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Turning Vista Enterprise into Ultimate

roguerower

roguerower

Diamond Member
I have Vista Enterprise 64bit installed on my desktop, Enterprise because it's an upgrade to my student software package from freshman year. I had a friend I know say that since Enterprise is Ultimate minus all of the HTPC stuff included that changing the product key under "System" to a Ultimate product key will somehow unlock all of the HTPC features. Is there a shred of proof to this or am i getting yanked around?
 
You're getting yanked around. It is not possible to change the OS version after installation by merely changing the key. The only way I know of how to do it would involve one of MS's Windows Anytime Upgrade packs, which involves a special disk and key.
 
They're right about the feature limitations in enterprise, but as the previous response said, I don't think you can change the active features except during installation time.
Enterprise is not so bad.. install something like VLC to play DVDs and other media and you have virtually all the benefits Vista can offer you except for Media Center for a personal DVR and DVD authoring which really isn't that good compared to free DVD authoring tools. Also the DVR software isn't even that good compared to free DVR / HDTV software, so I don't think you're missing much.
 
Originally posted by: ViRGE
You're getting yanked around. It is not possible to change the OS version after installation by merely changing the key. The only way I know of how to do it would involve one of MS's Windows Anytime Upgrade packs, which involves a special disk and key.
Click to expand...

Correct but as far as I know Enterprise is not upgradeable via Windows Anytime Upgrade
 
I'm not really looking to upgrade since I don't have the storage capacity to use my PC as a DVR but was just wondering what if. I like Enterprise and don't have any problems with it for the most part.
 
I believe the media contains all SKUs and your key determines what you get. This cannot be changed after install merely by changing keys.

You can however do an inplace upgrade. Just boot from the DVD and choose the upgrade option when prompted. Since your drivers/service/programs are already running on Vista there isn't any sort of compatibility risks like you'd see from upgrading a previous OS. The upgrade will go without a hitch.

The downside: upgrades are old-school file-by-file. They do not just drop an image on like a clean install does. You won't be getting the 10-15 minute install that a clean is capable of. It will take *hours*.
 
Originally posted by: Smilin
I believe the media contains all SKUs and your key determines what you get. This cannot be changed after install merely by changing keys.

You can however do an inplace upgrade. Just boot from the DVD and choose the upgrade option when prompted. Since your drivers/service/programs are already running on Vista there isn't any sort of compatibility risks like you'd see from upgrading a previous OS. The upgrade will go without a hitch.

The downside: upgrades are old-school file-by-file. They do not just drop an image on like a clean install does. You won't be getting the 10-15 minute install that a clean is capable of. It will take *hours*.
Click to expand...

You are correct that the key determines which version of Vista you have, since it is just a flat Vista image file on the installation disc.

If you do not enter a cd-key during installation it will prompt you to select the Vista version you have bought and only that version will activate with that key.
 
The media contains most versions. The retail media contains retail versions of Basic, Premium, Ultimate and Business (and Starter I think). Enterprise is VL only and isn't included on retail or OEM media. I think VL media includes Business-VL, Enterprise-VL and possibly a VL version of Ultimate.
 
Stash, I'm still having a hard time understanding what's on the Vista DVDs.

I understand that a Retail DVD contains images for all RETAIL versions of Vista. But does it contain OEM versions, too? (At least, "generic" OEM versions).

I see frequent statements that the Vista Install CD "contains ALL verisons of Vista". Will a Retail Vista CD accept an OEM key and install an OEM version of Vista?
 
Originally posted by: RebateMonger
I see frequent statements that the Vista Install CD "contains ALL verisons of Vista". Will a Retail Vista CD accept an OEM key and install an OEM version of Vista?
Click to expand...

No. The differentiation between OEM, Retail, Upgrade and Volume License media still exists with Vista.

Each version, however, only has one disk. So, with XP, you had a separate OEM disk for Home and Pro, but with Vista, all OEM versions use the same disk.

This is, of course, excepting manufacturer specific media, which I believe only includes a single version (and in some cases a 64-bit derivative).
 
Originally posted by: drebo
This is, of course, excepting manufacturer specific media, which I believe only includes a single version (and in some cases a 64-bit derivative).
Click to expand...
That makes sense. If there were all versions of Vista on a single Dell BIOS-Locked Vista Install DVD, then the PC owner would be free to re-install any version that he/she wished to. I doubt that's the case.

Another question:

So, what would be included on the DVD that Microsoft gave out this Spring at the Server 2008 Launch? It was a "Windows Vista Ultimate with Service Pack 1 (32-bit only)". But the DVD also says, "Includes Windows Anytime Upgrade".

I'm assuming it's "like" a Full Retail DVD, allowing both full installs (I verified that it'll do an install on an empty disk) and upgrades. But where does the "Windows Anytime Upgrade" come in? My understanding of the difference between an "Upgrade" DVD and a "Windows Anytime Upgrade" DVD is that the "Upgade" would work on an XP-bearing PC, but the "Windows Anytime Upgrade" would only work on a Vista-bearing PC.
 
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