Questioning Upgrade to Vista

[drybones]

I have all the required hardware and checked this through the MS Vista sites

But the real question is:

Would it be best to Purchase Vista upgrade and dual install it, thus
keeping my WinXP SP2 Media 2005 intact~

OR

Purchasing Vista Premium and install it after formatting WinXP media/

Reason for this question is the the "Microsoft.public.windows.vista.general
and Games" all seem to have many serious questions as to Vista's ability
to work well for most systems. Especially the systems with NVIDIA cards
installed.

Many thanks for your time invested in reading this and hopefully replying
to my serious questions.

Drybones

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have all the required hardware and checked this through the MS
Vista sites
But the real question is:

Would it be best to Purchase Vista upgrade and dual install it,
thus keeping my WinXP SP2 Media 2005 intact~

OR

Purchasing Vista Premium and install it after formatting WinXP
media/
Reason for this question is the the
"Microsoft.public.windows.vista.general and Games" all seem to have
many serious questions as to Vista's ability to work well for most
systems. Especially the systems with NVIDIA cards installed.

Many thanks for your time invested in reading this and hopefully
replying to my serious questions.

If you purchase an 'upgrade' version of Vista - that is all you can do with
it - there is no dual install if you get the upgrade version.
Do you mean Vista Ultimate?

As for "questions as to Vista's ability to work well for most systems"
existing in "microsoft.public.windows.vista.general" and other newsgroups...
Duh! It's a newsgroup for help and support. All the people who it has
worked well for are unlikely to come there for help and/or just to say,
"Hey - I have this and that and installed Vista and OMG - it's fantastic."

The fact is that if you have prepared as much as you can - checked and
double-checked your hardware/software to make sure it would work - made a
full backup (perhaps a full system image right before you install) and
gotten all your ducks in a row (all cd keys, etc ready... all Vista drivers
for your hardware saved before you start, etc...) and you install Vista and
try out everything you need to work immediately and it doesn't work - return
Vista. If it does - then you have done everything well and you have all the
capability you thought you would.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have all the required hardware and checked this through the MS
Vista sites
But the real question is:

Would it be best to Purchase Vista upgrade and dual install it, thus
keeping my WinXP SP2 Media 2005 intact~

You can *not* do this. The Vista upgrade can only do an upgrade and not a
clean installation.

OR

Purchasing Vista Premium and install it after formatting WinXP media/

You left out the third choice: buy the upgrade and upgrade your present
operating system.

Reason for this question is the the
"Microsoft.public.windows.vista.general and Games" all seem to have
many serious questions as to Vista's ability to work well for most
systems.

It's your choice. There are never any guarantees, but personally I wouldn't
dual boot. I would bite the bullet and make the third choice above: upgrade
over the top of XP. That's what I did, and I've had no problems at all.

Whenever a new version of *anything* comes out, you always read about
problems. But realize that the newsgroups are where people come with their
problems, not with their successes. You get a very distorted view of what's
going on in the real world in newsgroups; as someone once said, "hang around
a transmission shop and you will think that all cars have transmission
problems."

 

[drybones]

If you purchase an 'upgrade' version of Vista - that is all you can do
with it - there is no dual install if you get the upgrade version.
Do you mean Vista Ultimate?

As for "questions as to Vista's ability to work well for most systems"
existing in "microsoft.public.windows.vista.general" and other
newsgroups... Duh! It's a newsgroup for help and support. All the people
who it has worked well for are unlikely to come there for help and/or just
to say, "Hey - I have this and that and installed Vista and OMG - it's
fantastic."

The fact is that if you have prepared as much as you can - checked and
double-checked your hardware/software to make sure it would work - made a
full backup (perhaps a full system image right before you install) and
gotten all your ducks in a row (all cd keys, etc ready... all Vista
drivers for your hardware saved before you start, etc...)

If it does - then you have done everything well and you have all the

capability you thought you would.

Many thanks kind sir for your response.

It has been my impression that it is 'not' possible to return 'any' software
that has
been opened..

May I respectfully question the, "and you install Vista and try out
everything you
need to work immediately and it doesn't work - return Vista.

Yes I would be purchasing the Vista Ultimate. As to drivers, all my drivers
have
been updated including the Dell Bios, excepting for the NVIDIA drivers,
NVIDIA
drivers for Vista are still in Beta. Even so I did attempt to install them,
but they
could not find Vista so would not install as yet.

