Clean Vista install WITH NO ACTIVATION

Is below link download for Vista SP1?

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/12/22/64-bit-x64-windows-vista-official-direct-download-links/

 

No.

At one time that was the page that you could download the necessary files for Vista x64, but it did not include SP1.

SP1, can be downloaded either through Windows Update or from Microsoft directly as a stand-alone install.

 

Thanks, I will double check. I tried both entering the key and without and neither worked.

 

I checked the DVD I created and the Install.Wim file is under sources...?

 

Try to burn another DVD. It could be that it did not burn correctly. If your software has an option to verify the burn, do that. Also, it may help to change the speed of the burning process to be slower than "fast as possible"

 

hello,

i'm getting ready to do a clean install and had a quick question. in the original post, there is an option to delete partition 1 (C: drive, i think) and partition 2 (recovery partition) and then create a new partition so that i can get all the hard drive space back. my question is, how do i create the new partition after deleting partitions 1 and 2? will there be an option for it while i'm doing the installation? i would really appreciate it if someone can give me a detailed answer (maybe a step by step if possible). anyways, thanks in advance.

my progress:

1) Created recovery disks using HP's Recovery manager (total of 3 dvd-r)
2) made a back up of the SWsetup folder ( about 3.5 gb, so another dvd-r)
3) used ABR to back up key and certificate
4) created the anytime upgrade dvd (downloaded the files from the link in the OP)

 

When you install you will see the option for creating a new partition(when you click on custom installation and then the advanced option). However, you can delete the second partition and then expand the first to include the new "unallocated space". Either way would work fine. You will then have all of your disk space back.

 

thanks.. does the second option also come during installation?

 

Yeah, you will see all of the options when you click on custom install and then click the advanced button to show all the options. You can pretty much create,resize,delete, and expand any partitions you want to. I make about a 25 gig partition for vista and programs and then use others partitions to store stuff.

 

all right...thanks.

i just have one more question. in the original post, it says to verify the dvd after the "SWSetup" is burned to a dvd. how do i do this? any recommended programs for burning and verifying the dvd? thanks.

 

that is an option in the burning program you use to burn the dvd with

I prefer ImgBurn. It is a higly accurate program and recommended by CDGeeks (all they do is burn and burn).....

by default, ImgBurn "verifies" the disk you burn against the original iso/image(ImgBurm is under 2MB's and is an excellent burning program). Nero also has this option.........

ImgBurn Download

 

mmm i guess this question i am about to ask has probably been answered in this thread but i am too lazy to read thru the whole thread. i have drive C: (contains vista), drive D: (contains my own files, music, videos and stuff) and drive E: (contains recovery partition). if i do a clean install will it erase drive d: and drive e: or i can choose to keep those?

 

You can choose to keep whatever partitions that you want. You can also delete, format, and add any partitions that you want. Adding and deleting partitions is pretty straight forward during the Vista install, but I recommend that you think twice before making any changes, because once done, it can NOT be undone.

 

I recommend deleting all partitions, then making a new one (unless you specifically made those partitions earlier to store data or other operating systems). When doing a clean install, there's no reason to preserve the original partitions, and deleting everything makes sure all traces of the old OS are gone.

 

hmm i see. then i guess i'll just save all my files in my external hard disk and delete all partitions and then create new ones. however, i think shall still keep the recovery partition intact in case one day my recovery dvds fail or smth. haha. sorry. paranoia i guess.

another question tho: i have trend micro internet security installed in my computer right now. i had 3 licenses for that but they are all used up. when i clean install vista, will i need another license to install trend micro internet security? cos technically, it's the same computer. i know that right now if i just uninstall trend micro internet security and then reinstall without the clean install, i wont need another license...but what abt after clean installing vista and then installing trend micro. hmm. get my question? sorry it might be a lil confusing as i don't really know how to explain

ER sorry one more question! after clean install, will the recovery manager still be there or it'll be gone? the recovery manager i am talking abt is start > all programs > recovery manager

 

Uninstall your internet security before doing the full clean install. Then it will restore your license.

Recovery manager will be gone. It might be in swsetup, or you might be able to download it from the HP site.

 

hmm alright thanks a lot!

 

Alright page 122 is a lot to go through, sorry if it was already answered. I remember reading SP1 was to patch the method used here to get the OEM keys. is this still true or false? Because I want to do a clean install this summer and I have SP1 installed already.

