Upgrade XP Pro to Vista Ultimate

Question

I recently bought a cd that has the title "Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade". I have Windows XP Pro installed now. Is this cd all I need to get Vista Ultimate or will I need a full version (not an upgrade)?

sp4566 · Answer

Clarifications

oh smeg · Answer

Makes a difference if you only have a CD Drive to read from.

As for the rest of your question Vista is different to previous M$ OS's in that all the versions come on the 1 Disc and the product Code that you enter activates different options during the install. So I would say you have it all for Vista Ultimate and if you want to go to anything else all that is required is to change the Product Key to Activate the different options or in this case deactivate things.

The only proviso here is that you will have access to all of Vista with your Upgrade DVD except for different Platform types so if you bought a 32 Bit OS you will be unable to use the 64 Bit OS Platform. The same as if you have a 64 Bit Upgrade Disc you will not be able to load the 32 Bit version of Vista from this DVD.

This is exactly the same as if you bought a Retail Version of Vista directly from M$.

Col

sp4566 · Answer

Yes, my mistake. I meant a DVD, and I do have a DVD drive. So, do I understand you to be saying that my upgrade DVD is equivalent to a full version except for different platform types?

oh smeg · Answer

Actually if anything the Upgrade Version has a bit more Code on the DVD as if you wipe the HDD and reinstall the OS which is the best way to proceed you will be asked to insert your XP Install/Recovery Disc to prove that you can legitimately use the Upgrade Copy.

Otherwise they are identical.

Col

rob miners · Answer

back up all essential data and perform a clean install of Vista. Steps are in this link. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918884

sp4566 · Answer

Thanks for your reply.

rob miners · Answer

If your original setup has the Drive Partitioned. EG C:, D: you can use the Vista DVD to delete the Primary Partition C: and recreate it to install Vista. Anything that is on D: will still be there.

ontheropes · Answer

"Apparently, not many folks are aware of the fact that installing a Windows Vista upgrade on your XP hard drive invalidates your XP key. Which means, once you?ve installed the Vista upgrade, you?re stuck with it and cannot go back to XP."

You might want to read the entire article here:
http://www.devlib.org/blog/2007/03/01/vista-upgrade-invalidates-xp-key-solution/

rob miners · Answer

.

sp4566 · Answer

Thanks for that bit of info.

10 replies

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