I do read in the Vista newsgroup that many have found the NVIDIA video cards
are less that hoped for with this new OS Do you happen to have ant
particular
knowledge on this subject? Machine is running dual 7800GTX in SLI mode at
this time.


Again thank you, "Stanley' for you assistance.

drybones

 

[drybones]

You can *not* do this. The Vista upgrade can only do an upgrade and not a
clean installation.




You left out the third choice: buy the upgrade and upgrade your present
operating system.




It's your choice. There are never any guarantees, but personally I
wouldn't dual boot. I would bite the bullet and make the third choice
above: upgrade over the top of XP. That's what I did, and I've had no
problems at all.

Whenever a new version of *anything* comes out, you always read about
problems. But realize that the newsgroups are where people come with their
problems, not with their successes. You get a very distorted view of
what's going on in the real world in newsgroups; as someone once said,
"hang around a transmission shop and you will think that all cars have
transmission problems."

Thank you, Ken.

I was not entirely clear in my question regarding upgrading. I did of
course
mean install Vista over the WinXP Media "OEM" that I now run on this Dell
XPS 600 machine high end machine.

Biting the bullet would be the less expensive way to go. But I rather
dislike
having to continue the "OEM" way. And at 78 years and a steadily decreasing
income due to inflation, "biting the bullet" seems best.

Can you advise; on the advisability of staying with "OEM" installed Windows?

Many thanks once again for your kind response and use of your time and
knowledge.

drybones

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have all the required hardware and checked this through the MS
Vista sites But the real question is:

Would it be best to Purchase Vista upgrade and dual install it,
thus keeping my WinXP SP2 Media 2005 intact~

OR

Purchasing Vista Premium and install it after formatting WinXP
media?

Reason for this question is the the
"Microsoft.public.windows.vista.general and Games" all seem to
have many serious questions as to Vista's ability to work well
for most systems. Especially the systems with NVIDIA cards
installed.
Many thanks for your time invested in reading this and hopefully
replying to my serious questions.

If you purchase an 'upgrade' version of Vista - that is all you
can do with it - there is no dual install if you get the upgrade
version.

Do you mean Vista Ultimate?

As for "questions as to Vista's ability to work well for most
systems" existing in "microsoft.public.windows.vista.general" and
other newsgroups... Duh! It's a newsgroup for help and support. All the
people who it has worked well for are unlikely to come
there for help and/or just to say, "Hey - I have this and that and
installed Vista and OMG - it's fantastic."

The fact is that if you have prepared as much as you can - checked
and double-checked your hardware/software to make sure it would
work - made a full backup (perhaps a full system image right
before you install) and gotten all your ducks in a row (all cd
keys, etc ready... all Vista drivers for your hardware saved
before you start, etc...)
If it does - then you have done everything well and you have all
the capability you thought you would.

Many thanks kind sir for your response.

It has been my impression that it is 'not' possible to return 'any'
software that has been opened..

May I respectfully question the, "and you install Vista and try out
everything you need to work immediately and it doesn't work - return
Vista.

Yes I would be purchasing the Vista Ultimate. As to drivers, all
my drivers have been updated including the Dell Bios, excepting
for the NVIDIA drivers, NVIDIA drivers for Vista are still in Beta.
Even so I did attempt to install them, but they could not find Vista
so would not install as yet.

I do read in the Vista newsgroup that many have found the NVIDIA
video cards are less that hoped for with this new OS Do you happen
to have ant particular knowledge on this subject?

Machine is running dual 7800GTX in SLI mode at this time.

Again thank you, "Stanley' for you assistance.

First name is Shenan.
Last name is Stanley.
;-)


Returns concerns:
-----------------------
Review the return policy of the merchant from whom you purchased/plan
to purchase the upgrade. If you qualify for a return, you must restore
your computer to the pre-upgrade/installation state.

If you are in North America:
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/productrefund/softwarr.asp

In the EULA itself (for Windows Vista) it states:

"By using the software, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them,
do not use the software. Instead, return it to the retailer for a refund or
credit. If you cannot obtain a refund there, contact Microsoft or the
Microsoft
affiliate serving your country for information about Microsoft’s refund
policies.
See www.microsoft.com/worldwide. In the United States and Canada,
call (800) MICROSOFT or see www.microsoft.com/info/nareturns.htm."

and...

"F. WARRANTY PROCEDURES. You need proof of purchase for warranty service.

1. United States and Canada. For warranty service or information about how
to obtain a refund for software acquired in the United States and Canada,
contact Microsoft at

· (800) MICROSOFT;
· Microsoft Customer Service and Support
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399

or

· visit http://www.microsoft.com/info/nareturns.htm.

