Clean install with upgrade?

[maxemo]

I looked thru the OS forums and got alittle confused. I want to upgrade from XP Pro to Vista and have read a clean install is the way to go. Is there a way to do a clean install with an upgrade DVD by booting from it twice and entering the key on the second install?

 

[Linflas]

Pretty easy to do. Here is a link to tell you step by step.

Clean install with Vista Upgrade disk.

 

[maxemo]

Thanks, sounds easy enough. I'll give it a try.

 

[Fletch450]

Let us know if that works, from what I just read at MS on the Vista forms that work around doesn?t work anymore, you cant activate the product. The program that activates has been rewritten to not activate if the other license key isn?t there.

I am not sure if this is right or not, but that is what they are saying and the date was 7/10 I think when it was posted.

Here is the what I read start at the bottom.

Subject: Re: I Upgraded to Vista Ultimate from Win2K, I cannot activate my inst 7/10/2007 6:39 PM PST

By: Carey Frisch [MVP] In: microsoft.public.windows.vista.installation_setup


Sorry, but your suggestion is will not work. That so-called workaround
will not permit Product Activation as the activation servers have
been reprogrammed to reject an upgrade license if the qualifying
Windows license is not present in the system.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User

---------------------------------------------------------------------------­-----


"Paul Smith" <Paul@nospam.windowsresource.net> wrote in message news:476337AF-5BB7-4598-AA31-4DF7A4A61418@microsoft.com...
The easiest way to get around this would be to put the Vista disc back in
the drive (from your existing Vista install), and tell it to install.

Let it go ahead and install and once is finished you should then be able to
activate.

Basically as Carey said, upgrade discs need to be launched from within the
OS they're upgrading, but the above work-around does work, luckily or else
you'd have to install 2000, and then Vista all over.

Yes, highly annoying is an understatement.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/blog/
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove nospam. to reply by e-mail*


"CharlieV" <CharlieV@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F91E0224-757B-438E-A60F-B3F68D7E3827@microsoft.com...
> Probably already up here but who has 2 days to read all of the posts...
>
> I upgraded my old workstation from 2000 to Vista Ultimate when my old HDD
> crashed.
>
> I decided to skip XP altogether. Since the Win2K install was not
> compatible
> with Vista, I was forced to do a "clean" install, there was no other
> option
> available to me. Sounded good to me in the beginning, and everything went
> fairly well with the installation.
>
> When I tried to register/activate Vista online, I was given an error and
> advised that the key that I had was for an upgrade and an upgrade cannot
> be a
> done as a clean install.
>
> Will it be possible to activate my Vista installation with the Upgrade
> key?
> Did I miss something?
> Will I need to purchase another Key?
> Am I just SOL?
>
> I am looking for help if you can help me please do. If you want to bash MS
> or promote another OS please don't do it here, I am frutrtated enough and
> I
> have heard it all many times today already.
>
> Also please keep the childish bickering to a minum it is not germaine to
> the
> subject matter.
>
> Thank You in advance for your help and understanding.
>
> --
> Charlie Vetter
> San Diego, CA

 

[maxemo]

I hope this does work. I just went online this morning after the first response and ordered an upgrade version of home premium hoping to save a couple of bucks from the full version. If not I guess I can just reload my xp disk and do the standard upgrade. I should have it in by the first of next week. I'll post what I find out.

 

[masteraleph]

I'm pretty sure that works perfectly well too. But even better is the workaround found at http://forums.anandtech.com/me...064933&highlight_key=y

 

[maxemo]

Well I tried both ways, loading it twice and using the command prompt method and couldn't get either one to work. So I'm reloading XP.

 

[RichNY]

Maxemo - if you have a valid copy of XP, you *can* do a clean install without any workarounds (I know because I did). Just put the Vista DVD in while XP is running. You'll be given the option to wipe the drive and do a totally clean install from there. The downside is that I believe this invalidates your XP license (replacing it with the Vista license).

Others more knowledgeable than I can correct me, but I believe the workaround is only if you want to install on a new hard drive/machine WITHOUT XP at all.

Hopefully this is helpful.

 

[maxemo]

Well I reloaded xp and then installed the vista upgrade. I don't think the wipe is the same as a format but the process is done. Everything seems to work correctly except my USB thumbdrive will not power off when you click safely remove. I'm sure I can do a search and find a fix for this. Thanks for all the posts.

