Clean Vista install WITH NO ACTIVATION

Thats called piracy. You cant both use the same product keys. Microsoft will lock down both your computers if you do.

Tell you friend to activate normally if he really does have a legitimate copy

 

Wow, great guide!

I'll be using this as soon as I get my new HP soon.

 

I'm going to do this on my Lenovo R61 now.

 

Great. Let us know how it turns out!

 

i did this clean install for HP tx1120us before and everythng worked flawlessley.

I'm doing it the 2nd time around... but now, the quick launch and quick play isn't working, and there's no wide screen. the choices for the monitor setting is only up to 1028x768. it doesn't go up to 1280x800 I don't have the aero feature too. anyone know waht id did wrong and how to fix it? thanks

 

Sounds like you forgot to install all of your drivers.

 

Well I did the clean install and everything is great..well almost. I no longer have a recovery partition(how i wanted), but would like to make a recovery disc of how my system is currently. The thing is I no longer have the HP recovery manager to make a restore disc. Is there another way of making a recovery disc or could someone please recommend a program to do so. Thanks

 

Worked flawlessly on my MSI EX600. And i'm gonna reinstall an asus today using this. This was what i've been looking for.

Thanks alot.

 

Worked great Orev! Thanks for putting this together.

 

I have the contents of the windows anytime upgrade disk in my hard drive. Can I do clean install with that?

 

No.. It needs to be an image and you need to burn that image into a DVD disk. You cannot boot into installation mode like that

 

It might be possible. How did you get the contents onto your computer? Did you drag and drop the files from the disc, or what? Or is it all in an ISO file? You might be able to use vLite http://www.vlite.net/ to reconstruct the disc. The main problem will be if it can be made bootable or not, and vlite might be able to do that.

 

Some notebooks come preconfigured with anytime upgrade, so you don't need to have the disk to peform an upgrade.

I had the wau folder in my notebook ever since I powered it up. it has 2.52 Gigs of data, which also has the setup.exe (vista application). I burned the contents to a dvd. Now how can I do a clean install with the disk. Will your way work with this disk?

 

I burned the disk already, which will be my upgrade dvd.

 

You need to have a BOOTABLE disc in order to do a clean install. It you copied the folder to a DVD, then it will not work because a DVD created like that is not bootable. As I said, download vLite and see if that will allow you to use the files on your hard drive to burn a bootable disc. I'm pretty sure there is a way in vlite to point it to a folder that already has the contents of the disc that were copied into it. Then burn another disc from there.

 

It has auotun info which points to setup.exe. Is that enough for a bootable dvd?

 

No, autorun does not make a disc bootable. If you have already burned a disc, try to boot from it and see if it works. You don't have to do any installation after you boot from it, just do it for a test.

 

I tried to boot from the DVD, but this doesn't work. However there is a folder called boot in the disk. So I can't do a clean install as I thought. Is it possible to reinstall vista in a separate partition and then format the old vista partition?

 

OK, you have done the test and proved it is not bootable. Now go download vLite and use it to make a bootable disc. When you run vLite, it will ask you where the Vista files are. Tell it where they are on the drive or the DVD. You'll have to walk through the program and I can't give you all the steps, but it's very easy to use.

 

Helo guys!
I have good news for you It works pretty well. All you need is to use vLite tool:
-just selct in the program hiden WAU folder (sonysys in vaio),
-select your vista version,
-select an ISO button and just make ISO - you can create an image or direct burn DVD.
So if you have WAU folder on your disc you don`t need to buy a Windows Anytime Upgrade DVD just burn it yourself
Thanks OREV, thx COOLGUY
Regards

 

Glad to hear vLite will work for this. I know nLite would burn a bootable disc, and it has the bootable disc sector built in to the program. I saw that in vLite as well, and now we know it works!

Edit: I've added those steps to the F-A-Q. Thanks seven11.

 

Thanks seven11 for trying this and thanks again orev for helping me.

P.S : I tried to make an iso file with vlite. When I opened the file the roxio media creator opened up and vista kept on popping up an error saying that the installation source is missing. After I unistalled the roxio software, the DVD drive drive disappeared from computer. Anyway I restored it back by reinstalling the roxio software.

