From MS site (re: uprgrade versions of Vista)

[Brian W]

Copied from MS own information:-

You can upgrade from your current edition of Microsoft Windows XP or Windows
2000 to a corresponding or better edition of Windows Vista by purchasing and
installing an upgrade copy of Windows Vista. Depending on which edition of
Windows you are running and the edition of Windows Vista you would like to
install, you have two options for the installation process:

In-place upgrade
You can upgrade in-place, which means you can install Windows Vista and
retain your applications, files, and settings as they were in your previous
edition of Windows.

Clean install
Upgrading to Windows Vista with a clean install means that you should use
Windows Easy Transfer to automatically copy all your files and settings to
an extra hard drive or other storage device, and then install Windows Vista.
After the installation is complete, Windows Easy Transfer will reload your
files and settings on your upgraded PC. You will then need to reinstall your
applications.

The table below outlines the upgrade options mapped to the different Windows
Vista editions.



WINDOWS VISTA EDITIONS
Home Basic Home Premium
Business Ultimate
Windows XP Professional clean inst clean inst upgrade
upgrade
Windows XP Home upgrade upgrade upgrade
upgrade
Windows XP Media Center clean inst upgrade clean
upgrade
Windows XP Tablet PC clean inst clean inst
upgrade upgrade
Windows XP Professional x64 clean inst clean inst clean
inst clean inst
Windows 2000 clean inst clean inst
clean inst clean inst


clean inst - Requires clean install.
upgrade - In-place installation option available.



Notes:
If you are currently using Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP
Professional x64, you are eligible for an upgrade copy to a corresponding or
better edition of Windows Vista, but a clean install is required.

For versions of Windows earlier than Windows 2000, upgrade copies are not
available. These earlier versions of Windows require you to install a full
copy of Windows Vista.


So, win 2000 can be used with an Upgrade DVD, but requires a clean install.
Win 2000 never needed activation, unlike XP. So why would they go to all
trouble of requiring an activated install of XP in order to use the upgrade
version of Vista? And accoring to the above, all versions of 2000/XP will
perform a clean install of Vista using an Upgrade disc.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Please don't quote web pages verbatim. Simply provide the url and quote the
part pertinent to your question or comment. Thank you.

 

[Brian W]

ok ,sorry. thought I was being helpful!

Please don't quote web pages verbatim. Simply provide the url and quote
the part pertinent to your question or comment. Thank you.

 

[Hillbilly]

Take no notice, CB acts like the Gestapo.
I would have "quoted"the web page as well.
There is NOTHING wrong with doing that at all.
People are always"quoting"web page content to me and I always do it.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

You are being helpful, but it has long been a point of netiquette not to
quote this way. Some folks are paying for internet access time by the
minute and are still using dialup. It is a courtesy.

 

[Nina DiBoy]

Copied from MS own information:-

You can upgrade from your current edition of Microsoft Windows XP or
Windows 2000 to a corresponding or better edition of Windows Vista by
purchasing and installing an upgrade copy of Windows Vista. Depending on
which edition of Windows you are running and the edition of Windows
Vista you would like to install, you have two options for the
installation process:

In-place upgrade
You can upgrade in-place, which means you can install Windows Vista and
retain your applications, files, and settings as they were in your
previous edition of Windows.

Clean install
Upgrading to Windows Vista with a clean install means that you should
use Windows Easy Transfer to automatically copy all your files and
settings to an extra hard drive or other storage device, and then
install Windows Vista. After the installation is complete, Windows Easy
Transfer will reload your files and settings on your upgraded PC. You
will then need to reinstall your applications.

The table below outlines the upgrade options mapped to the different
Windows Vista editions.

