Express upgrade - media bad

[Guest]

I finally received my Vista Home Premium express upgrade. The DVD will not
read in any DVD drive. Guess I'm unlucky enough to have received a bad one.
Given it took over 2 months to arrive, I'm sure a replacement will take at
least that long. I purchased the retail ultimate version which I have
installed on my other PC. Is it possible to use the Vista Ultimate DVD to
install the Home Premium upgrade? The COA sticker is on the express uprade
DVD sleeve. Will this product key work with the retail Ultimate DVD?

thanks!

 

[Michael Solomon]

I finally received my Vista Home Premium express upgrade. The DVD
will not read in any DVD drive. Guess I'm unlucky enough to have
received a bad one. Given it took over 2 months to arrive, I'm sure a
replacement will take at least that long. I purchased the retail
ultimate version which I have installed on my other PC. Is it
possible to use the Vista Ultimate DVD to install the Home Premium
upgrade? The COA sticker is on the express uprade DVD sleeve. Will
this product key work with the retail Ultimate DVD?

thanks!

Before assuming the media is bad, have you tried it in other machines. It's
possible your drive may be having a problem with it.

 

[Guest]

The media is corrupt. It will not read in any drive, and I've tried several.

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

You should be able to. Just insert the Vista Ultimate DVD, click next on the
wizard without inserting a Product Key, confirm that you have a product key
for the edition of Vista you would like to install, select the edition from
the in this case 'Vista Home Premium", and continue with the installation.

When installation is complete, click Start > right click Computer >
Properties, under Windows activation, click the "Change product key", follow
the wizard and enter your Home Premium key. You could try entering the key
initially, but I'm not sure it will.

 

[Michael Solomon]

The media is corrupt. It will not read in any drive, and I've tried
several.

Okay, I had to ask because sometimes that's the case.

As to your other question, you can't use the Vista Ultimate DVD to install
the Home Premium upgrade if I'm properly understanding you. Aside from the
fact I don't think the Home Permium Key would work, the DVD would still be
Vista Ultimate not Home Premium and the key would not change that.

 

[Cal Bear '66]

YES, you can use the Vista Home Premium key with a "Vista Ultimate Disk".
All the DVDs are the same (except for x86 and x64 -- separate disks).
It is the KEY which determines which Vista version is installed.

 

[Michael Solomon]

YES, you can use the Vista Home Premium key with a "Vista Ultimate
Disk".
All the DVDs are the same (except for x86 and x64 -- separate disks).
It is the KEY which determines which Vista version is installed.

Thanks. I probably shouldn't have answered realizing I was a bit confused
about it. This clears it up for me as well.

 

[Cal Bear '66]

I think that there might be a difference with Vista disks that are supplied with
new computers from major OEMs.
Not sure though...

 

[Guest]

Yes you can use any Vista disk you have for the same platform (32bit/x86 or
64bit). Each dvd holds all versions of Vista for that specific platform
type. They use point rev markers so that it knows by the key you enter which
files to install.

This is directly from Microsoft's speakers at all of their Release day events.

The Full Retail versions come with 2 disc's, the 32bit on one 64bit on the
other and can be moved from an old computer to a new computer 1 time.

Upgrades are limited to 1 machine and only have 1 disc from what I
understand, 32bit only.

OEM are limited to 1 machine and can not be moved, you only get 1 disc,
either 32bit or 64bit, but not both versions. (If you are building your own
system and getting OEM software, be VERY careful about getting the right
version.)

The Enterprise version of Vista is ONLY available through special corporate
licensing options.