them all to a CD or put them on a USB stick and once you have Windows 7 installed, you'll have the drivers ready to go.

First thing I would advise is to go here and run this prograrm:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...e-advisor.aspx

This will tell you if you are going to encounter any serious problems.

I would suggest you keep your present setup, initially, and, if needed, create another partition for Windows 7. (At least 20Gbs, but wahtever you can spare.) This means you can keep any personal info etc. you may have, and copy and paste it over. Favourites, private files etc.
ON installation to your new partition, Windows 7 will automatically give you the option of a dual boot. When you are totally satisfied that all is in order, you can then go about deleting the Vista installation