 

Same question as netkiller. I have a brand new DV2700 with SP1 preinstalled.
Also, does anytbody know if my computers come with the WAU dvd's? It didn't come with any dvd's and i can't find it in the restore partition.
Thanks!

 

no it doesnt come with WAU

HP wants you to use with the bloatware so you stuck with it

 

Thanks flipire! guess i'm stuck with it. Luckily after some tweaking and junk removal everything is going great.

 

You are referring to an activation hack method that was disabled. That has nothing to do with how ABR works. ABR activates using your computer's valid key, the same way HP or whoever uses to activate it. It's not in any way a hack, and works perfectly fine with SP1.

No more WAU discs. It's a pain, but see the download thread listed in the guide on ways to download the files.

PS. Please check the F-A-Q and the guide for answers to these questions, it's all there.

 

thanks orev. i thought it said something about blocking a way to extract the OEM key.

 

bonjour à tous

It worked fine for me.

Résumé :

DELL PRECISION M90, T7400, 4GBRam, Nvidia FX 3500M, 1920x1200 mat, 100 GB 7200 rpm hd


Vista 64 ULTIMATE FRENCH WITHOUT dicsc, without suitable recovery partition

I downloaded the backup/restore activation utility,
backed up the activation
downloaded an ISO Vista 64 US
burned a DVD
installaed without entering the key (as instructed)
restored the activation stuff with the previously downloaded utility

everything is ok 'till now

Thank you very much and keep doing the good work !!!

Cheers,

Joseph

 

Sorry if this question has been asked before.

I have followed the guide, but when I get to steps #19 and #20, I'm running into a problem.

I run activation_restore, and it shows that the activation should be complete
.

But when I check the activation status, it's still showing the 30day trial.

Should I re-install my HP backup disk, then start all over again?

Or is it another type of problem?

 

This problem shows up sporadically, and I'm not sure what causes it. It's strange because others with the same model may have different results.

How did you obtain the Vista install disc? How did you burn it to a disc? Make any changes to is using vLite? It might be related to those questions, or it might not.

Also, make sure that you pick the same version of Vista to install that you had originally installed (Premium, Ultimate, etc...). When installing there are choices that have the letter "N" on the end of them -- don't use those.

 

I'm using a Vista retail disc that I borrowed from a friend.
I selected the same version that came installed (home premium).

 

I got the same error with a dell inspiron 1501. But it worked perfectly with a compaq presario v6310us...

 

Both were installed with the same vista disc

 

Thanks for the write up, I was able to use the Dell activation code to upgrade to Vista 64 bit.

 

I also tried this on a 2nd HP machine and got the same results.
(The same product key # was pulled from both)

So I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to try next.

 

Ok guys little problem. I just tried to do a clean install and left untouched the hp recovery partition, but when I do the windows key restore it does not work, it still says that I have 30 days to activate. How can I get to the partition since I need the hp recovery manager wich is not installed and nowhere to be found. I can't find my recovery discs. Please help.

 

I just found the solution. Just made the hp recovery partition (d) the active partition and it is working. I am wondering why the key did not work on the clean install?

 

I made the recovery , but under windows activation it says 3 days left until automatic activation. activate windows now. What should I do?

 

Orev, i just finished the clean install (dowloading from digitalriver the vista disc) and everything went GREAT. All drivers are installed now, and the machine is a LOT faster ans snappier.

Should SP1 update show up in windowsupdate? I guess it's a matter of time before it pops up. right?

Thanks again Orev. Terrific work.

 

If the ABR doesnt work, you can just call MS. It only takes about 5 mins to get the activation code

Theres 2 things you need to for SP1 to show up:

- You need the 3 pre-requisite updates before SP1 shows up on WU. So you pretty much need to download all the updates that show up

- If you have one of the problematic drivers which is uncompatible with SP1, it will not show up. See the MS page of SP1 problematic drivers

-

 

Well I am still having problems trying to get this to work.
I've tried 2 more times on each of the 2 HP desktops I'm working with.

Like before, I get to the final step, and it does not accept the activation key, and will only show the 30 day trial is active.

Does anyone have an idea of what the problem could be? I'm using a retail vista disk.

Could this be some type of problem with the OEM cert file not working?

