Clean Vista install WITH NO ACTIVATION

It depends on if changing the drive would cause you to have to reactivate. I'm not sure, but I think changing the drive is excluded from that check. The only thing I could say is to try it, and it should be able to restore the activation. After the activation is restored, at that point you might have to revalidate with MS, but by that point you will have already restored the original activation, so it should be no problem.

 

It may be a lot easier just to clone the old drive to the new drive.

I am sure that more modern disk cloning software will allow you to clone the old disk to the new larger disk without trouble (although i have not tried it). I do know that both 32 and 64 bit Vista will error out when using older cloning software (such as Ghost 2003), and refuse to start. The workaround is to execute the following before the clone operation:

cd c:\Windows\System32
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device boot
bcdedit /set {default} device boot
bcdedit /set {default} osdevice boot

It worked here for cloning Vista from the original SATA 120gb drive to a 250gb drive. I have also been successfull using this to clone Vista system drives from IDE to SCSI drives under VMWare, and also changing the drive size.

Once those commands are run, Vista does not seem to care if the drive changes size or type.

Joe

 

FWIW, I did what I think you are asking without any trouble.

Right after I pulled my new laptop out of the box I used ABR to back up the activation, then I powered down and installed a Hitachi 7200RPM 200GB 7K200 HDD, then did a clean install with the anytime upgrade disk, and then used ABR to reactivate.

No troubles at all doing it that way.

 

And... this is exactly what I got when running ARB

============================================

Backing up product key...

Found key: XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX
Saved to file: backup-key.txt

Backing up activation...

!!! Could not find activation certificate !!!

*** There was a problem running the backup.
*** All of the information may not be saved

press enter to exit
=========================

how sad, I did call Microsoft last week to activate my windows, and now I have done something wrong with my computer, then I have to install windows again.

Help me out please, thank you

 

Why did you have to call Microsoft to activate? Did you reinstall clean sometime earlier? Did you use the serial number on the bottom of your notebook?

 

yeah, I did use serial number on the bottom of notebook, because I was trying to do something different, but then I realised that I am not clever enough to make things change , and now I'm fu*ked

 

If you have your recovery discs, you can do a restore from those, then recover the original product key and activation. Then you can do the clean install and use ABR.

 

Naa, I'm thinking about calling Microsoft again, but I just don't know why the ABR software could not find the "activation certificate" even the windows was activated by Microsoft.

thanks again orev

 

Hello! Just wondering if this method applies to a Vista Home Premium 32-bit -> Vista Home Premium 64-bit clean install? I'm considering purchasing that 64-bit upgrade anytime disc because I want to see/enjoy the benefits of 64-bit computing.
Thanks in advance.

 

I think he said it does not work.

If your liscense is an OEM, it is NOT upgreadble to a 64bit version of it. You have to pay full price. Retail liscences work with both version, and it costs $20 to make microsoft ship you the X64 DVD (Ultimate comes with both DVDs)

 

ABR cannot find it because it can only find the OEM certificate. If you activate over the phone, you get a similar certificate but it does not have the same information. ABR *would* be able to find it if I knew what that other information was to look for. But I don't have access to a system with that information on it.

 

I can say that ABR will work to backup on 32 bit and restore to 64 bit. However, you will have to check the license to see if that falls within the boundaries. From what I've seen so far, it's a gray area, unless anyone can point to a definitive source?

 

Wow, just did it tonight to my dv6000t and it is way better, faster faster faster. Thanks for the instructions. We will see how long it stays this good. It is great poking around the system and not seeing tons of crap everywhere. My laptop finally has that new car smell.
Thanks
Matt

 

hey mallmand, does your laptop boot up faster now than it did before.

 

Yep, I have not timed it with a stopwatch yet. But brand new my dv6000t booted in 2 minutes plus. It got progresivly worse until it was finally booting in 5 minutes!! Now it is just over one minute to a working desktop. Way cool. The HP crap was really causing other issues as well and I was not up for another 2 hour chat with India. This has cured everything so far.

Matt

 

An update .. I successfully completed a clean Vista install, w/o activation, for my nephew's new HP 6500T. I followed Orev's instructions (thanks, Bud) and everything installed perfectly. I added some drivers, updated some drivers, changed the HP Webcam driver, completed Windows Update (lots of updates). Then I added Office 2007, iTunes and some of my favorite apps. I also tweaked alot of settings, per Blackviper. Everything works perfectly. I'm still getting comfortable with Vista, but, I've had no issues, so far. Oh yeah, I forgot, I've got to get the fingerprint thingy working. I think the program resides in the Misc 5 folder. Thanks again, Orev.

 

I backed up activation from original OS setup (I purchased Thinkpad T61 with Windows Vista Business). Then I installed new hard drive in it and installed clean copy of Vista from MSDN DVD (it has all versions of Vista on it). I then restored activation and all seems to work fine. I will update this if activation becomes invalid.

 

Once activated, it won't become invalid. ABR will either provide full permanent activation or it won't work at all. (It seems to always work as long as you are using it to backup the activation of an OEM/factory installation)

 

It does not matter if you have an OEM or RETAIL version of Vista, you can always apply the 64-bit instead of 32-bit or opposite.

 

I'm not sure if you are commenting on my post. If you are, it DOES matter if you are starting off with an OEM or Retail Vista on your laptop. ABR only works to backup the OEM installed Vista activation.

To do the Vista installation it does not matter if you use an anytime upgrade disk, retail, or OEM disk. Nor does it matter if you use 32-bit or 64-bit.

Then ABR will restore activation regardless of what disk you used.

(Correct me if I'm wrong here, orev)

 

I did not mean the ABR. In general you can change your OEM or Retail from 32 to 64 or backwards.

 

hey guys, i have completed the clean installation process, and successfully installed most of the driver. The only problem i'm having now is my quickplay pad is not responding to my tap. Does any know where i can the get the driver for the quickplay pad? and sould i upgrade my bios from f.22 to the f.09 from the hp website?

 

The quicklaunch button drivers are in the swsetup\qlb folder that you saved before you did the clean install. Also, for quickplay, that's in \swsetup\qpw. As for the BIOS, 22 is greater than 09, so you have a more recent BIOS than those on the web site.

 

Hi there!

Please be patient with me, guess what? I'm a Newbie

I'm so sorry I've been reading this thread and other posts in the forum and I'm confused I have a DV6575us that came with Vista Home Premium 32. I recently purchased a license of Vista Ultimate and the box says that both versions are available 32 and 64.

I already created the recovery discs (2 single layer DVDs) and used the utility provided to extract the activation key from the computer. Do I have to do a clean install (following the procedure described here) and then upgrade to ultimate? or Can I use the Vista Ultimate DVDs directly to do the clean install?

What does that implies in term of the activation key that is set on the computer?

Out of topic: Please, also point me to the right post/thread because I don't know what version of Ultimate to use 32 or 64. I saw HP's driver web page for the DV6575us and it seems that all the drivers for Vista 64 are there. But I'm lost!

Sorry for so many questions.

Thanks!

 

I think you have two options: Home Premium or Ultimate.

Option 1. You can do a clean install of Home Premium by following orev's guide. Then you can use your license for Vista Ultimate on another computer or sell it.

Option 2. Forget about using the ABR utility and install using your Vista Ultimate Key Code. The activation key that is in your laptop can only legally be used on your laptop as far as I know.

If you want to know whether or not you should use 32-bit or 64-bit, I suggest you use google to find out more information. Visually they both look the same. As far as performance, they are almost the same. I will go out on a limb and say that if you don't know what 64-bit is, then you are probably better off just going with 32-bit.

 

I agree with stallen. The options he presented are the choices you have. As for 64bit vs 32bit, I've been running 64bit, and it runs very well. The drivers all work for the hardware in the laptop. The only issues would be external hardware, like a printer or palm pilot, where you'd have to check on that yourself. So far, the only reason really to run 64bit is if you have 4GB RAM.

