Vista Product Keys?

[Colin Barnhorst]

But what is the point of not entering the key? If you install an edition of
Vista this way it will be a full edition and when you try to enter the
upgrade edition product key later it will not work. If you had wiped the
legacy OS then you would have to reinstall it and then install Vista with
the upgrade key.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Close, but that Windows operating system cd isn't sufficient. Windows must
be installed and, if XP, activated. There is no check for shiny media
during an upgrade edition installation as there used to be with XP and
before.

 

[Roscoe]

Nothing like making people jump thru hoops.

Close, but that Windows operating system cd isn't sufficient. Windows
must be installed and, if XP, activated. There is no check for shiny
media during an upgrade edition installation as there used to be with XP
and before.

 

[Ken]

What happens if my hard drive did not die and i still have vista installed
and activated and i wanted to reinstall a fresh copy. Couldnt i just run
setup from within vista without re installing xp again?

Ken

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Yes. But what are you trying to accomplish?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

MS is closing loopholes that allow casual copying. No big deal.

 

[Ken]

Nothing just asking a few questions before i decide weather to buy vista
with upgrade or full key. Im hoping to buy the upgrade instead of the full.

With xp i normally like to format and install rather than installing over
the top that retains your progs. Thats just me. Hoping i can do the same
with vista upgrade without to much extra fuss than was required with xp. I
normally like to format every 6 months or so


Ken

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

If you are presently running XP SP2 you will not have the option to reformat
before installing Vista. The custom installation will roll what you have
now into a windows.old folder which you can delete at your leisure.

 

[Steve]

XP does the same thing, I have 3 computers that use windows XP upgrade. If
I have to do a fresh install, it does not ask for qualifying media because,
an activated copy of XP is already installed on the computer.

stevek

 

[Nigel Molesworth]

With xp i normally like to format and install rather than installing over
the top that retains your progs. Thats just me. Hoping i can do the same
with vista upgrade without to much extra fuss than was required with xp. I
normally like to format every 6 months or so

Ditto, although I hope that Vista will make the regular reformat less
necessary.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

That's true when you run XP Setup from the desktop. What is different is
that you can also run XP Upgrade Edition Setup by booting with the cd.
Vista x86 Upgrade Edition will not allow you to do that (although Vista x64
UE will).

 

[Barry Watzman]

I don't think it's that bad; the "clean install of Vista" will wipe out
WHATEVER was there before, so just install XP ... don't put ANY effort
into "cleaning it up" (as you might if you were actually going to use
it), and then install Vista.

So if I want to do a "clean installation" I have to reformat my drive,
use the inane "recovery disks", delete all the AOL and other crap that
automatically loads and THEN install Vista????

Hello,
That is correct. The media is the same, the behavior is different
depending on whether you use an upgrade key or a full product.
Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights
--------------------
|>From: "Kerry Brown" <[email protected]*a*m>
|>References: <[email protected]>
<[email protected]>
<[email protected]>
<[email protected]>
<[email protected]>
|>In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
|>Subject: Re: Vista Product Keys?
|>Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 08:49:02 -0800
|>Lines: 27
|>MIME-Version: 1.0
|>Content-Type: text/plain;
|> format=flowed;
|> charset="iso-8859-1";
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|>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.0.6000.16386
|>Message-ID: <[email protected]>
|>Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.vista.installation_setup
|>NNTP-Posting-Host: s01060080c8133852.vn.shawcable.net 24.82.123.204
|>Path: TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl
|>Xref: TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl
microsoft.public.windows.vista.installation_setup:2196
|>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.vista.installation_setup
|>
|>All the media is the same. All versions of Vista (either 32 bit or 64
bit,
|>each has their own media) are on the media. What is installed
depends on
the
|>product key you enter. As far as I know the upgrade media is the
same as
the
|>full media. The only difference is the key that is supplied.
|>
|>-- |>Kerry Brown
|>Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
|>http://www.vistahelp.ca
|>
|>
|>|>> On Fri, 12 Jan 2007 06:30:29 -0800, "Jeff Gaines"
|>>
|>>>>Yikes! So what happens if your HD dies and you need to re-install,
|>>>>surely you don't have to install an older version first!
|>>>
|>>>Oh yes you do :-(
|>>
|>> So back to my original question. Could you use a full copy to do a
new
|>> install, but use the key from the appropriate upgrade version?
|>>
|>> -- |>> Nigel M
|>
|>

 

[Barry Watzman]

Re: "If you restore the factory setup then you also restore all the crap
the came along with it."

