I had Vista beta and bought the Home Premium Upgrade version. I decided to wipe the drive clean and reformat and do a fresh install. Since I had the beta key, I figured this would be all right as i was assuming the Upgrade would maybe only ask for the beta key or disk.
Well, Vista Upgrade will only install from an existing installation of WinXP or Vista beta. So I had to reinstall the beta Vista, then while it was booted up, start the Vista Upgrade from inside the existing OS (Vista beta).
So, the tech was right in that you can not do a fresh install of the Upgrade Vista. He was wrong to suggest a crack.