Windows Vista Doubts

[Guest]

First currently I am using Windows Vista Home Basic OEM edition by Compaq and
I plan to upgrade to Windows Vista Ultimate since my system support it and I
have 2 doubts.

1) If I buy Windows Vista Ultimate not the upgrade edition, will it upgrade
my current Home Basic edition? And after the completion of upgrade willmy
compaq logo still there?

2) I heard that activation is limited now. I always format my PC every 3
months and reinstall back windows everytime. Will I be prevented from
activation by doing so since 1 year I activate 4 times?

Thanks.
Christopher Foo

 

[P. Di Stolfo]

Hello,

here is information about the Anytime Upgrade Program:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pr...orupgrade/windowsanytimeupgrade/overview.mspx
I hope it will answer question 1. Why would you buy the full retail Ultimate
edition?

For question 2: If you have a legal license, you will never be prevented
from activation. Either the activation over internet, or the telephone
activation (takes max. 10 minutes) will work.

I hope I could help. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Greetings,
P. Di Stolfo

 

[John Barnett MVP]

If you are not buying the Vista Ultimate Upgrade version then your only
option is the Windows Vista Ultimate Retail version. I may have read your
email wrongly, but that is what it looks like to me, you are going to buy a
retail copy. Obviously a retail copy is more expensive, but, personally, is
the better option.

A retail copy allows you to clean install Vista or upgrade the choice is
yours. A retail copy also allows you to re-install Vista on a new computer
(after you have removed the copy from the old computer) if you decide to
purchase a new pc in the future. An OEM copy doesn't allow this because it
is locked to the pcs BIOS.

Activation doesn't really enter the equation. you can activate as many times
as you like. If you can't activate over the internet, then use the telephone
option.

As for your Compaq Logo the answer to this question is 'Yes' your Compaq
logo will still be there. The Logo is stored in the PC BIOS, not the
operating system so is not an easy thing to remove. I have an E-Machine and
a full retail copy of Vista Ultimate the 'E' logo appears no matter how many
times I install Windows Vista; but the logo doesn't bother me.

Regarding you formatting every 3 months. I cannot see the need for this, but
you obviously have your reasons. Can I suggest you purchase imaging
software, such as Acronis True Image and then, one you have your system set
up as you like it, image the drive to a removable hard drive and then, when
the time comes for a reformat, re-image the drive back. That way you don't
need to activate. Again my system is imaged as soon as I am satisfied with
the way things are working (using Acronis). I take two images. One is imaged
to a removable hard drive, the other (which I will call the master) is
imaged to DVD. The image that is stored on the removable drive is
'incrementally' backed up weekly. The DVD copy isn't touched. When I need to
re-image I use the removable drive copy because that is the one that is most
up to date. If anything goes wrong with the removable drive, I can always
use the DVD copy and manually update the system from windows update.


--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows - Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

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mail/post..

 

[Saucy]

1. Do not get the full retail version of Vista U, get the 'Upgrade' version.
If you get the full version, you are over-buying and spending more than is
necessary. Yes, the upgrade version of Vista U will upgrade your Vista HB
installation.

If you like to re-install from time to time, there's an easy trick to
installing Vista clean with using the "upgrade" media. See Paul Thurott's
website:

[How to Clean Install Windows Vista with Upgrade Media]
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_upgrade_clean.asp

2. Activation is not limited on the same computer. You can activate again
and again on the same computer.

Saucy

 

[Alias]

2) I heard that activation is limited now.

Thanks.
Christopher Foo

I guess Redmond's FUD is paying off. Where did you hear that?

 

[Guest]

I am not sure. I was being told by a friend. Like Symantec, you can activate
on three diferent PC and over that your activation key will be barred because
you had activated too many times.

Thanks everyone, I guess that all answer my queries.

Regards
Christopher

 

[Lang Murphy]

First currently I am using Windows Vista Home Basic OEM edition by Compaq
and
I plan to upgrade to Windows Vista Ultimate since my system support it and
I
have 2 doubts.

1) If I buy Windows Vista Ultimate not the upgrade edition, will it
upgrade
my current Home Basic edition? And after the completion of upgrade willmy
compaq logo still there?

2) I heard that activation is limited now. I always format my PC every 3
months and reinstall back windows everytime. Will I be prevented from
activation by doing so since 1 year I activate 4 times?

Thanks.
Christopher Foo

1.) If you run the Vista instal from within your current OS GUI, it will do
an upgrade. If you boot from the DVD, I believe you can do either an upgrade
or a clean install. (Must admit I haven't kept on top of the install
options, but I'm sure someone will point out any errors in my assumptions.)
As to the Compaq logo... as John replied, it's in the BIOS so installing or
upgrading Vista should have no impact.

2.) John's suggestion to image the PC and re-image with that image instead
of wiping the disk and re-installing Windows is a good suggestion, one that
you should consider. Re-imaging is -way- faster than doing an OS install, to
say nothing of the time required to re-install apps. And... depending
on -why- you reinstall Windows every 3 months, for which you provide no
clues, another option might be virtual machines.

Lang

 

[Saucy]

3 different PCs? No, I was talking about on one PC. You can activate over
and over again on one PC - the same one. That's usually what the retail
license entitles you to - one PC only. So, of course, when you try to
activate it on several PCs you will get a refusal.

But on the one and same PC you can reinstall and activate as many times as
you want. If online activation should ever fail, simply do the telephone
activation.

Note: After about 3 or 4 months the Product Key gets reset so even if you
got "barred" it will turn back on.

Saucy

 

[DanS]

I always format my PC every
3 months and reinstall back windows everytime.

That's crazy ! Is this because it is necessary, or you just do ?