I need an OEM Vista Home Premium 32 Disc

I have a Compaq CQ60-420US. All I can get from HP is the recovery discs. How Can I get the OEM Vista Home Premium SP1 disc without all the HP Stuff on it. The laptop has a OEM Vista Home Premium 32 SP1 Key.

 

You can order a replacement disc directly from Microsoft. IIRC it's like $12 plus shipping.

p.s. Don't open multiple threads regarding the same topic.

 

I don't think MS sells any OEM discs.

 

Contact your notebook OEM.

 

If you trust buying OEM software from eBay, try this.

However, your key isn't going to work with that copy, so you're going to have to just use the new key you'd be paying for.

With the key you have, you're limited to what you get from _HP.

 

Have you tried the methods listed in the below thread?
Clean Vista install WITH NO ACTIVATION

 

p.s. i was looking for a delete thread button, and couldn;t find it.

 

OMG 205 pages LOL, but all good. Thank you.

 

Just ask you manufaturer for a replacement cd and reinstall it. I think they should ship it to you for free.

 

I called HP and had them send me, but the part display was Vista Prem OS plus 1 supp , but it was 2 discs of recovery software

 

Just ask for OEM software and tell then that you dont want the recovery disc.

 

It seems that HP's consumer line only does customized images with the bloat intact..period. It's been like this even in the late 90's with Windows 9x...I have been there with my old HP desktop. Who knows, maybe they'll give him an OEM disk this time around though!

 

You can give a shot and ask for OEM disk.I love DELL in this case. They just provide us the disc so fast

 

Dude, how many times we going to go over this? Yes, yes his old key would work with that disc. 100% absolutely guarantee it.
In fact, I'm not even sure that the MSDN, Retail, and OEM discs are different for Vista the way they were for XP. I have some MSDN ISOs and I am going to try a clean format on a computer with an OEM key to test it.
EDIT: Tested OEM key + MSDN disc in Virtual Machine, works. This test + research tells me there are only two Vista discs out there, Vista x64 and Vista x86. What gets installed is purely determined by the key type.

 

One thing to consider, extract your Vista key from your laptop BEFORE you reformat or try to install Vista, as it's different than the one on the bottom of your laptop. The key on the bottom of your laptop will most likely NOT work with any Vista disk, OEM or otherwise. It will work ONLY with your factory disk. The one you extract will work with an OEM or full version disk (most likely). I did this with my Gateway.

There's lots of freeware to extract the key. Just Google.

 

Uhhh, you have this backwards. The key on the bottom will install fine with a Vista disk, the one he pulls is going to be the generic key used by the manufacturer when they created the image for that machine type, and you're right that it likely won't work. I expected better from a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist.

 

No, not necessarily true. The key on the bottom of an OEM machine DOES NOT ALWAYS WORK with an OEM disk! This ONLY works with the provided system restore disk from the manufacturer, if needed. The actual key is provided within the OS itself. In some cases they are the same, but for most mass produced manufacturers (i.e. Dell, Gateway, etc) it is not. Not sure about HP/Compaq.

I have witnessed this first hand on several occasions since trying on my own P-7811fx. See this post.

BTW, MCTS has nothing to do with OEM disks anyhow.

 

Not a Chance, just my last time buying an HP, if I didn't get in on this deal at 320 for it, i would have returned it.

 

How do you extract the key, or what u need before u do a clean install and then put it back. I'm gettin a Dell OEM Disk from a friend and will copy. is there anything else I need to do? Thank you.

 

Just do a google for " extract vista key". I think one popular one is "ProduKey". Nothing fancy, it's just buried in the registry somewhere, and the software pulls it out for you.

 

There is a reason a google search turned up the key you extracted, and that reason is it's a generic key and worthless as 30,000 other computers all have it too. There is no point in extracting a key from a machine preloaded by a large manufacturer such as HP.

But I do have an update on the above posts about the key on the bottom not working -
Today I reloaded a Dell Inspiron 1545, a very new laptop compared to most other machines I reload with Vista. I currently do my reloads with an SP1 disc and update to SP2 afterwards.
The key from the bottom of the laptop was not accepted during the install process, so I selected to enter my key later, selected Vista Home Premium, and continued the install. Once done installing, I opened computer properties, clicked changed key, and entered the key from the bottom. I was then able to activate without any problem.

So do you know what the problem is? Microsoft has a new key type for their new COAs, and older discs don't take that key. I'll bet if I entered the same key into one of my SP2 MSDN discs (**Vista has done away with a difference in discs ie - XP had different keys for OEM, Retail, and MSDN discs respectively - Vista only has two disc types - x86 and x64**), it would take it without any problem.

Also as an aside, I'd expect an MCTS to have a fairly good understanding of licensing is all - the key you pull is worthless unless it matches the key on the bottom of your computer.

I am sure people are still going to disagree with me, but it seems lots of people on NBR don't have a good understanding of the way MS does their licensing and activating processes, and lots of people just spout out information that's not true or slightly incorrect based on their one time ever reloading a computer with Vista. Posts like... this... which are completely wrong.

I know I can be opinionated sometimes, but this isn't a case of opinion. It's a case of fact.

 

I appreciate your critisism and your help.

 

Thanks to all who contributed to my post. I borrowed a Dell OEM DVD, and will try to install it, then change the key within the next few days.

 

If anyone is still interested... which may or may not be the case...

The same key from that Inspiron 1545, which my SP1 disc said was not a valid key, is recognized as a valid key with my SP2 disc.

So this 100% confirms my theory that there is simply a new key algorithm, much like Windows XP SP2-C implemented. So if you're getting the invalid key message, either get a newer disc, or use the "enter key later" workaround I posted above.

 

I have an Dell xps 1530 and used that install disc on my HP laptop. Used the key and now the HP laptop has a Dell logo! Kind of hilarious. Went back to clean install Vista from a retail disc for the HP.