 

Stallen, Orev thanks for your help.

I don't have any other computer where to use vista ultimate so I'm going to follow option #2.

I found this excellent paper on vista 32 vs. 64:

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5709

regards

Edil

 

Hi, I've read through this entire thread and am set on doing a clean install. I'll be getting my dv2500t in tomorrow. The only part of the process that makes me hesitant is the reinstallation of important drivers.

I went to HP's site and looked at the drivers for my dv2500t and some of them weren't very specific. Has anyone made a thread on the important drivers... also will it become more specific if i enter in my product model number (when i receive my laptop)?

Heres my specs just incase:

- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7500 (2.20 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
- 14.1" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- 319MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
- HP Imprint (Radiance) + Fingerprint Reader + Webcam + Microphone
- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection and Bluetooth(TM)
- FREE Upgrade to 160GB 5400RPM from 120GB 5400RPM!!
- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
- 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Microsoft(R) Works 8.0

 

Drivers can be an issue, but HP has pretty much everything listed on their site. Just find your model and download what's there. Most of them are self-explanatory. Before you do the install, make sure to save the C:\swsetup folder. That also has all of the drivers in it, and also some software that you can't get from the HP site.

 

Hi guys a very helpfull post, i have my vista in german, got my laptop when i was there 2 months ago, if i back up my activation using ABR and then install english from anytime upgrade DVD, Any idea will my activation work or should i have to ring microsoft about it.

any suggestions will be very helpfull.

thanks

 

I don't know of any reason why it wouldn't work on a German version of Vista. The path names I use check environment variables, so it should get the correct translations.

 

Thanks for posting the DIY on the clean install. Did it last night and it went smoothly. It's amazing how much faster the thing boots up and shuts down. The entire system seems to be much faster than before.

 

I followed through the steps and got all the way up to setting up the different partitions. I deleted the recovery partition, formated Disk 0 Partition 2 and increased the volume of Disk 0 Partition 2 (which should be drive C, it is)

Now I'm faced with a text saying:
Windows could not determine if this computer contains a valid system volume.

ie. I can't install it, and I just deleted all of drive C so... any suggestions?

(I made the recovery disks, just don't want to resort to that yet)

 

Delete both of the partitions so you have all free space, then make 1 big one for the system.

 

Wouldn't that mean I wouldn't have a Drive D anymore? Does one need a drive D?
In terms of system performance, is it better to have one huge C drive or equally distributing programs and files on a C and D drive?

It said something about my disk not fitting the criteria for windows install and that I should check if the drive controller was enabled in the BIOS settings, down in the partition window. How do I do that?

Something to that extent, not sure cause now the message has disappeared.

 

Something I forgot to mention, where the guide mentions
Disk 0 Partition 1
Disk 0 Partition 2

I only have/had
Disk 0 Partition 2 (This was called Partition 2 ACER before I formatted it, it was drive C)
Disk 0 Partition 3 DATA
Disk 0 Partition 4 (Now deleted)
Could the missing Partition 1 have something to do with it?

 

Ok, I tried that, didn't work, still getting the "Windows could not determine if this computer contains a valid system volume" message..

 

I think I may have figured out the reason.

When I tried to reboot my computer with the Upgrade anytime DVD the computer didn't booth through the DVD. So I went about it with the "holding Esc and pressing F2" alternative

In that setup I couldn't figure out how to make it boot through the DVD without excluding the HDD from the boot priority list. I went back there and restored the original settings with the HDD highest on the priority setting and DVD second.

But now I'm right back at my original problem, how do I make it boot through the DVD without fiddling with the boot priority list?

 

Hey guys,

1) Can anyone confirm whether current dv2500's are shipping with the Anytime Upgrade disc? Looking thru the archives, some people report they receive them while others don't...

2) Can a Vista Business reinstall DVD be used in place of the Anytime Upgrade disc?

 

Ok, now I'm royally fakked.

I managed to figure out how to boot the computer through the DVD while keeping the HD 2nd on the priority list.

Hurray, hurray, everything was cool so far, I thought this ordeal would finally be over.

Then I come back again to the partition section, and I decided why not make a 39Gb C drive and 100Gb D drive.

So I deleted the 139Gb partition with the intention of then creating two new partitions with the unused space. Big mistake.

Now I have no partition what so ever and Windows is telling me:

"No drives were found. Click load Driver to provide a mass storage driver for installation"

I've tried clicking it but it can not locate any "drivers".

So, what to do now?

 

I can confirm that the newer cto dv 2500's are not shipping with anytime upgrade discs. I'm not sure about retail. If ur in the US, go for the compusa link in the beginning of the tutorial.

 

Yes, that means you will have no drive D. Having more that one partition gains you absolutely zero benefit in terms of performance, and can actually cause performance problems. All of your programs should be installed on the C drive, along with windows. You only need 1 partition on the drive.

The only time a separate partition *might* make sense is if you choose to keep all of your personal data on it, but on any modern windows system this type of configuration is obsolete. The only other possibility is if you were also dual booting with Linux or something and wanted to share your space.

Yes, that's exactly the problem. I'm not sure what you have on those, so don't delete them unless you have already backed them up. Otherwise, delete them and make only 1 partition. All of your data in windows is stored under the C:\users folder, which is just as easy to backup if you need to.

I don't know about acer, but most of the time you can press a key to bring up a menu so you can select where you want to boot. If not, you can go into the BIOS, set the DVD to boot first, then when the system needs to reboot from the drive, go into the BIOS again and change it back so the drive will boot.

 

Don't give up on me yet.

I figured out how to boot through the DVD, but I tried to make the one 139Gb partition I had (Partition 2) in to 2 partitions (don't ask me why, I did it before you replied, I won't do it again).

I tried to go about this by deleting the partition, I was anticipating this would have the same result as before and show me unused disk space which I could allocate as I wished. This was not to the case, and now Windows tells me: "No drives were found. Click load Driver to provide a mass storage driver for installation". Clicking "Load driver" has no effect as it can't find any "drivers" (probably because everything has been formatted)
It acts as if there was no hard drive what so ever.

Any advice?

 

What type of machine are you installing on?
What OS are you installing?
Did you burn recovery discs first?

You may need SATA drivers from the manufacturer. You can download them and put them on a USB key. Insert the USB key when you boot the DVD to install from. A little googling on how to do that should help.

 

Sorry forgot about those.

Acer Aspire 5920G
Windows Vista Home Premium
Yeah I burned the recovery disks.

Seems I finally got it working though, with the "repair computer" tool. I'm at "expanding files 12%" and everything seems to be fine so far. Thanks for the help!

 

OREV or anyone for that matter would like to explain how to burn the Recovery Discs?

in the recovery partition there is just one file called RECOVERY....what do I do with it?

 

n19htmare you do not touch the recovery partition at all

If you go to your programs list there should be a program called Recovery Manager or Recovery Disc Creator. You create the 2 recovery dvd's using this program. Just follow the screen instructions.

The next thing you wanna backup is the SWfolder which is in C:/SWSetup. You can use any burning program as a DATA disc.

These are the discs needed for a clean install.

 

Thanks flipfire, Sadly, HP did not include the Vista anytime upgrade CD. So ummm i guess I have to order it? or will HP give me that for free?

 

Theyve stopped including Vista with their systems a while ago. Instead they use the System Recovery discs as a replacement, which sucks.

Trust me, ive tried both HP and Microsoft with no luck, so dont bother calling them. If your in America you can just buy it from compusa for like $5+delivery http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?ref=froogle&product_code=52591952&pfp=XSELLCUSTVW

Im not from America so its very hard to for me to get it.. good luck with the clean install

 

You can buy one from Microsoft.com, just pick any Vista version with an Anytime Upgrade disc, then remove Vista from your cart. The Anytime Upgrade disc will be free, and all you pay is shipping.