2. Europe, Middle East and Africa. If you acquired the software in Europe,
the
Middle East or Africa, Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited makes this
limited
warranty. To make a claim under this warranty, you should contact either

· Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited
Customer Care Centre, Atrium Building Block B, Carmanhall Road
Sandyford Industrial Estate, Dublin 18, Ireland

or

· the Microsoft affiliate serving your country
(see http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide).

3. Outside United States, Canada, Europe, Middle East and Africa. If you
acquired the software outside the United States, Canada, Europe, the
Middle East and Africa, contact the Microsoft affiliate serving your
country
(see http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide)."


Drivers concern:
--------------------

You should not be installing any of the drivers for Vista at this time -
merely downloading them and storing them on an external media for later
install should you choose to upgrade/clean install Windows Vista. They
won't do you much good until then in any other fashion.

As for the drivers being less than many hoped - if they are still in Beta -
then I would agree. That is one of the problems with adopting an OS less
than 6 months old (released to the public less than 2, right?) <- everything
may not support it yet.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thank you, Ken.

I was not entirely clear in my question regarding upgrading. I did of
course
mean install Vista over the WinXP Media "OEM" that I now run on
this Dell XPS 600 machine high end machine.

Biting the bullet would be the less expensive way to go. But I rather
dislike
having to continue the "OEM" way.

Sorry, I'm confused by that. Upgrade versions are Retail versions, not OEM,
and OEM versions can not do upgrades. So if you buy and install an Upgrade,
you are not continuing "the OEM way."

And at 78 years and a steadily
decreasing income due to inflation, "biting the bullet" seems best.

Can you advise; on the advisability of staying with "OEM" installed
Windows?

I don't like OEM versions, because their license restricts them to the first
computer they are installed on; they can never be moved to another. But if
your plan is to buy an upgrade, there is no "staying with OEM installed
Windows" involved.

Many thanks once again for your kind response and use of your time and
knowledge.

You're welcome. Glad to help.

 

[drybones]

First name is Shenan.
Last name is Stanley.
;-)


Returns concerns:
-----------------------
Review the return policy of the merchant from whom you purchased/plan
to purchase the upgrade. If you qualify for a return, you must restore
your computer to the pre-upgrade/installation state.

If you are in North America:
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/productrefund/softwarr.asp

In the EULA itself (for Windows Vista) it states:

"By using the software, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them,
do not use the software. Instead, return it to the retailer for a refund
or
credit. If you cannot obtain a refund there, contact Microsoft or the
Microsoft
affiliate serving your country for information about Microsoft’s refund
policies.
See www.microsoft.com/worldwide. In the United States and Canada,
call (800) MICROSOFT or see www.microsoft.com/info/nareturns.htm."

and...

"F. WARRANTY PROCEDURES. You need proof of purchase for warranty service.

1. United States and Canada. For warranty service or information about how
to obtain a refund for software acquired in the United States and Canada,
contact Microsoft at

· (800) MICROSOFT;
· Microsoft Customer Service and Support
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399

or

· visit http://www.microsoft.com/info/nareturns.htm.

2. Europe, Middle East and Africa. If you acquired the software in Europe,
the
Middle East or Africa, Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited makes this
limited
warranty. To make a claim under this warranty, you should contact either

· Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited
Customer Care Centre, Atrium Building Block B, Carmanhall Road
Sandyford Industrial Estate, Dublin 18, Ireland

or

· the Microsoft affiliate serving your country
(see http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide).

3. Outside United States, Canada, Europe, Middle East and Africa. If you
acquired the software outside the United States, Canada, Europe, the
Middle East and Africa, contact the Microsoft affiliate serving your
country
(see http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide)."


Drivers concern:
--------------------

You should not be installing any of the drivers for Vista at this time -
merely downloading them and storing them on an external media for later
install should you choose to upgrade/clean install Windows Vista. They
won't do you much good until then in any other fashion.

As for the drivers being less than many hoped - if they are still in
Beta - then I would agree. That is one of the problems with adopting an
OS less than 6 months old (released to the public less than 2, right?) <-
everything may not support it yet.

Egads, these old (78 years) with bi-focal's blew it again with names.

Hi Shenan <GRIN>

I do thank you for you response and will, I think, just standby and wait
for
the MS Wizards and NVIDIA to get it right.

Then use the few extra dollars I have and give Vista Premium a go..

Thanks again.
drybones