Vista Retail Upgrade onto empty HD

stoofa

stoofa

stoofa

Soldato
Joined
4 Mar 2003
Posts
12,522
Location
Chatteris
I've not actually played with the retail versions of Vista yet.
I have been using the MSDN Ultimate edition since last year, however now is the time for me to buy it for home use.
As always I shall buy Retail for home as it will last me the lifetime of the OS.

Anyway...
As we all know, Retail Upgrades of Win2k, WinXP could always be installed onto a totally empty PC.
It was simply a matter of supplying the original CD for the OS you were upgrading from.
However I remember reading somewhere that this was actually not going to be possible with the Vista Retail Upgrades.
Can anyone who has bought a Retail Upgrade or definitely knows 100% let me know if this method is still possible - specifically on Ultimate edition (if some can and some can't)?

I was going to buy Retail Ultimate Upgrade for one of my machines, however if that cannot be used on an empty HD I may just buy the Full Retail version instead as it will just generally make life easier.

Ta
 
Plus it invalidates the CD key of the XP liscence you are upgrading from.

Not sure about your actual question but I though I'd point out the above point.
 
Ah - but that would be against the license agreement (not having a product to upgrade from).
There is a reason I want to buy a Retail Upgrade and that is because I both qualify for one and I want the ability to "chop and change" my PC over the life of the OS.
Something I cannot legally do with the OEM version.
It's convenience more than anything - so all I need do is install Vista in "30 day mode" and then install again, not a major hassle then.

It'll save me buying the Full version which is a fair amount more.
 
stoofa said:
Ah - but that would be against the license agreement (not having a product to upgrade from).
There is a reason I want to buy a Retail Upgrade and that is because I both qualify for one and I want the ability to "chop and change" my PC over the life of the OS.
Something I cannot legally do with the OEM version.
It's convenience more than anything - so all I need do is install Vista in "30 day mode" and then install again, not a major hassle then.

It'll save me buying the Full version which is a fair amount more.
Click to expand...

Remember stoofa, the upgrade does not give you a retail licence. The upgrade is just an extension to the OEM licence and therefore you are still bound by the qualifying product terms.

Burnsy
 
burnsy2023 said:
I'll shut up then.

Burnsy
Click to expand...

LOL - It was however a good point well made.
A lot of people do think that by upgrading an OEM license with a retail upgrade they are getting a license upgrade to Retail too - which I'm pretty sure isn't the case.
 
burnsy2023 said:
Remember stoofa, the upgrade does not give you a retail licence. The upgrade is just an extension to the OEM licence and therefore you are still bound by the qualifying product terms.

Burnsy
Click to expand...

Hang on though - if you use the upgrade without a previous version installed trick as linked to above, how the hell does Vista know whether its upgrading to a retail or OEM license? Surely it would have to install as retail by default
 
camelopardis said:
Hang on though - if you use the upgrade without a previous version installed trick as linked to above, how the hell does Vista know whether its upgrading to a retail or OEM license? Surely it would have to install as retail by default
Click to expand...

It could tell by the product key.

Burnsy
 
burnsy2023 said:
It could tell by the product key.

Burnsy
Click to expand...

No - that doesnt answer the question! heres the scenario:

You buy the UPGRADE version of Vista. You then either:

1) Install it over the top of an OEM XP

In this case - Vista will install with an OEM license - yes?

2) Install it over the top of a retail XP

In this case - Vista will install with a retail license - yes?

BUT - id you use the clean install trick (ie: NO previous windows version installed) - how does Vista know whether to install as retail or OEM?
 
burnsy2023 said:
The answer is, it doesn't matter what version you upgrade from.

Burnsy
Click to expand...

Do you mean that regardless of whether you upgrade from an OEM or retail XP installation with an UPGRADE version of Vista, you will end up with a retail license? (ie: you can transfer OS to another machine)
 
camelopardis said:
Do you mean that regardless of whether you upgrade from an OEM or retail XP installation with an UPGRADE version of Vista, you will end up with a retail license? (ie: you can transfer OS to another machine)
Click to expand...

No, I didn't say that. You'll still have legal restrictions on the licence, but the installation doesn't differ.

Burnsy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom