News No more clean installs for Vista upgraders

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/01/29/no_clean_installs_with_vista_upgrade_discs/

 

Shame, but I suppose it's for added security as you have to activate your previous copy first.

 

Oh well, im in trouble..

I can't download IE7 becase I've got an 'illegal' upgrade from Me edition, so I guess I'll be needing a full copy of Vista-Ulimate for school.

Also, do we know how many times you can load the OS before it locks itself? (I think it was 5 times on XP Pro)

 

You can only upgrade from Win2k and WinXP

 

You need Vista for school? And even then the Ultimate edition? I'd recommend changing schools then...

If you ring MS and explain, you can reinstall as much as you want...


I think MS should have made the upgrade so that you insert the disk + key of your previous version during install, and during activation of Vista it first checks the previous install and then the Vista one...

EDIT:

I think he allready had a less then legal upgrade from Me to XP... (That I make of it)

 

Yep, allready got XP SP2.

Err, No. I like my School

 

Another reason to not buy that PoC than.
...
Well until the 1st must-have game comes out at least

(Or, maybe, who knows ... friend of mine played WoW under linux+wine yesterday )

- btb -

 

Ebuyer have the OEM of Home Premium for £65. Although it doesn't come with the oh-so-fancy packaging, it looks like that might be the way to go for me when this RC runs out.

<A88>

 

What happens if a windows installation gets corrupt / ugly after time and you want to do a clean rebuild. In theory you have to wipe the disk, install the old OS and then upgrade to Vista. How stupid, surely you can do a clean install and just provide the old code / cd.

 

I don't think microsoft can be faulted for this, they are trying to stamp out pirate versions of the software, and whilst it may not be nice, it is fair, even with their massive profits I still get a little riled by people using dodgy installs when I payed to get the legit version of XP. If you don't want to pay then you don't deserve the OS.

(On a side note I do agree with this on the music front IF you could find all the tracks that are on limewire to buy, but you cant, which sucks).

 

Nope, unfortunately they've changed the definition of upgrade. If you want to do a fresh install of Vista, you're going to have to pay for the full version.

 

That's another reason why people IMO are better of buying OEM versions. First they are much cheaper, and not only in comparison to the full retail price, but also the upgrade price. For example, Vista Ultimate Upgrade costs 259$, Vista Ultimate OEM costs 200$.

Also, while an OEM license is tied to one machine only, you still have plenty of upgrade options, meaning that you could change your graphics card, CPU or HDD and still be able to activate it again.

Finally, even if you build a totally new system in 2 years and want to install Vista on it, you can buy another OEM version for it. It really makes sense if you consider that 1 full retail version == 2 OEM versions.

People like to complain about Vista's high price or installation restrictions, but IMHO Ultimate OEM for 200$, even if I can't install it on a totally new machine afterwards, is a pretty good deal. Just my two cents.

//Edit: According to this , it is even possible to transfer an OEM license from a PC to another.

 

It looks like you can perform a clean install with an upgrade disk after all from what it says here: http://www.tweakguides.com/

"Confusion is rife over this at the moment, but it appears that you can do a clean install using an Upgrade Edition, you simply have to boot into a qualifying previous version of Windows first, then start the installation process and choose a clean install to your selected hard drive."

 

That is seriously stupid!

 

That's not a true "clean install" though - you've got to install another OS before you can install Vista. With XP, you could just put your XP upgrade disc in the drive and the when prompted put a full version of Windows 2000, Windows 98 or Windows ME disc into the drive to confirm that you're eligible to upgrade.

 

doh the way it works now is how I assumed it always worked I don't think I have ever done an upgrade come to think of it.

 

that OS will not run on my PC (to much DRM).
they can start making DX10 compatible with XP or making it open.

 

Well, I found out today the Microsoft has completely crippled OpenGL in Vista.

Even XSI can't work in directX mode under vista and all OpenGL work is about 2FPS.

 

Doug: if OGL is crippled what happens to games like those based around the Q3 engine? Presumably they will just cease to function or just be very slow?

 

No idea yet, I have D3 at home and will try it out.

I'm seriously moving back to XP.