reinstall of vista basic

I have had problems with windows updates and can't install some prerequisit
updates (937287) for SP 1 and newer. I don't know why, and I troubleshot this
issue for a while about a year ago and then forgot about it.

The machine seems to work ok, but it has been recommended I do a format and
do a clean install of vista.

I would appreciate some basic information and guidelines so I can get
started on this, as it seems like a learning curve. I know first I have to
back up my data, but whether to leave things on (programs, data) and then how
to go about it....?

See my reply to your original thread, please.

sapper wrote:
> I have had problems with windows updates and can't install some
> prerequisit
> updates (937287) for SP 1 and newer. I don't know why, and I troubleshot
> this issue for a while about a year ago and then forgot about it.
>
> The machine seems to work ok, but it has been recommended I do a format
> and
> do a clean install of vista.
>
> I would appreciate some basic information and guidelines so I can get
> started on this, as it seems like a learning curve. I know first I have to
> back up my data, but whether to leave things on (programs, data) and then
> how to go about it....?