Very odd Toshiba laptop

Hi ... I just bought an older Toshiba laptop Satellite A200 which originally has Vista home premium but this unit had a crack Windows 7 Ultimate installment . Now the prior owner got rid of the original set up with the hard drive , he wipe the whole drive clean and I'm assuming he installed a crack version of windows 7. My brother has the same laptop model and that was the main reason why I bought this unit . I used his recovery disks and did the whole re installment , which afterwards I got the whole system back to factory set up , even with the hidden partition and all . Now the odd part under System its showing up as Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade and this is the exact same model as my brother laptop . Now I even have a retail Vista Ultimate disk 32 and 64 bits , that's how it comes ( Retail ) So I try using this version since I'm not using it and when I try doing the installment process and boot off the disc the Upgrade part is greyed out and its saying that the upgrade is disable . I don't get it , why . My question is could the reason as to why this is , is because this laptop had Windows 7 install and now when going back to original its disabling the upgrade process and what ever versions of Vista gets install it will only show up as an upgrade Vista ? I'm at odd at this , Anyone have any suggestions ? Thanks

 

Welcome to the forum ... RETURN that laptop .. just kidding.
If your goal is to load Vista I would format the laptop (with a windows disk or live Linux CD) then use the VISTA Ultimate disk to fresh install. Is the VISTA disk an upgrade only or "full" version?

 

Thanks for the welcome .. Sorry I didn't make it clear . It doesn't matter which installment I do , whether its from the recovery disc or even my Retail Vista Ultimate , its still show as an upgrade afterwards under System and when I'm using my retail version the upgrade part in the installment process is greyed out , I can only choose custom install . And yes I did reformat the drive with these installment . I'm at odd why under System it shows up as an upgrade ..

PS : I even wipe the drive with Active Kill Disk

 

I think the install has more to do with processor isn't able to handle Windows 7 - I bought a A205 and installed a T7200 in it and was able to install Windows 7x64 and run all the vista x64 driver and create recovery dvd with no problems and it runs great with Windows7x64 with 4gigs of Ram.

 

OP is not trying to install W7...but to go from one version of Vista to another.

Having said that, any CPU that can handle Vista will handle W7.

 

Maybe I missed something but what exactly are you trying to do? upgrade to ultimate?

I think you can manually verify what version is installed by opening a command prompt "cmd.exe" and typing "systeminfo".

A quick google said that it could be a service pack problem. if your home premium install has SP2, and the retail disk is SP1, its not going to let you upgrade.

What you may want to try is using Vlite to create a custom Vista install dvd. That way you can use Nlite to install ultimate from your retail dvd and include service packs and updates to save time.

edit - after thinking about it, I would use Nlite and your retail dvd to create a custom install dvd to install ultimate. and include the service packs in your custom Nlite dvd. then after ultimate is installed and running, use wsuoffline to grab any additional vista updates and .dotnet framwork, etc files.

 

I'm trying to put back the original installment which came with this laptop , And this model come with Vista Home Premium 32 bit . But the prior owner had Windows 7 crack version . I wanted to make it legit with its original installment ( VHP ) But when I got it from the guy , the guy never gave me any disks . I got it as is with W7 . So, what I did was re-formated the hard drive and used my brother recovery disc to restore the laptop back to factory setting , which I was able to do . But when I open the System icon its saying its a Vista Home Premium Upgrade version , it can't be . So , what I try next was my retail Vista Ultimate disc just to see how that would go . Well , when I booted off the Ultimate disc and start doing the installment the only options I'm able to perform is a custom install the Upgrade part was greyed out and below it said upgrade is disable , why am I only allow to choose custom install, I don't know . I should be able to perform a custom and upgrade if I choose to . When you guys install any windows versions you have 2 options to choose , either a custom install or an upgrade install , but I don't have that options , My only option is custom , And I don't know why just that . But once I'm finish the Windows install with a full version its showing up as an upgrade not full ... My thoughts are the bios some how locked Windows 7 into it chip and when ever I go back to Vista its now will show it as an upgrade , I don't know .... I'm at lost as to why this is

 

You didn't even get what I what saying did you. You just chimed back without carefully reading what I did for my computer and never mentioned they go Windows 7x64. It was to convey to the OP that should they go Windows 7x64 they will need the right processor to handle the new O/S. So in the future maybe you should know what one was saying as advice what they did not what one should do. And your last statement is so wrong...the processor that came with the A205 wouldn't load the Windows 7x64 Sp1 so that would say that your badly informed from your sources that is why I did a wiki check to find that unless you go with a T7200 family will it properly load W7x64 install disc.

You computer if the sticker still there should give you the Windows key for Vista on the sticker and you should use that when trying to reformat your Toshiba to Vista. Otherwise you will need someone that has Vista install disk and use your Key when you install and that should get you back to legit install with the right registration key but you can also change your registration key even though you it says upgrade they to update your KEY and see if that doesn't fix the problem otherwise you will have to find a Window Vista install disk and use that to get your key to work.

 

I have no idea why it shows up as an upgrade afterwards, but I think it doesn't give you the option of an upgrade install because you've wiped the HDD so there is no existing Windows installation to upgrade.

Your retail Vista Ultimate disk should have all editions of Vista on it. Type in the Windows key from the sticker on the bottom and it will install the correct edition. You may have to activate Windows by phone, if so just follow the instructions.

 

Your not getting it , if you use a recovery disc you don't need to enter the license keys , it just automatically gets activated , this is how it is with brand name computers . I'm saying it doesn't matter what I do with towards Vista , whether its a retail or even factory reset , it comes up with an upgrade install

Wrong dude , A retail Vista Ultimate only comes in 32 or 64 bit , what your talking about is an OEM version . And if you ever use any retail disc it gives the options to perform an upgrade or custom , but you wouldn't do an upgrade when you have a full retail version , so you would choose custom install but the option is still there for an upgrade and in my case its not . Also, my full version afterwards shows up as an upgrade install , which it shouldn't

 

No, what I mean is that your Vista retail disk will also have Home Premium as well as Ultimate on it. It will also have the other editions that aren't relevant here, i.e. Home Basic and Business. Retail Vista disks are not edition specific, the product key determines the edition that gets installed. If you don't type in the product key, you can install any edition you want but it will only work for a trial period and then require the key for activation.

 

oh ok , thanks . I thought it was only the one but now I see you're right . And I just realize the upgrade part is normal if one has a home edition or any OS below the Ultimate . So all is good , thanks everyone for your help