Want to upgrade to vista...

[FinalHavoc]

Hi everyone :3

I looked around abit and I didn't see anyone else who had this problem, so I was hoping someone has experienced what I'm going through.

I need to know two things before purchasing an Upgrade version of Windows Vista. Basically last week, the activation server told me my Windows XP key wasn't good anymore (after several formats to get rid of viruses that just.....don't seem to leave). But I need to make sure I'm not making a mistake by buying the upgrade version instead of the full.

Well, here goes.

1: I have a re-installation disk of XP (The one dell sends you embarrasingly enough ^_^' 😱 ) would the upgrade work with this?

2: My old key(as mentioned above) is no longer working for activation.Does Vista Upgrade version include a key?

Thanks 🙂

 

[Blazer]

yes and yes

 

[Harvey]

Go back! It's a trap! Vista is this OS generation's equivalent of Millennium, a bloated, misfuntional POS that may not work on your machine. Check with Dell to see if your machine can even handle it before you try.

Even if they say it will, you'll probably get a slower machine, and some of your software may not work. An entry level machine that struggles with Vista can haul ass under XP, as long as you have drivers for it.

The Mac ads are right. Even Microsoft is downplaying the name, Vista. They know it's bloated with "features" that just get in the way of smooth operation, they can't fix it, and they're promising to make it all better in Windows 7.

 

[Kingbee13]

Originally posted by: Harvey
Go back! It's a trap! Vista is this OS generation's equivalent of Millennium, a bloated, misfuntional POS that may not work on your machine. Check with Dell to see if your machine can even handle it before you try.

Even if they say it will, you'll probably get a slower machine, and some of your software may not work. An entry level machine that struggles with Vista can haul ass under XP, as long as you have drivers for it.

The Mac ads are right. Even Microsoft is downplaying the name, Vista. They know it's bloated with "features" that just get in the way of smooth operation, they can't fix it, and they're promising to make it all better in Windows 7.

thats sarcasm right? cause its hard to tell when reading forums and I'm pretty slow sometimes anyway so you'll have to forgive me

to the orginal poster:
can't you call MS or maybe dell and give you another activation, never done it personally but I'm pretty sure you can do that and not buy anything

 

[Nizbot]

I wouldn't get the upgrade version personally. You should just do a clean format and install the full version.

Originally posted by: Harvey
Go back! It's a trap! Vista is this OS generation's equivalent of Millennium, a bloated, misfuntional POS that may not work on your machine. Check with Dell to see if your machine can even handle it before you try.

Even if they say it will, you'll probably get a slower machine, and some of your software may not work. An entry level machine that struggles with Vista can haul ass under XP, as long as you have drivers for it.

The Mac ads are right. Even Microsoft is downplaying the name, Vista. They know it's bloated with "features" that just get in the way of smooth operation, they can't fix it, and they're promising to make it all better in Windows 7.

I would really hope this is sarcasm. 😕

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: Kingbee13

Originally posted by: Harvey
Go back! It's a trap! Vista is this OS generation's equivalent of Millennium, a bloated, misfuntional POS that may not work on your machine. Check with Dell to see if your machine can even handle it before you try.

Even if they say it will, you'll probably get a slower machine, and some of your software may not work. An entry level machine that struggles with Vista can haul ass under XP, as long as you have drivers for it.

The Mac ads are right. Even Microsoft is downplaying the name, Vista. They know it's bloated with "features" that just get in the way of smooth operation, they can't fix it, and they're promising to make it all better in Windows 7.

thats sarcasm right? cause its hard to tell when reading forums and I'm pretty slow sometimes anyway so you'll have to forgive me

to the orginal poster:
can't you call MS or maybe dell and give you another activation, never done it personally but I'm pretty sure you can do that and not buy anything

No. Vista is a turd in the punchbowl. Microsoft really has started playing down the Vista name because it's such an embarrassment. They're already promising that Windows 7 will have a smaller, less demanding footprint, and they'll ditch the annoying "nanny state" oversight that requires user to give permission five times to scratch your ass.

From my own experience, it's all show and no go. I've upgraded the performance of several machines by taking them back to XP, including my own Compaq lappy, an Athlon 64x2 with 2 GB of RAM. It came with Vista. It took me two weeks to find all the drivers and get them intstalled, but once I did, it's so much faster than it was with Vista.

