Vista - Vista ultimate OEM reinstall? Can you do it or not?

Hi,

I've got a new PC, which suddenly lost the 8600GTS graphics card on it and
started coming up as a standard VGA adaptor with 4MB of memory lol. Anyway i
tried sorted the drivers for the card, couldn't find it so i thought i'd
reinstall vista see if that did any... It moved the old install over as
Windows_old and tells me I can still see the files but obviously doesn't boot
that old install. I used the same key to do the new install and all worked
fine, though i'm still not seeing my graphics card which is annoying! But
anyway the key comes up different now that what i typed in, the system says
30 days till activation. I hope this makes sense, i need to know if:-
1. its going to be working still as i've heard a lot about Vista taking a
footprint of your system and with me using the key previously..... on the
exact same machine i'd like so add, i'm not trying to move across anything i
just thought a new install would do the job. I'm worried as i don't want to
lose my system one day. Would i need to contact where i bought it from?

Thanks for your help.

Yes, you can reinstall on the same machine. If internet activation fails,
use the telephone option.

I would be more concerned about the graphics card. Is it still not detected
at all? Even new hardware can fail, so it would be best to contact your pc
vendor about it. As it is most likely under warranty, they should replace
it if it is defective.

--
Jane, not plain 64 bit enabled :-)
Batteries not included. Braincell on vacation ;-)
MVP Windows Shell/User

"equinox101" <equinox101@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9CDE10B9-3F1E-4187-A06A-7FB4F602B58E@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
>
> I've got a new PC, which suddenly lost the 8600GTS graphics card on it and
> started coming up as a standard VGA adaptor with 4MB of memory lol. Anyway
> i
> tried sorted the drivers for the card, couldn't find it so i thought i'd
> reinstall vista see if that did any... It moved the old install over as
> Windows_old and tells me I can still see the files but obviously doesn't
> boot
> that old install. I used the same key to do the new install and all worked
> fine, though i'm still not seeing my graphics card which is annoying! But
> anyway the key comes up different now that what i typed in, the system
> says
> 30 days till activation. I hope this makes sense, i need to know if:-
> 1. its going to be working still as i've heard a lot about Vista taking a
> footprint of your system and with me using the key previously..... on the
> exact same machine i'd like so add, i'm not trying to move across anything
> i
> just thought a new install would do the job. I'm worried as i don't want
> to
> lose my system one day. Would i need to contact where i bought it from?
>
> Thanks for your help.

equinox101 wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I've got a new PC, which suddenly lost the 8600GTS graphics card on it and
> started coming up as a standard VGA adaptor with 4MB of memory lol. Anyway i
> tried sorted the drivers for the card, couldn't find it so i thought i'd
> reinstall vista see if that did any... It moved the old install over as
> Windows_old and tells me I can still see the files but obviously doesn't boot
> that old install. I used the same key to do the new install and all worked
> fine, though i'm still not seeing my graphics card which is annoying! But
> anyway the key comes up different now that what i typed in, the system says
> 30 days till activation. I hope this makes sense, i need to know if:-
> 1. its going to be working still as i've heard a lot about Vista taking a
> footprint of your system and with me using the key previously..... on the
> exact same machine i'd like so add, i'm not trying to move across anything i
> just thought a new install would do the job. I'm worried as i don't want to
> lose my system one day. Would i need to contact where i bought it from?
>
> Thanks for your help.

If applicable, try reseating your video card (after the PC's power is
off). A bad contact might be the cause.

"equinox101" wrote
> Hi,
>
> I've got a new PC, which suddenly lost the 8600GTS graphics card on it and
> started coming up as a standard VGA adaptor with 4MB of memory lol. Anyway
> i
> tried sorted the drivers for the card, couldn't find it so i thought i'd
> reinstall vista see if that did any... It moved the old install over as
> Windows_old and tells me I can still see the files but obviously doesn't
> boot
> that old install. I used the same key to do the new install and all worked
> fine, though i'm still not seeing my graphics card which is annoying! But
> anyway the key comes up different now that what i typed in, the system
> says
> 30 days till activation. I hope this makes sense, i need to know if:-
> 1. its going to be working still as i've heard a lot about Vista taking a
> footprint of your system and with me using the key previously..... on the
> exact same machine i'd like so add, i'm not trying to move across anything
> i
> just thought a new install would do the job. I'm worried as i don't want
> to
> lose my system one day. Would i need to contact where i bought it from?

You can install as many times as you want on the same computer. If
activation won't go through on the internet then phone in for it. OEM
versions cannot be moved to a different computer.

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]