I usually do a file and registry clean up after every unistall/install with ccleaner. This should be the reason for the "corrupt/missing driver for the dvd drive" message in windows.

 

Sorry if I am being ignorant as I am new to this community. I am deciding between the 6500t and the 1520 right now. I was wondering if anyone had confirmed this method to work for Dell computers? Thanks in advance!! Amazing guide orev.

 

I have heard of problems if you have a business version of the vista disc (it's a specially modified version of the disc that only installs vista business), but otherwise there's no reason it wouldn't work on a dell. Just make sure you hace the drivers you need, probably available on dell's web site.

 

OK, on the issue where the WAU folder (Windows Anytime Upgrade) has been copied to the hard disk by your vendor... I have done some research (thanks again seven11), and can confirm that those files are identical to the files on the Anytime Upgrade disc (based on file names and file sizes).

Of course, because they are files on a disc, they *could* be changed by the vendor, but it seems unlikely, as the point of them is to have a copy of the disc on your system.

 

I have a question will this work for down the road?
I bought a SZ680 but had the PC clean installed from Portable one
since it was a service they provide to new laptop buyers if requested
they also included the clean install DVD's ,I dont have the laptop yet its in transit.
Im only asking because you said OEM install , I have idea what key they used to reload

 

The WAU folder has some windows registry entries that tell the windows anytime upgrade that your computer is preconfigured for an upgrade by the manufacturer. I deleted the WAU folder and all the contents and did a registry clean up. Now windows anytime upgrade says that I need to have the disk to perform an upgrade.

Anyway I burned a bootable DVD of the iso image of the WAU contents using Vlite (thanks again guys). I also got WAU registry entries back by doing a system restore.

 

I have been investigating making this work for non-OEM versions of Vista as well, but I haven't had the time lately to really look into it. I have a few ideas, but they are just in concept. Once I can really look into it, I think I can make it work.

 

Orev I just did a clean install in my using the bootable DVD, I made using vlite, and using your method of activation. It was a very easy process. Particularly the activation method used by you is a breeze.

Thanks again orev for suggesting vlite.

 

(First, thanks for the thread.)

I have a Compaq Presario Model C717NR that I picked up a couple of weeks ago. It has the typical bloatware on it.
Is there any reason the Anytime Upgrade Disc re-activation Method wouldn't work for this model?


Gathering what I've read frm the thread, I should probably keep the HP wireless/mobile assistant, the Quickplay stuff...anything else I should be concerned about saving (I already backed up SWsetup)?

I figured I'd ask those 2 questions ... before I took the plunge...

Specs:
Windows Vista Home Premium
Product Number GR993UA#ABA
Microprocessor 1.46 GHz Intel Pentium dual core processor T2310
Microprocessor Cache 1 MB L2 Cache
Memory 2 GB DDR2
Video Graphics Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Video Memory Up to 251MB
Hard Drive 80 GB (5400 rpm)
Multimedia Drive Super Multi 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support
Display 15.4" WXGA High-Definition BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800)
Fax/Modem High speed 56K modem
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN
Wireless Connectivity 802.11 b/g WLAN
Sound Altec Lansing speakers
Keyboard 101 key compatible
Pointing Device Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical and horizontal Scroll Up/Down pad
External Ports 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards
3 Universal Serial Bus USB 2.0
1 VGA (15-pin)
1 RJ-11 (modem)
1 TV-Out (S-video)
1 RJ -45 (LAN)
1 headphone-out
1 microphone-in
Power 65 W AC Adapter
6-cell Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion)

 

Yup, ABR should work for you. One thing to check would be, after you run the abr backup, make sure it created 2 files and it does not complain that the backup didn't work.

As for software, those are the 2 that I use, as well as the drivers. The rest is up to you if you want to use it (like Roxio, etc...)

 

Awesome. Thanks again.

One more thing, where are the installation files for the HP wireless/mobile assistant in SWsetup?

I'd surely hate to accidentally re-install all the other HP stuff, that's for sure.....

 

In each folder there is a .CVA file. Open that with notepad and you can figure out what that software is for.

 

This wasn't specifically mentioned in the guide, but when it comes time to run activation_backup, the USB flash drive must be in the laptop that you're about to wipe...right?