 

[Mark R]

It's easy enough.

Just install vista by booting from the CD - do a clean install. Leave the product key blank.
Let the installation complete.

You won't be able to activate. You'll get a message saying something like 'An upgrade product key cannot be used for a clean install'.

Now, while running Vista, run the setup.exe on the upgrade CD.
Select an upgrade install
Enter your product key when prompted.
Let the installation complete.

You'll then be able to activate.


I got burned by this because I did a clean install and couldn't activate. The OS was otherwise perfectly useable. I rang MS activation hotline - they just told me they weren't able to help, and that I couldn't activate the software. As it was a technical issue I would have to call tech support - but because I had OEM software I would have to call my system builder (which as I'm a homebuilder was useless).

The only catch with doing an upgrade install was that I lost all my personal settings, and I had to reinstall some programs (like Visual studio because their installs got hosed) - but other than that it went pretty smooth.

 

[Fletch450]

Mine installed fine and activated fine.

I figured I would have had problems with my upgrade doing a clean install maybe someone can shed some light as to why I didn?t have a problem.

I built a new machine and didn?t want to load XP on the new drive in order to do the upgrade to ultimate, but I figured I had to seeing all of the problems I read about. I tried to load my XP but it also was an upgrade from 98 so it wouldn?t load. I put the Vista disk in and installed it and did not enter the key, I figured I would enter it later and keeping looking for a work around to activate it.

Yesterday, I figured I would give activation a try and start dealing with the problem, but I click activation and it asked for the Key, entered it and I was done!

Two things come to mind, when trying to install XP it left something on the HD showing that I had a previous version or did it see XP on my slave drive that hasn?t been completely cleaned and I just use it for storage of data?

Maybe I am just damn lucky!

 

[videopho]

Originally posted by: Fletch450
Mine installed fine and activated fine.

I figured I would have had problems with my upgrade doing a clean install maybe someone can shed some light as to why I didn?t have a problem.

I built a new machine and didn?t want to load XP on the new drive in order to do the upgrade to ultimate, but I figured I had to seeing all of the problems I read about. I tried to load my XP but it also was an upgrade from 98 so it wouldn?t load. I put the Vista disk in and installed it and did not enter the key, I figured I would enter it later and keeping looking for a work around to activate it.

Yesterday, I figured I would give activation a try and start dealing with the problem, but I click activation and it asked for the Key, entered it and I was done!

Two things come to mind, when trying to install XP it left something on the HD showing that I had a previous version or did it see XP on my slave drive that hasn?t been completely cleaned and I just use it for storage of data?

Maybe I am just damn lucky!

Well you're not only the lucky ones.
Search long enough in this forum, you'd find a couple threads or so that show you how to do this with Vista Upgrades without the previous window keys.
Do it now while people could before M$ finds the way to close the loophole.

 

[Skypix7]

A good site, link below, and a good guide for clean installs. His idea is to boot up with the CD, do not enter the key, do not check the "activate once installed" box, then once the install is done, reinstall over the clean install, and do put in the key and check the activation.

I've only done the first part, the clean install, because I have a new system coming and want to save the activation for that system. But this first step worked just fine, on a P4 3.06 system, Asus P4PE board, 2 GB RAM. Works great.

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_install_03.asp

I think paying $150 or more for OS on each system I have is too much.

IMHO, Microsoft has gotten excessively greedy insisting, and coding, that your OS can only be used for one computer, especially at the prices they charge for Vista. They should link activation codes to users, and allow 3 activations or something so you can cover your systems, laptops, upgrading systems etc. at home, but still prevent you giving it away to your friends. MS makes so much money, yet they penalize the consumer by creating ill will in this excessive need to squeeze every penny of profit out of us and close loopholes for average users that were never open in the first place.

 

[Skypix7]

Here's something I found that allows unlimited extension of the activation date by resetting a registry key, essentially...it's legal, but it would allow software pirates, supposedly, to rip off Microsoft. For those of us who simply want to use our OS the way we paid for it, i.e. to be able to reinstall it on a new system and discontinue use of the old one, it's the solution, or seems to be.

This will also simplify things for constant upgraders.

Also, FYI, a little off topic but I read elsewhere that, per the MS EULA, as long as you don't change your moboard and hardrive, you can make all the hardware changes you want without invalidating your activation.

Here's the link to the registry change:

http://www.windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1