 

[Kingbee13]

Originally posted by: Harvey

Originally posted by: Kingbee13

Originally posted by: Harvey
Go back! It's a trap! Vista is this OS generation's equivalent of Millennium, a bloated, misfuntional POS that may not work on your machine. Check with Dell to see if your machine can even handle it before you try.

Even if they say it will, you'll probably get a slower machine, and some of your software may not work. An entry level machine that struggles with Vista can haul ass under XP, as long as you have drivers for it.

The Mac ads are right. Even Microsoft is downplaying the name, Vista. They know it's bloated with "features" that just get in the way of smooth operation, they can't fix it, and they're promising to make it all better in Windows 7.

thats sarcasm right? cause its hard to tell when reading forums and I'm pretty slow sometimes anyway so you'll have to forgive me

to the orginal poster:
can't you call MS or maybe dell and give you another activation, never done it personally but I'm pretty sure you can do that and not buy anything

No. Vista is a turd in the punchbowl. Microsoft really has started playing down the Vista name because it's such an embarrassment. They're already promising that Windows 7 will have a smaller, less demanding footprint, and they'll ditch the annoying "nanny state" oversight that requires user to give permission five times to scratch your ass.

From my own experience, it's all show and no go. I've upgraded the performance of several machines by taking them back to XP, including my own Compaq lappy, an Athlon 64x2 with 2 GB of RAM. It came with Vista. It took me two weeks to find all the drivers and get them intstalled, but once I did, it's so much faster than it was with Vista.

I can see it for a laptop or an older gaming rig but for me Vista has a much snappier response times for things I do, but diversity is what makes the world great

I have considdered trying XP out on my Fujitsu lifebook its painfully slow and Fujitsu offers full XP driver support, but I'd prolly have to run DOS on that Laptop to get it to feel "fast" with its ULV core solo CPU and 1.8inch harddrive (aka an Ipod drive hehe) but the battery lasts forever and it works great for using word, only issue is startup time, but I only do that once per use and I can live with it

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: Harvey
Go back! It's a trap! Vista is this OS generation's equivalent of Millennium, a bloated, misfuntional POS that may not work on your machine. Check with Dell to see if your machine can even handle it before you try.

Harvey, while he should certainly check specs, Vista in my experience is faster than XP in most cases. Heck, XP can't even USE the machine I'm currently on to its fullest.

 

[FinalHavoc]

Originally posted by: Kingbee13

to the orginal poster:
can't you call MS or maybe dell and give you another activation, never done it personally but I'm pretty sure you can do that and not buy anything

Well I called MS about a week ago, and they told me that I'd have to purchase another CD key or something >.< I thought that was pretty lame since they didn't say the COA would expire to begin with. I've searched around and even found that others say the price on buying another CD key is about the same as the CD itself.

I figured, hey, if I'm gonna get another MS product, it might as well be their new stuff since the price of the upgrade is way cheaper than the full version of xp home, and about the same as the oem (which CD key can only be used once apparently xD).

I also heard that Vista SP1 64bit is pretty sick when you stick in 4gb+ of ram w/ a DX10 card, which Home cannot support. So I thought it might be a good investment for the sake of upgrades I may want in the future, too :3

Thanks guys 😀

 

[bsobel]

Your MS response doesn't make sense. The activation never expires, if you reinstalled too much due to infection tell them that when you call in. If your legal, they can't 'revoke' activation to you. They just want to ensure you havent installed it on a bunch of different machines.

 

[Kingbee13]

Originally posted by: bsobel
Your MS response doesn't make sense. The activation never expires, if you reinstalled too much due to infection tell them that when you call in. If your legal, they can't 'revoke' activation to you. They just want to ensure you havent installed it on a bunch of different machines.

I agree I would call them again, no need to buy something you don't need, if your persistent I bet they let you activate it again

but I like Vista64

 

[FinalHavoc]

Ahhhh

Yeah, I do have it on more than one machine, and they did ask me that xD. To be honest though, I didn't think that was a problem. It just said something like, 'the number of times you have used this key has been exceeded'.

 

[Kingbee13]

Originally posted by: FinalHavoc
Ahhhh

Yeah, I do have it on more than one machine, and they did ask me that xD. To be honest though, I didn't think that was a problem. It just said something like, 'the number of times you have used this key has been exceeded'.

