An odd case of new hard drive

[gls2100]

Okay its a little confusing but I need some help, so hopefully you ll hang in
there.
I have a Dell XPS and originally had XP on it. I then upgraded to a student
copy of Vista Business and then used my roommates upgrade anytime Ultimate CD
to upgrade to Ultimate. Everything worked there and it was legit.

So I had a serious error with my hard drive but yet it still works... I dont
know, dont ask me, But Dell replaced it along time ago for free. So I was
able to download Business on to the new hard drive but couldnt find the
activation key. Well I found it using aida32, it works real well by the way,
went to plug in the Ultimate activation key, excepted it and told me I could
run the upgrade with Windows Vista active, so I tried to boot it from the
disc, same sort of thing going on.

So I cant upgrade to Ultimate and as of the moment I have the brand new hard
drive turned off in the bios and the old hard drive connected as a slave
drive, however its booting from this hard drive, which apparently needed ot
be replaced.

So what do I do to upgrade business to ultimate when I have tried it both
from a boot from CD and upgrade from windows with no prior operating system
on it.

My only thought is, is that I use the original discs that came with the
original harddrive (XP) and try it all over again or does someone know a step
around that?

Thanks

 

[Gary Mount]

Install your original OS then use your anytime upgrade license to do the
upgrade.

If you don't know where your "license" for the upgrade is, then...
From Microsoft...
"A personal digital locker is created for you when you purchase a Windows
Vista upgrade. Your digital locker stores your product keys and purchase
information which, when used together, allow you to reinstall your upgrade
if necessary. A copy of your upgrade is also stored in your digital locker.

To access your upgrade in your digital locker for recovery:

Click Start, and then click Control Panel. Double-click the digital locker
icon. Alternatively, you can go directly to the Digital Locker website.
"
https://digitallocker.windowsmarketplace.com/locker.aspx?limode=wau