Reinstalling Vista Business Upgrade

[A Burness]

Due to a hard drive failure I'm having to reinstall Vista. I have a valid
copy of XP, however that is failing to install (I have left a query on the XP
newsgroup relating to that.)

Previous Upgrade versions of windows allowed you to insert a CD from a
previous version to prove to the install that you could legitimately use it.
Unfortunately there seems to be no option to do this within the Vista
install, and the license key causes Vista to give a 'this software is not
licensed for a clean install error'.

Is there any way I can install Vista without being able to install XP or
having to go out and purchase a 'full' copy of Vista?

 

[peter]

Install Vista without entering the License Key....this gives you a Trial
version.
Then "upgrade" this Vista by doing a install and this time enter the license
key.
peter

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Due to a hard drive failure I'm having to reinstall Vista. I have a valid
copy of XP, however that is failing to install (I have left a query on the XP
newsgroup relating to that.)

If WinXP won't install, you probably still have hardware problems that
could also prevent the installation of Vista.

Previous Upgrade versions of windows allowed you to insert a CD from a
previous version to prove to the install that you could legitimately use it.
Unfortunately there seems to be no option to do this within the Vista
install, and the license key causes Vista to give a 'this software is not
licensed for a clean install error'.

Correct. The Vista Upgrade DVDs were intended to have been
specifically designed to be installed only from within the earlier,
qualifying OS, which must have been activated and validated by WGA. The
upgrade setup routine won't ask you to insert a disk from an earlier OS,
nor allow this sort of validation.

Is there any way I can install Vista without being able to install XP or
having to go out and purchase a 'full' copy of Vista?

A clean installation using a Vista Upgrade DVD is currently possible,
though there's no telling how long it will take for Microsoft to fix
this "oversight:"

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: How to Clean Install Windows
Vista with Upgrade Media
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_upgrade_clean.asp

NOTE: This method is *not* supported by Microsoft.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[John Barnes]

Make sure to select and install the version you have a key for when you use
this approach.