Well that changes things, hope you enjoy Vista64

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: Kingbee13
only issue is startup time, but I only do that once per use and I can live with it

my laptop w/ XP resumes from sleep in 1.5 seconds to desktop (without password prompt). Wifi connects about 5-8 seconds later.

 

[Kingbee13]

Originally posted by: jaredpace

Originally posted by: Kingbee13
only issue is startup time, but I only do that once per use and I can live with it

my laptop w/ XP resumes from sleep in 1.5 seconds to desktop (without password prompt). Wifi connects about 5-8 seconds later.

I always hybernate because it may be a while before I use it again, the reason its slow is because the harddrive is slow, it has to load the 2gigs of ram back and on a super slow drive it takes a while, but that probably wouldn't be any faster with XP, sleep resumes really quick on vista for me too, but then again its a slow laptop, I knew this going in, but its tiny light wieght, and I got it new on the cheap, 6hr battery life + dvd writer and magnesium case for just a bit more bulk and cost than the "netbooks" that are all the rage so for my purposes I'm quite happy with it

 

[F1shF4t]

Originally posted by: Harvey

Originally posted by: Kingbee13

Originally posted by: Harvey
Go back! It's a trap! Vista is this OS generation's equivalent of Millennium, a bloated, misfuntional POS that may not work on your machine. Check with Dell to see if your machine can even handle it before you try.

Even if they say it will, you'll probably get a slower machine, and some of your software may not work. An entry level machine that struggles with Vista can haul ass under XP, as long as you have drivers for it.

The Mac ads are right. Even Microsoft is downplaying the name, Vista. They know it's bloated with "features" that just get in the way of smooth operation, they can't fix it, and they're promising to make it all better in Windows 7.

thats sarcasm right? cause its hard to tell when reading forums and I'm pretty slow sometimes anyway so you'll have to forgive me

to the orginal poster:
can't you call MS or maybe dell and give you another activation, never done it personally but I'm pretty sure you can do that and not buy anything

No. Vista is a turd in the punchbowl. Microsoft really has started playing down the Vista name because it's such an embarrassment. They're already promising that Windows 7 will have a smaller, less demanding footprint, and they'll ditch the annoying "nanny state" oversight that requires user to give permission five times to scratch your ass.

From my own experience, it's all show and no go. I've upgraded the performance of several machines by taking them back to XP, including my own Compaq lappy, an Athlon 64x2 with 2 GB of RAM. It came with Vista. It took me two weeks to find all the drivers and get them intstalled, but once I did, it's so much faster than it was with Vista.

As I've been saying you run it on crap it'll run like crap. Those prompts can be turned off and for the most part unless your doing system wide things you shouldn't get one.

Anyways I feel like a broken tape recorder, if you want to hold on to an old unsecure OS go for it. Its ok for older hardware, but xp couldn't even use fully half the high end comps.


OP call em up again to activate, when they ask why say that your reinstalling due to HDD failure or something, works every time. I tried explaining what I was doing before, in the end I just had to say I was reinstalling cause they just didn't get what I was saying anyways.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Kingbee13

Originally posted by: Harvey
Go back! It's a trap! Vista is this OS generation's equivalent of Millennium, a bloated, misfuntional POS that may not work on your machine. Check with Dell to see if your machine can even handle it before you try.

Even if they say it will, you'll probably get a slower machine, and some of your software may not work. An entry level machine that struggles with Vista can haul ass under XP, as long as you have drivers for it.

The Mac ads are right. Even Microsoft is downplaying the name, Vista. They know it's bloated with "features" that just get in the way of smooth operation, they can't fix it, and they're promising to make it all better in Windows 7.

thats sarcasm right? cause its hard to tell when reading forums and I'm pretty slow sometimes anyway so you'll have to forgive me

to the orginal poster:
can't you call MS or maybe dell and give you another activation, never done it personally but I'm pretty sure you can do that and not buy anything

I thought he was joking too but was shocked to see a MOD make that statement,anyway the simple solution is to tell us your PC specs(last couple of years its should handle Vista fine),my personal experience with Vista on two PCs(one with 3800+ X2 CPU) has been a solid one with no issues even in gaming,my XP PC has become redundant but thats another story.