Yes, of course. BUT ....

Re: "You would have to uninstall all this before installing the Vista
upgrade."

No, wrong.

Vista, even the upgrade version [I THINK] has a clean install option
that simply wipes out everything that was previously present. So it's
not necessary to waste time cleaning up an XP installation that will be
erased anyway.

Clean installs done with upgrade versions (always possible in the past
and still possible with Vista as I understand it) do not actually USE
any of the old OS; they are simply a licensing/legal creation to insure
that you had an old qualifying OS. What's new in Vista is that the old
qualifying OS actually has to be installed and activated whereas before
you only needed the media (not actually installed at all). But if you
are doing a clean install from upgrade media, it's all going to be wiped
out anyway.

 

[Guest]

That's true when you run XP Setup from the desktop. What is different is
that you can also run XP Upgrade Edition Setup by booting with the cd.
Vista x86 Upgrade Edition will not allow you to do that (although Vista x64
UE will).

I a've 3 computers, do i have to buy three copys of windows vista, or can i use the one copy.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

If you plan on upgrading three (3) computers to Windows Vista,
then yes, you'll need to purchase three (3) Windows Vista licenses.

 

[Glenn Blinckmann]

Would you also need to reinstall any service packs? Reinstalling XP to
install Vista on a new hard drive would be bad enough, but to reinstall
XP, install service pack 2 and any associated hotfixes, activate,
install WGA, and THEN install a fresh Vista on top of it sounds like an
all-day process!

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Glenn,

No, you wouldn't have to reinstall any XP service packs, just install XP and
activate.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

It is not called "clean", but "custom." The custom option does not reformat
the drive. However, the OS is laid down as an image (new to Vista) and
therefore reformatting of the part of the hard drive where the OS is
installed is accomplished because the formatting is inherent in the image.
The rest of the hard drive is not reformatted but everything that was there
is rolled into a folder called windows.old which can later be deleted.

Re: "If you restore the factory setup then you also restore all the crap
the came along with it."

Yes, of course. BUT ....

Re: "You would have to uninstall all this before installing the Vista
upgrade."

No, wrong.

Vista, even the upgrade version [I THINK] has a clean install option that
simply wipes out everything that was previously present. So it's not
necessary to waste time cleaning up an XP installation that will be erased
anyway.

Clean installs done with upgrade versions (always possible in the past and
still possible with Vista as I understand it) do not actually USE any of
the old OS; they are simply a licensing/legal creation to insure that you
had an old qualifying OS. What's new in Vista is that the old qualifying
OS actually has to be installed and activated whereas before you only
needed the media (not actually installed at all). But if you are doing a
clean install from upgrade media, it's all going to be wiped out anyway.

If you use an upgrade key and the 32 bit version of Vista (and some 64
bit scenarios) you can only start the upgrade from within a qualifying
OS. This means if your hard drive crashes and you install a new drive you
also have to reinstall the qualifying OS, or restore the factory setup,
before you can reinstall the Vista upgrade. If you restore the factory
setup then you also restore all the crap the came along with it. You
would have to uninstall all this before installing the Vista upgrade.

Of course a prudent person would have an up to date backup before the
hard drive crashed and avoid all the above

 

[Nigel Molesworth]

So what happens if your HD dies and you need to re-install,
surely you don't have to install an older version first!

I was interested to read the article in PC Pro #149 (page 108)
"Upgrade to Windows Vista". Under the heading Upgrade Options it
states "... even though you can purchase an upgrade copy of Vista, not
all versions of Windows XP can be upgraded in-place. This means you'll
have to perform a clean install, putting your original XP CD in the
drive to prove you qualify for the upgrade."

This seems to conflict with the advice on this group that you have to
install the qualifying OS first. Any thoughts?

 

[Jeff Gaines]

I was interested to read the article in PC Pro #149 (page 108)
"Upgrade to Windows Vista". Under the heading Upgrade Options it
states "... even though you can purchase an upgrade copy of Vista, not
all versions of Windows XP can be upgraded in-place. This means you'll
have to perform a clean install, putting your original XP CD in the
drive to prove you qualify for the upgrade."

This seems to conflict with the advice on this group that you have to
install the qualifying OS first. Any thoughts?

They also said there were no major changes to Windows Mail from Outlook so
I think they've screwed up.