Q: I downloaded Vista from the Microsoft Web site, and I can't find installation instructions. The file extension is .iso, so it's not an executable. I tried using the Run command and the install from Add/Remove Programs, but they won't run it.Don Boudreaux

A: An ISO image is like the disk drive image backup created by Ghost or DriveImage. It holds the exact contents of the CD or DVD, byte for byte, without regard for the way those bytes are organized into files, folders, and so on.

You need to burn the file to a physical DVD, or you could use a program that lets you open the ISO image directly as a virtual DVD. Daemon Tools (www.daemon-tools.cc) is a free example of the latter. But you're probably better off burning a physical DVD so that you can simply boot from it to install. You can use just about any commercial DVD burner to do that.