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Vista / Family Discount question

DrezDrez Registered User regular
edited February 2007 in Games and Technology
Okay, so my father bought Windows XP Professional Upgrade and Vista Ultimate Upgrade today. He wants to dual boot XP and Vista, and he has a Windows 98 SE disc he can use to install WinXP Pro Upgrade. I believe Vista Ultimate Upgrade just requires the WinXP Pro Upgrade disc for verification.

Anyway, I'm in the fortunate position of being able to mooch a legit Home Premium license key off of his retail Vista Ultimate Upgrade purchase thanks to the family discount plan. The only hitch is that I want to do a clean install, but I can't seem to find out if this is possible with the key you get from this promotion. Do you HAVE to have WinXP installed and then upgrade to Vista, or does the Home Premium key you get from the family discount promotion work just like any other promotion?

Any info would be most appreciated.

Switch: SW-7690-2320-9238Steam/PSN/Xbox: Drezdar
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Posts

  • fogeymanfogeyman Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    I have no idea if the Home Premium key is a full version, but either way you can do a full install with the upgrade version like so. Apparently there's a clause that allows you to upgrade from Vista to Vista. It's legal as long as you own a copy of Windows XP or one of the other approved versions (excluding Vista) mentioned in the (I believe) EULA.

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  • DrezDrez Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Huh.

    Well...it seems like I could probably do a clean install with the Ultimate version DVD and just use those steps but install Home Premium off the DVD instead with the key I buy from this family package. And, yeah, the Home Premium key is a full license/full version, but all you're buying is the key...you don't get a disc or anything. You have to install Home Premium from the Ultimate DVD. According to the site regarding the family package, it says that you get a Home Premium key and can upgrade using the Ultimate disc, but it doesn't say anything about a clean install...now I see there really is no such thing as a "clean install" as far as Vista upgrade packages go, but being a full Home Premium product key, I should be able to follow the same steps that a Vista upgrade user would use.

    Possibly.

    Drez on
    Switch: SW-7690-2320-9238Steam/PSN/Xbox: Drezdar
  • fogeymanfogeyman Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    The directions I linked describe a process that's nearly identical to a clean install. Basically, you get none of the random crap of upgrading but you still use an upgrade version. So yeah, you're not exactly clean installing but there's virtually no difference between the linked, vista-->vista upgrade method and a normal clean install.

    Just make sure the version you install while installing your "trial run" (the first install described in the directions) to choose the correct OS version: Ultimate on the original computer, Home Premium on the others.

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  • RohanRohan Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Upgrading from Win98 SE to XP Pro, then upgrading to Vista? Yikes.

    Rohan on
    ...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.

    Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
  • DrezDrez Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Rohan wrote: »
    Upgrading from Win98 SE to XP Pro, then upgrading to Vista? Yikes.

    No.

    WinXP Pro upgrade only requires you insert the Win98 SE disc to validate you have it. We won't be installing Win98 SE.

    Drez on
    Switch: SW-7690-2320-9238Steam/PSN/Xbox: Drezdar
  • DrezDrez Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    fogeyman wrote: »
    The directions I linked describe a process that's nearly identical to a clean install. Basically, you get none of the random crap of upgrading but you still use an upgrade version. So yeah, you're not exactly clean installing but there's virtually no difference between the linked, vista-->vista upgrade method and a normal clean install.

    Just make sure the version you install while installing your "trial run" (the first install described in the directions) to choose the correct OS version: Ultimate on the original computer, Home Premium on the others.

    Just so you know, Microsoft has apparently disabled the workaround. My father purchased Vista yesterday and he tried it last night. It just gives a black screen if no installed OSes are found.

    Drez on
    Switch: SW-7690-2320-9238Steam/PSN/Xbox: Drezdar
  • RohanRohan Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Drez wrote: »
    No.

    WinXP Pro upgrade only requires you insert the Win98 SE disc to validate you have it. We won't be installing Win98 SE.

    Oh, my mistake... that's fine, then. But just imagine going from 98 to XP, to Vista... dear God.

    Rohan on
    ...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.

    Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
  • fogeymanfogeyman Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Drez wrote: »
    Just so you know, Microsoft has apparently disabled the workaround. My father purchased Vista yesterday and he tried it last night. It just gives a black screen if no installed OSes are found.
    Are you sure you simply didn't makle a mistake? Vista is supposed to be installed so an OS should be found. Also, MS intentionally allowed a Vista-->Vista upgrade to work according to Paul Thurrott (the winsupersite.com guy who knows everything about MS).

    EDIT: Here's an article I just found: MS saying it will be unpatched. I've never heard of techspot before (and they link a site called vnunet.com which I've also never herad of) so we should probably take it with a grain of salt.

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