Clean Vista install WITH NO ACTIVATION

Yes, the license will work for both 32 and 64bit versions as long as you re-install the same version(as in 32bit Home Premium <-> 64bit Home Premium) the key was intended for.

 

cool, thanks, i was thinking it was going to work that way, but wasn't sure. REP!!

 

I have Vista Home Premium 64bit edition.
If I purchase an upgrade disk from this site, http://store.digitalriver.com/store/...isplayHomePage, is it ok to just buy Vista Home Basic 32bit edition for $13?

 

Yes, that disc should work fine.

 

As long as you want to install a 32bit version of Vista, then yes. If you still want a 64bit edition, as you have, you will have to purchase a 64bit version. Disks do not have both 32 and 64 bit versions on them.

 

Has anyone successfully ordered a disc from the site that was linked to? I tried a few times. Most times I see the list of available discs but when I get to the checkout portion, the page seems incomplete - it accepts email and password but no details on payment etc.

Also sometimes the page just errors out - errors range from "sorry something happened, we're looking into it" to "java error". (I'm paraphrasing the error messages)

 

Never mind - looks like they ironed out whatever problems they had. Placed an order, got an email confirmation. Let's see if they deliver.

 

Why would anybody hate the 64 os.. hadn't had problems lately with it.

Dropping by to say thanks to this thread. It really helped us out, noobs as we are. cHeers

 

I just got my Dv5t and after reading all this.....the only way to reinstall a clean vista is to get a vista disc?

 

Yes.
This cheap vista unlicensed disk will also work.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4058972&postcount=1643

 

Orev, I have a question please. I have in my office the clean Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 DVD. I did what you have instructed to have a copy from Dell OEM DVD, but when I tried nLite to complete the process, it didn't ask me what type of Windows I do have!. Also, nLite shows the version is Windows Vista Ultimate?

Your suggestion

 

You will have to look more into how that disc is customized to force it to install Ultimate. There is probably a file on the disc somewhere with this information. Do some googling on "vista automatic installation" and that should help you track it down. This is something you're probably going to have to look into a little bit, there's probably not a quick fix for it.

 

Well, I'll give it a try.

But it is Dell OEM DVD with Windows Vista Ultimate SP1, which means something similar to the one you have given example for Dell customized disc.

Anyways, thanks for your quick response. I really appreciate your help.

 

FYI, I ordered that disc and it took 16 days (12 business days) for the disc to arrive. I ordered on Oct 13th, they shipped on Oct 27th, I received 2 days later. The online "order status" is pretty useless; even now it says "Order in Process" for the disc I just received. Still, I got the disc and it's exactly as advertised

Go to post #1662 for the link. I haven't reached 15 posts yet, so I can't link the URL.

 

16 days for a small disk is RIDICULOUS

this entire SCAM is ridiculous

 

Is this the right disk?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SSNLIM

HP 441643-001 Microsoft Windows Vista Anytime Upgrade DVD 32bit 66C-00094

 

I think your reaction is a bit ridiculous. 16 days certainly isn't fast, but it's not outside the realm of what's normal. A little more than 2 weeks for an order to arrive in the mail? When you order a laptop it often takes longer than that, and that costs a lot more money.

Clearly this is not a high volume product, so they probably only process orders every few days. Would it be nice if it were faster? Sure. Is this a complete "scam" because it takes 2 weeks? Not even close.

I remember when I bought a Windows XP CD through a promotion... it took over 6 months to arrive.

 

Orev the entire thing is a scam. Taking away my right to freshly install vista without bloatware... denying me a disk, then making it difficult for me to even find a disk. It is all ridiculous=/

 

Hard to disagree with you there.

The main reason they make it so hard is because it reduces support costs from people who would otherwise try to reinstall, screw it up, then expect the OEM to fix it.

 

How do you screw up installing an OS?

You put in the disk, and it says "continue" and you hit "Continue" and it does everything for you.

 

This is my one and only comment on this, I have a headache.

Try installing Windows XP from a Retail disk on a computer with a SATA HD and see what happens. The individual will either call HP or come here to ask why Windows cannot see the HD to do the install.

