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Vista downgrade to XP... then back to Vista?

C

ColKurtz

Senior member
Just bought my wife a new laptop. It's our first Vista experience, and unless she runs into any major issues I plan on keeping the Vista preload.

If I do end up having to downgrade for some reason, can anyone confirm that I will be able to use my manufacturer's system reload CD if I want to put Vista back on at a later date? I was looking around for answers and saw a few references to "wasting a Vista key". Does MS "flag" the Vista key when you downgrade, preventing you from activating that copy of Vista again? This is Vista Home Premium, if it matters.

TIA.
 
All the System Disks Ive encountered in the past (especially for notebooks) behave like volume licenses with the added limitations that the OS on the CD is configured for & limited to install & run only on the particular make & model machine that it was provided for.

Therefore, you will (should?) be able to install & reinstall the OS as many times as you want without any activation (or connection to the internet) being involved.

At least this is how it worked with Fujitsu, Sony & HP brands.
 
Most laptops come with the OS pre-installed and use special OEM versions of Windows that don't require the entry of a Key and don't require Activation. You should be able to re-install Vista at any time without a problem.
 
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