I know it's not the purpose of this guide, but if I were to enter the key off the side of the desk top (the vista sticker), and try to activate online, would that work with the clean install?

 

You can use the key on the sticker, and it will work fine. You will have to call to activate though, as online activation does not work with the OEM keys.

 

Hi I read the first page, great guide. I followed a similar guide for XP for my T43P.

Now I just received my T61P, and I just noticed the WAUUPGRD folder in the C: drive, so I assume this is the anytime upgrade that I need to use vlite for? I was shocked to see 90+ processes run, although it was a bit speedy because I have 4GB of RAM.

Anyway my Vista Business 64-bit already came preinstalled with SP1, will I have any other issues with extracting the DVD media for a Vista install and the OEM activation from the guide?

 

That folder *might* contain the upgrade files. Look at the size of it. Is it 2-3GB? Any smaller and it probably does not have all of the required files.

You might find this guide, specific to Lenovo computers, helpful:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=144783

 

K im going to be getting a HP laptop soon and wanted to get some questions answered. I asked Orev privately but he suggested i post my questions here.

So what i wanted to know is how does one make a update vista dvd? Like how many dvd discs do i really need? On top of the drivers/applications, restore discs and what else am i missing?

My other question is what are these wim files and what do i do with them? It says make a bootable disc but do i have to like click the exe file and it does something?

Just very confused by all this clean install process. I might just buy an oem and format and back up the drivers and contact microsoft and ask them to activate it cause at least its less stressful and less confusing and i dont need to go through at least 5 or 6 discs to get a clean install happening.

But if anyone can help me out let me know.

 

K so far im getting an idea of what needs to be done thanks to Orev. But still a bit confused.

 

Thanks to Orev for his help in private messaging me i have a better understanding as to what needs to be done.

 

I'd like to try to get this install to work, with out having to contact M$, to get the key actrivated.

Any ideas on what to try, or what to look for that might be causing the problem?


I"m going to try again using the downloaded vista disc from digitalriver.

ABR did make the 2 files, but is there any way to check that the backup-cert file is correct? Or can I try to place it in the correct folder?

 

not sure if this was asked but can i do the same with windows xp and the ABR?

 

if you're talking about the abr tool and using it to reinstall xp-- nope, nadda......

 

I was able to fix the problem I was having, and was able to activate the clean install.

After reading the first part of the thread, I opened the backup-cert.xrm-ms file that ABR made, and looked at it in notepad.

The last lines in the file seemed to be corrupted, so I found the OEMcert file and copied the text from it, into the backup-cert file from ABR.

It installed and activated without any problems on the next try.

 

I took advantage of Vista's free OEM upgrade plan back last fall, and did a clean install of Home Premium, instead of the Home Basic version that was originally installed. I was curious to see if installing Service Pack 1 would break anything.

(If anyone is wondering about the free OEM upgrade plan, there are some posts about it in the first half of this thread. Username bmnotpls)

Service Pack 1 wouldn't appear in Windows Update until I had installed all the latest drivers from the HP/Compaq support site. Finally I downloaded it and took about 45 mins to install. Everything seems to be running the same as before. I was hoping for faster boot time, no such luck. So far the only difference I see is SP1 freed up about 7 gigs on my hard drive. Just the opposite of what I would have expected!
File copy times were improved on a USB hard drive formatted NTFS, but no improvement on an MP3 player formatted FAT.

 

This worked like a charm.

My notebook is a HP DV6521 and I used a student Vista DVD for the installation.

 

This also worked for me. I did it on a dv9810us. I had used a Windows Vista Business edition cd to do the re-install, even though I needed to install Windows Vista Home Premium. It worked great. I am having problems with "the volume buttons wont beep", but the buttons do turn up and down the volume like they are suppose to, they just dont beep. Also the mute button works to. I checked the bios and they were enabled.. I toggled the setting just to make sure. I also have installed the Quick Play button. I am pretty sure that I installed the quick play software b/c my "DVD" button works and the forward, skip, pause, play buttons work when I click on them, and it will bring up the quick play software. But the only button that does not respond is the quick play button. It does nothing every time I click on it. You did say that you need the driver for it, but in my SW folder I never did see the folder that you were talking about that has the driver for this..? Does that make sense? I hope you can help.. If you cant its not really that big of a loss. The computer is blazing now and that is really all I could ask for. Thanks for the great tutorial!!!!