 

Orev,

I did as instructed and this post worked well. I am looking for the install files for the Media start so I am able to adjust the volume, Bass, etc and it show up on the screen. Can you point to the right place?
Same for the other buttons (open cd rom drive).

tatung70 @ hotmail.com

 

a friend of mine has a Windows Anytime Upgrade DVD does it include support for vista 64bits?

 

There are TWO versions (two different disks) a 32bit system and 64bit system, both systems do NOT come on the same disk.

 

Probably not. See previous comment.

 

i just asked because ive read somewhere there was 32+64bits vista dvd! maybe it's not oficial just a hack or something like that... or maybe it just shows 64bits option when you install ultimate version on a 64bits capable cpu

 

I have heard a rumor of such a disc, but it is certainly not an official one. Your best bet is to stick with the official discs.

 

I just got my computer back from Hp repair service to fix my backlight and they found it necessary to format my hard drive so now i want to die.
anyway i guess now is my chance to do a clean install. Sooooooooo annoyed right now. i saw some of the "stream lined versions" on various sites online figuring that might save me the time with my hours of tweaks i've done but i don't want to deal with any future activation problems so i guess i'll try this out.

 

Only use official Vista discs to do the installs. The ones you are talking about have been modified by who knows who. Best case is that they modified the disc to remove some useful stuff (but who decides what's useful?). Worst case is they added some nasty software that they can use to remote control your machine later.

 

Is it just me or the site "store.digitalriver.com/store/...isplayHomePage" is not working anymore?

Also has anyone receive their vista disc from digitalriver and reinstall vista? Did it work?

 

Maybe they took it down or maybe it's just having problems now. Tray again in a few days before we'll call it dead.

 

Guide worked great, thanks. hp pavilion 9500t

 

what did you use? Anytime Upgrade Disc? Vista Retail Disc?

One thing I do not get about the anytime upgrade disc is that I just want to install a clean vista and not upgrade anything. How would this help?

 

You might benefit from reading the "Disc Definitions" section in the guide. The Anytime Upgrade disc contains a full version of Vista, and is identical in every way to an OEM or Retail disc that you might purchase. It only becomes an "upgrade" disc when you give it a license key that indicates it's an upgrade.

The only difference is that when you buy a full version of Vista, it also comes with a license. Since you already have the license that came with the computer, you don't need to buy another one.

 

NOTE TO ALL:

The Vista equivalent of XP's wpa.dbl is C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SoftwareLicensing\tokens.dat.

Boot into safe mode, rename/delete the current file (with the command line) and then copy your original, previously activated tokens.dat file into the same folder.

Hope this helps all of you power users who reinstall your OS every 3 months!

 

This may be helpful for people with Retail copies, but using ABR is safer for OEM versions. The reason is that the tokens.dat file contains many other activation certificates, and may be used by other programs. Replacing the file may overwrite other activations, and could result in unpredictable behavior.

 

what does ABR stand for

 

10char.......

 

I have an OEM edition of Vista Home Premium I bought when I built my PC last summer. I just bought a DV5 that came with a Vista Home 64 license. I could just use my OEM disc to install Vista 64 with my DV5's key instead of going through the process of making these back-ups, right?

 

You could use the OEM disc to do the install, but unless it's specifically a 64 bit disc you won't get 64-bit. There are 2 discs, 1 for 32 and 1 for 64.

 

I have a small problem. I went to the recovery disc creation to burn recovery disks and it pops up an error "this computer does not a drive capable of creating CDs or DVDs even though I obviously have a DVD write drive that is functioning perfectly.

My question is since I can't manually burn my recovery disks what should I do now? I have the HP recovery disks that came with my system. Should I use those first and hope it does a full system restore and then manually burn the recovery disks and try clean install? What is the point of the recovery disks for drivers and such?

