Problems with RC1-RC2

[Guest]

So I've got Windows Vista RC1 and RC2 and I'm trying to upgrade from the x86
version of RC1 to the x64 version of RC2. I installed RC1 on a separate
partition and formatted it to get rid of it, but now I can't install RC2
because it keeps saying my CD key is invalid. It's the same key I used to
install RC1 and trying to re-install RC1 gives me the same error. I think I
may have accidentally activated Vista, which I'm assuming would mean I can no
longer install it (thanks to Vista's one key, one install security measures).
Anybody have any ideas as to how I can get RC2 installed or do I need another
key (which is not possible to get, as far as I can tell)?

 

[Jason Cambre]

In theory the key should work...

I've heard it will work for up to around 15 activations or maybe more. I've
used my same key since Beta 2... Sure you just didn't make a typo?

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

a) You can't upgrade x86 to x64, it's clean install only by booting the CD.

b) The Product Key is the same, and activating it previously would have no
bearing on whether or not you can use it to install again. Recheck your
documentation to ensure that you have it correct. Also, things like BIOS av
detection schemes, active AV software (when attempting an upgrade), faulty
timing or ram, and incorrect system clock can all interfere with this
process.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

That's what I'm trying to do. I reformatted the drive I installed RC1 on and
tried to install RC2 on it. Won't accept the key. Then I tried re-insatlling
RC1 again (still a clean drive) and it won't accept the key either. They key
is correct, I've double-checked against the key that was given to me and
e-mailed to me at the time I downloaded the betas. Nothing else seems to be
the problem.

 

[David Wilkinson]

That's what I'm trying to do. I reformatted the drive I installed RC1 on and
tried to install RC2 on it. Won't accept the key. Then I tried re-insatlling
RC1 again (still a clean drive) and it won't accept the key either. They key
is correct, I've double-checked against the key that was given to me and
e-mailed to me at the time I downloaded the betas. Nothing else seems to be
the problem.

HaZaRd2K6:

I have reinstalled Vista in a place where I installed it before many
times. But I actually destroy the partition and then recreate it again.
When I did not do this something very strange happened -- it seemed that
Vista was trying to do an upgrade, even though I had reformatted the
partition. I didn't want an upgrade, so I backed out and
detroyed/recreated the partition. Then I was able to do clean install.

I actually do all this using BootIt NG (BING). BING cannot actually
format NTFS partitions, but it can create them. I let Vista format the
drive.

One detail: Because I use BING, I can hide the different partitions from
each other. So the Vista boot files do not end up on the XP partition.
This may be the case of your problem. Have you tried using VistaBootPro
to get yourself back to a pure XP environment?

David Wilkinson