(I know, dumb question...)

(I'm switching back and forth to my desktop when getting ready to wipe this laptop...)

 

Yes. That's sort of implied in the step "unzip abr to your flash drive", then the very next step is to run the backup ...

 

I finally was able to get hold of an installation disc thanks to nobscot6... tedious but worth it! Dear orev you've also helped me tons during the clean install process but chill - nobscot6 didn't violate any M$ license issues - he just made it easy for ppl like me who had a stingy vendor like len0v0 that refuses to gimme an installation disc w/o their own crap.

In the end I still had to call up M$ to activate so... THANK SO MUCH TO ALL (mainly orev, nobscot6 and stallen) I'm super pleased with my T60 now

 

I had to call to activate my new sz680 from Portable one.
As requested they used Portable One's clean Vista business install dvd
and it removes the bloated VAIO OEM install, I it was a little bit of a pain because I had to do via phone, I attemped to activate online via the sticker on the bottom but it failed and thats why I called. I hope I dont have to do this again if I ever need to reinstall. I would pretty pissed if they said sorry we cant activate your Vista. I wish there was a way to back up my Vista license for future installs when I get a SSD drive when the price drops.
But it sounds like you can only backup the oem one

 

I can say with 1st hand experience that this guide works flawlessly on the Compaq Presario C717NR. THANK YOU!

You might consider lengthening that sentence in the guide by the few words necessary to specify that the flash drive must be in the target system ... just to make it idiot proof. (Hey, I asked didn't I? )

I also noticed that about a third of the driver files from the HP site only create the driver folder on the hard drive. You then have to go into that folder and execute the driver setup file inside. For noobies, that's very easy to miss when rapidly installing driver after driver. That might be worth mentioning.

Again, I certainly appreciated this walk-through.

Cheers!

 

got my sz680 yesterday and I had to activate it so Im not sure what Portable one uses for there DVD image. the key on the bottom would not let me activate via the web

 

Interesting. If you have to activate it yourself, ABR won't work, but you can still do a clean install using anytime upgrade and the key on the bottom.

 

MAYBE THE MAGICAL JELLY BEAN KEYFINDER WILL ASSIST YOU

http://www.snapfiles.com/download/dlkeyfinder.html

 

Yeah, good find. ABR does exactly the same thing to find the key, but the magical jellybean does not save the activation, it only finds the product key. For an OEM install, you cannot activate by phone or Internet using the key that the jellybean will find. You must use the one on the sticker.

 

so the DVD I got with the portable one will alway require activation on my laptop? I dont know why MS dont let you save your activation info and reuse it on the SAME computer,, I did take a screenshot of all the numbers in the activation screen, so maybe since its the same hardware I will be able to use those numbers?

 

Yeah The ABR utility is one superb utility.

 

If you did the activation by phone, you might be able to use the same numbers that they gave you to activate it again, I'm not sure though. Otherwise, at this point, yeah, you'll have to call and activate the next time you reinstall.

 

well its a vista restore image they send
seems like it should come up the same but prob not,
seem like a PITA for us people that like to clean restore every 6 months to a year

 

You have a restore image (that would contain software other than just Vista), but you had to activate it? I have not heard of that before (entirely possible ) Maybe they don't have an OEM bulk license like the big guys do. That would explain why you had to activate when you got it.

I have some ideas on getting ABR to work with other types of activation as well, just haven't had time to work on it yet.

 

what are you guys doing home on a night like this??

well anyway, you can phone activate the windows programs real easy- 99% of the time you get a bot and just have to punch in the phone that you had a major change in your system, no questions asked. i know folks that have activated online 10-15 times w/ the same key............

well, this gal is headed to a party, ya'll have fun

 

Ya I miss parties, but I have a Kid he's going to grampa's tommorow night so me and the wife can go out clubing

 

Just got my 32bit Vista Anytime Upgrade DVD in the mail today. I will try to do a clean install tonight if I can successfully create a recovery disc set. It failed on me twice already and I started to suspect that there's something wrong with my burner.

Anybody want to order the Anytime Upgrade DVD from Compusa better hurry up. CNN just posted this morning that the remaining 103 stores will be closed by year end.