Vista Upgrade Question

[Hunt]

1). Is it true that you cant do a clean install of Vista from the upgrade
disc? Like

the one I had done before from 95 to 98SE to XP, I hate the unnecessary
clutter

and space it takes up.

2). I've been seeing alot of trouble with windows validation from forums
which

has put me off from upgrading, But again if I do get Vista Upgrade Home
premium

will I have to call them everytime I upgrade my hard drive, CPU ,

Motherboard,GPU,Ram? For now I'm planning to get a new MB, then a while
later

CPU & a HDD, but that'll be in a month or two and right now I just want to
upgrade

the OS, so down the line will I run into trouble with having to constantly
call MS to

explain what I'm doing to my PC after dumping the old hardware?

I read from prior discussions that you cant upgrade mobos from OEM's so
thats

out of the question.

 

[Richard G. Harper]

1. Yes
2. No

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Hunt,

1. Yes, but not exactly. There is a known work-around that involves
installing twice (first without the key, then with it, you just have to make
sure to choose the right edition the first time). However, this method may
eventually be blocked from activation, so it is not recommended. If you want
to be able to do a clean install by booting the disk, then purchase a full
version.

2. You may need to phone in re-activation after substantial hardware
changes. This is perfectly legitimate, even with generic OEM licences. It
may take a few minutes, but it does work. Vista's activation is based on the
hardware at the time of installation. Cumulative changes to the hardware
will eventually cause the system to be viewed as a new machine, and require
a new activation. Activations subsequent to the initial one generally have
to be done manually (over the phone), but again this is a perfectly
legitimate, allowed scenario.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[John Barnes]

I read from prior discussions that you cant upgrade mobos from OEM's so
thats out of the question.

Once you buy a retail upgrade version and upgrade your OEM version you have
the rights to transfer, including a new MOBO

 

[Dwarf]

Hi Hunt,

An OEM version of Vista is tied to the first system that it is installed and
activated on - the licence lives and dies with the system. However, a RETAIL
version can be transferred from system to system PROVIDING that it has been
totally removed from the previous system. Note that in this case, activation
will have to be done via the phone. You can clean install Vista with an
upgrade disk. For full instructions, please refer to my post 'Clean Install
Windows Vista Using Upgrade Media', also in this newsgroup (dated 9/21/2007).
Providing you do not carry out too many upgrades to your system in too short
a period of time, you should have no trouble with your system needing
reactivation. I have upgraded my processor, graphics card, RAM and replaced
both optical drives WITHOUT having to reactivate. Replacing the motherboard
and hard drive would, through the necessity of having to reinstall, require
you to reactivate. If you were to replace just the motherboard for an
identical model, you might get away with it.
Dwarf

http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...2be7&mid=c2e2a2bd-c0ed-4c78-ae89-5eb74dcf2be7