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: Mem

I thought he was joking too but was shocked to see a MOD make that statement...

I'm an experienced user, and I am entitled to post my opinions about Vista based on my own experiences and observations. Exactly who are you, and where is it written that, as a moderator, I am obligated to suck down the Microsoft KoolAid? 😕

I use Windows XP because it runs the apps I need for my work and play. I didn't switch from Win 98 SE to XP Pro until a couple of years after it was released when Microsoft had patched it enough that I could get all my apps and tricks running stable enough that it didn't get in the way of what I do with my machines.

I'm under no obligation to applaud a new version of the OS when it's so bloated and buggy that it costs me money to buy and time and aggrivation to use. Microsoft isn't even giving Vista enough time to get as far as they did with XP before moving to Windows 7.

To quote the button they used to have at the original Record Plant recording studio in Hollywood, "You can't polish a turd."

 

[Mem]

I'm an experienced user, and I am entitled to post my opinions about Vista based on my own experiences and observations. Exactly who are you, and where is it written that, as a moderator, I am obligated to suck down the Microsoft KoolAid?

Nobody said you was not entitled to post your opinion or suck down to Microsoft,somebody sure got out of the wrong side of bed today,as to whom am I? Does it matter.. ..I could ask the same question about you,for the record you're not the only experienced person around here (probably 10,000 plus experienced members )but then we are all entitled to post our comments right.


Vista is no way as bad as what you've stated IMHO,its probably one of the best operating systems so far by Microsoft,Windows 7 will probably refine that further and hopefully Windows 8 will turn out even better down the road.

We can beg to differ on some things just like many members do here .

A little ironic when I turned down being a Mod I said to Derek somebody has to keep an eye on the Mods 🙂.

 

[Ksyder]

Ehhh... I installed Vista 64 Ultimate on the machine that I have listed in my sig the other day. I've been getting some random BSOD's on the XP build and figured I try it out and see if the Vista install was a little more stable. I've been rocking the same XP install for a few years now and I hate the idea of re-formatting. I prefer to actually fix problems when they occur as opposed to nuking the whole damn thing.

I unplugged my sata drive with XP on it, plugged in an Seagate IDE 250gb and put vista on it. Everything seemed peachy at first... the only driver missing was the on-board audio. Proceed to windows update, got that missing driver among other things.

Anyways, the Vista blue screens (sometimes) as soon as the machine goes into standby. It seemed to be in S3 (judged by the powered off state, flashing power led) sleep state so I figured it was set to S1 - S3 in the bios and Vista defaulted to S3 if possible. However, it was set to S1 only.
I might be making a wrong assumption here about that though. I'm one who never had alot of luck with S3.

Any ideas on this? Could Nvidia drivers be the culprit here? I installed debugging tools and the memory dump said that NTOSKRNL.sys or whatever it was was "probably" the cause.

I think Vista is a really nice looking OS compared to XP but my hardware is slightly outdated IMO. I would assume I'd have better results with a newer Intel chipset?

edit: before anyone asks, I didn't install the nvidia chipset driver right from nvidia and I'm not sure if its SP1 or not 🙂

 

[evident]

use the upgrade disk, install vista on a clean HD. upgrade vista with the vista disk. will be a much more clean install than from the dell xp disk. profit!

 

[Griswold]

Originally posted by: Harvey
I'm an experienced user, and I am entitled to post my opinions about Vista based on my own experiences and observations. Exactly who are you, and where is it written that, as a moderator, I am obligated to suck down the Microsoft KoolAid? 😕

I use Windows XP because it runs the apps I need for my work and play. I didn't switch from Win 98 SE to XP Pro until a couple of years after it was released when Microsoft had patched it enough that I could get all my apps and tricks running stable enough that it didn't get in the way of what I do with my machines.

So, you've been using Win98 for several years after the release of XP in 2001 and you expect anyone should take your comments about vista serious (yes, you can state your opinion, as wrong as it may be, its a mostly free internet after all)? Honestly, the words "stable" and a DOS based windows such as Win98 in comparison to a NT based OS such as XP really dont mix. Had you said W2k instead of XP, it wouldnt sound so awkward, for that OS was next to useless before SP2... :roll: