BEWARE! U cant perform clean install with vista upgrade key

So if u plan on buying Windows Vista Upgrade Package
you wont be able to install Vista if you boot from CD.
That means you have to install XP first then run the Vista Upgrade CD

That is the catch!
Microsoft is really ripping us of.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/930985/en-us

 

read

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=101423

and

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=101424

ripping off i meant you cant install from boot like we used to do before.
now you must first install xp then vista
what of in the case of an incident whereby u have to reformat

 

And the upgrade is not Vista writing itself on top of XP; it's vista pushing XP aside and using new space for itself. So there should be no conflict of files and garbage like that. Just make an image of your XP installation and if you need to reformat, you have that image saved. Problem solved. It's not like you have to reinstall all the programs and drivers for XP either, just the main os. That's a lot faster!

 

my 2 cents -

it is quite an inconvenience (or not) when discussing over "new" installation. By "new" meaning:
. doing things from scratch, format disk and on and on
. restore system after a crash or a virus attack or user.screw.up

play rules are clearly stated when opting for OEM (constraint with recovery partition ...), retail (what flexibility) or upgrade (just make sure that u have ur previous version installed before applying the upgrade ...) versions

users must decide what route they want to take and put this in consideration when buying/acquiring system/software licences

inconvenience vs flexibility - users have their own choices, cannot blame the software sellers for their marketing strategy

cheers ...

 

Update: Confusion is rife over this at the moment, but it appears that you can do a clean install using an Upgrade Edition, you simply have to boot into a qualifying previous version of Windows first, then start the installation process and choose a clean install to your selected hard drive.

 

Which is pretty much what I was pointing to, but in different terms. It will be a clean install, but you need to boot in another windows partition first.

I wonder if a windows live CD would work. Does that even exist? Use the windows live CD with a blank hard drive and then install Vista?

Any thoughts on this?

 

Is this true?? Does anybody have a link proving so?

 

very old guide:
http://www.duxcw.com/faq/win/xp/clean.htm

the bottom line is still that u r gonna spent xtra time to tweak and be stressed using an upgrade version - "pay me now or pay me later" (good) marketing gimmick

cheers ...

 

Ahem, Ahem ...that's not quite acurate.

I think what the OP is getting at is with previous "upgrade" versions you could boot to the new upgrade disk after a format and had to prove you had a previous version of windows by placing the old os disk in the drive for a moment! that way you didn't actually have any of the old drivers and files installed before the newer os did it's thing - essentially giving you a fresh install.

not sure how that would work with a recovery partition\disk though.

 

It would be a simple matter to have you put in your XP disk to check that your upgrade is a valid one. There are a number of highly objectionable aspects about Vista. You aren't really buying it, so much as you are renting the right to use it, and even so, it's in a limited way.

 

You haven't been doing a lot of OS installing, have you? I suggest getting some old Win95, Win98, WinMe and XP discs and fresh install them. Then you will see why this is such a big deal - if Vista doesn't allow clean install on the upgrades then it isn't a traditional microsoft "upgrade" edition.

 

righto, seems like uncle bill has finally learned how to protect his keeps by really enforcing the "upgrade" mechanism. that way unless one really really has a legitimate running (meaning really running, not just put a cd in and claim that is ligit) licence, then one is sol

nah, i would not use the word "rip.off" as in the OP, but more like that uncle bill has put up a great challenge to some of us smart.alec users to try to get by with paying less

cheers ...

 

That has been the case since the XP launch! even now you still don't own it.

Compulsary Activation put a stop to outright ownership (and started the ball rolling for other software houses too)! The rules have been tightened up even more for Vista.

as to whether it's a rip off or not - that depends on your standpoint regarding intellectual rights.

 

So does anyone know how long it takes to install from an XP image.
cause installing the traditional way would probably take 2 hours.
plus another 20min for the Vista upgrade.
Pls any recommendations on imaging softwares (norton ghost)

 

a great guide
http://blog.hishamrana.com/2006/02/22/how-to-image-windows-xp-with-ghost-and-sysprep/

cheers ...

 

Maybe zx10guy is right.
is all that trouble really worth $250 dollars less

 

erm, err!

to be honest - i'm due a free upgrade to home premium for this lappy! but I'd still like to do a clean install from time to time.

IMHO it smacks of profiteering by Microsoft.