WINDOWS VISTA EDITIONS
Home Basic Home Premium
Business Ultimate
Windows XP Professional clean inst clean inst
upgrade upgrade
Windows XP Home upgrade upgrade
upgrade upgrade
Windows XP Media Center clean inst upgrade clean
upgrade
Windows XP Tablet PC clean inst clean inst upgrade
upgrade
Windows XP Professional x64 clean inst clean inst clean
inst clean inst
Windows 2000 clean inst clean inst clean
inst clean inst

clean inst - Requires clean install.
upgrade - In-place installation option available.

Notes:
If you are currently using Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP
Professional x64, you are eligible for an upgrade copy to a
corresponding or better edition of Windows Vista, but a clean install is
required.

For versions of Windows earlier than Windows 2000, upgrade copies are
not available. These earlier versions of Windows require you to install
a full copy of Windows Vista.

So, win 2000 can be used with an Upgrade DVD, but requires a clean
install. Win 2000 never needed activation, unlike XP. So why would they
go to all trouble of requiring an activated install of XP in order to
use the upgrade version of Vista? And accoring to the above, all
versions of 2000/XP will perform a clean install of Vista using an
Upgrade disc.

Great info! Do you have a link?

 

[mayor]

Yes, you were being very helpful. I prefer reading about the issue in the
newsgroup rather than exiting and going to a web page.

--
Leo
If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished.

 

[mayor]

You favor all of us operating at the lowest common denominator? Perhaps you
would prefer MS to trash Vista and have us all revert to Window 3.1 because
not everyone has the equipment needed to run Vista.

--
Leo
If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/upgradeinfo.mspx

 

[Mr. Vista]

You have a point Colin, though I see no problem in quoting parts of a web
page.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Pertinent parts of a web page are essential. Absolutely. As I said, it is
just a courtesy not to get lazy and do a Select All/Copy when anyone can
just click the url.

 

[Rich Milburn [MVP]]

Sorta puts to bed the question of whether or not you must find your Windows
98 disk to install your Windows XP upgrade so that you can run Vista Upgrade
from within XP or whether you can just do a clean install. There was an
inaccurate report that you can't do a clean install from an upgrade.
Apparently that is not true, or the clean install would not work in the case
of upgrading from Win2K. It _might_ want you to enter your XP key, and it
_might_ verify that it's a valid key. That's pure speculation on my part,
but it is what some other vendors do.

Rich

 

[Nina DiBoy]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/upgradeinfo.mspx

Thanks Colin!

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

It is courtesy.
Those who pay for their internet service by the byte often appreciate
brevity.
Unnecessary data can be wrong to those paying to recieve it.
That is one of many reasons it is a good idea and also netiquette to trim
posts.
The link is good so further information can be researched and verified.
With an appropriate link, usually the entire page is unnecessary.

It seems "Gestapo" is a word you use for what many of us simply call
"netiquette".

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

yw.

Thanks Colin!

 

[Lang Murphy]

Agree with you on most, but please don't saddle CB with the Gestapo tag...
not deserved, he's one of the good guys in this NG, imho.

Lang

 

[John C. Iliff]

I agree totally, Colin...but even worse, is the lazy or inconsiderate
individuals that reply, repeating the entire original post in their
response!!

John

 

[Rich Milburn [MVP]]

Leaving your comments in cost 280 bytes to download. Making people search
for the post you are replying to, to try to figure out what the heck you are
replying to when you did not even leave 1 post's worth in your reply for
context's sake, could be considered inconsiderate as well. Some people just
skip messages with no context, it's enough of a challenge keeping up with
the other messages...

I agree that mile-long threads are unnecessary though. but it is good
practice to include some of the original post to avoid sending everyone on a
search for the OP.

Rich

 

[Mountain Man]

When HillBilly used the word Gestapo he meant that the person was acting
like the Gestapo in telling him what to do or what not to do.
It is for no one to tell anyone how to/what to do/not do/say.
Whatever way they choose to write/speak or whatever is up to them.

 

[jwardl]

There are still TIMED/plans out there? Sheesh!
I thought they were ALL "all you can eat" these days -- even dialup.