 

Dear orev,

I respectfully disagree with you. If you are going to reinstall your OEM version of Vista then it doesn't matter how many activation certificates are included in the tokens.dat file, it will still activate your reinstall of the operating system. Replacing the file will not overwrite other activations seeing as how it will include as many activations as the user already had. If anything, the file will contain MORE certificates than before you reinstall the OEM Vista. However, this is highly unlikely and even if it does contain more activations/certificates it won't affect anything.

Using the ABR is the hard way. Copying the tokens.dat file is the easy way.

 

When burning the recovery discs, make sure you use DVD+R discs. It won't work with -R or rewritable discs. The recovery discs are there as a safety net, in case you run into a problem, or they can come in useful if you want to sell your system later and restore the original OS.

 

That's the problem though it won't let me even get to that stage, is doesn't pop up any option to continue just flashes that warning saying it can't continue and I have a capable dvd writer the default one that came with my HP system. Did I uninstall something maybe when I was trying to clear out HP software when I first got the system?

I know you said sometimes the stuff that came with the system those recovery discs are buggy? I do want to make sure I have a backup in case something happens, is that not a viable alternative?

 

There is a difference between "it works" and "it works the correct way". You may be able to say that copying the tokens.dat file seems to work, but in the long run you really don't know what the impact is if there are extra activations in there. Microsoft could change how they handle activation in a patch or something, and that change might detect problems in the tokens.dat file that it did not complain about before.

ABR extracts only the required activation file, and it uses the Windows APIs to restore it, which is the official way. Should changes be made to activation, the method ABR uses will still work correctly. You may deem a change like this as "highly unlikely", but it's even more unlikely that any changes to the activation system will affect programs that use the correct API.

Really though, which one is harder to do? For ABR, all you need to do is: Download file; run file; save backup information in a safe place. To restore, you just click on the restore program. For the tokens.dat file, you need to: Drill down deep into the filesystem, Update permissions on the folders and files, copy the file over. Then when you reinstall, you need to do the same thing.

On top of that, ABR also saves and restores the product key, saving additional steps. Is it a huge savings? Maybe not. Does is qualify as "the hard way"? Definitely not.

 

Please forgive me. It's "the hard way" for me . Copying the tokens.dat file is a single step, whereas the ABR requires downloading the file, running the file which then extracts itself, requiring you to run yet another file to actually perform the activation backup, followed by running the restore part of the ABR.

Yes, you have to drill down to the actual directory but this can be done in less time than it takes to actually find the download link to the ABR.

You actually don't need to take ownership of the tokens.dat file--just rename it with the command line (which admittingly I left out of my previous post).

You mentioned that Microsoft might change how the tokens.dat file interacts with Windows activation. While this is possible, it's not "probable." Microsoft didn't change the way activation was handled with Windows XP and the wpa.dbl file. They changed it in their next operating system version instead. In the same way Microsoft won't change how Vista interacts with activation but instead will most likely change how Windows 7 will.

However, none of this really matters I suppose. Just use whatever method you want!

Regards,
Straight-line

 

I noticed by your other posts that you bought your notebook 16 months ago (Last July 2007). It is kind of hard now to try and figure out what you may have done to the software. That is why it is best to burn your recovery disks when you first unpack your purchase or very soon after.

You did mention that you received "Restore Disks" with your purchase, lucky you, why not just use/try those?

 

Yeah I figured I probably deleted something I was trying to clean out the HP junk and wasn't aware of the clean install method. I do have the system recovery dvd that came with the system and I guess that is my "oh sh&t" fall back in case I do something wrong I can restore my laptop to orginial factory status with that?

 

Hi Orev
Very nice guide I must say! Thanks a lot! Gonna use it as soon as I get an answer to my question.

Info:
I have a HP DV6545, which I normally recover every 3-4 month, using the hdd-recovery function (Pressing F11 on startup). I like this function and its easy, but I'm tired of all the pre-installed crap, and would like to try a clean install like your guide tells.

Question:
If I clean install Vista using your guide, and doesn't change anything about the partions (I mean only formating and installing on the main partition and dont touch the HP_RECOVERY partition) will I then later on be able to use the F11 hdd-recovery like I do now?

Thanks in advance
/XireuZ

 

thats useful