Restore Disks for Vista

[Robert Blacher]

Oh, back on point for a change, LOL -- I don't care if ET calls home during
Vista installation or if it does so during the 3-day activation grace
period. You are quite right. Once MS ensures the XP product key is valid
and has not already been used before, that should be enough to allow an
*upgrade* DVD to be used, even if Vista RC is currently installed. $259 per
upgrade/per CPU is too high (especially for home desktop/laptop combo
users). $399 is just plain gouging.

The existence of apparently successful XP "keygen" programs in the software
piracy world will make this less than perfect. Less than perfect is better
than completely f'd up.

See: "Suggested retail price for full package product, $399.00 USD.
Suggested upgrade retail price, $259.00 USD."
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/editions/ultimate.mspx I
think I boinked the pricing in a msg earlier this morning.

 

[Brian W]

Oh, back on point for a change, LOL -- I don't care if ET calls home
during Vista installation or if it does so during the 3-day activation
grace period. You are quite right. Once MS ensures the XP product key is
valid and has not already been used before, that should be enough to allow
an *upgrade* DVD to be used, even if Vista RC is currently installed.
$259 per upgrade/per CPU is too high (especially for home desktop/laptop
combo users). $399 is just plain gouging.

But what happens if Vista requires re-installation? The XP key can no longer
be used, so the Vista upgrade disc is useless. In this scenario, one would
have to buy a full version of Vista or another XP licence.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Are you installing XP on the same computer?
If so no problem.
No need to buy simply because a new installation is needed.

 

[Robert Blacher]

I was actually only suggesting that "ET" call home and validate an XP key
once during install over an existing Vista beta installation to deal with
the problem of folks who never had a legitimate XP license otherwise
qualifying for the "upgrade" edition by running the beta.

The "upgrade" editions have to be bootable -- for example, the new "Repair"
functions assume you can boot the DVD. And, even if what Colin has been
saying based on what the sort-of MSFT spokesperson said is right (!), if you
have to re-install over an empty hard drive, that will be after your Vista
key has been activated which, one can only assume, Microsoft will "remember"
in their activation database. Of course, they also will be remembering
which computer it was installed on.

We are all SOOOOO working in the dark here because MSFT won't (and probably
shouldn't) release too many details of how they are going to enforce their
"one Vista license for each computer you own" policy if that
not-necessarily-very-well thought out EULA and enforcement scheme is going
to succeed.

(!) Footnote: For the lawyers out there, in quoting Colin quoting the MSFT
guy, I just committed double hearsay. Send this message to the bin
immediately. ;-)

 

[Robert Blacher]

In snipping the quotes, you accidentally made me the author of something I
didn't say. NP.

But, 2 responses as long as I'm here anyway:

(1) Would have been nice if MSFT had advised all the beta testers to
dual-boot XP. That assumes MSFT had already anticipated the "upgrade
pickle" some of the beta testers are now in. I am not at all sure that MSFT
had thought this all through then. More importantly, it's not clear that
they have done so now.

Big corporations can make *big* mistakes. While I fully understand the
desire to combat piracy, twists and turns to this keep coming up that I'm
guessing MSFT didn't foresee. If they did and they said "screw 'em" ---
well, need I go on?

(2) Dual-booting XP (or running it in a virtual machine) is a temporary
kludge while the world catches up with Vista in terms of apps, drivers, etc.
A few years from now? I can't imagine many folks will still be doing that.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Dual booting with XP on a test box is OK but not neccessarily a good idea on
a primary computer (the volsnap.sys problem). MS did say flat out not to
install Vista betas on a production or primary home computer. They didn't
say anything about "except in a dual boot scenario." They just said
"don't."

Given that, no one should be upgrading to rtm for production use on a test
box and Vista beta should not have been on a production or primary home
computer to begin with. Even so, if someone was running in a dual boot
scenario on a production or primary home computer, the answer is to upgrade
the bits with a regular full edition of Vista.

Vista betas are evaluation copies anyway, and evaluation licenses do not
qualify for upgrade pricing. I just think that this business of the "poor,
neglected beta testers" is a strawman. It gets shot down right away with
the question, "why were you using pre-release software on your production or
primary home computer when we instructed you not to?"