Which Retail DVD will Perform Vista "Repair" (Upgrade) Install?

[philbobilbo]

Hello folks,

Couldn't really tell from the Repair Install tutorial, so which retail version of Vista do I need to purchase, so that I can perform a repair install, via "upgrade" of Vista? As I look at my OEM Home Premium disk, it has the options to install ALL versions of Vista, so does that mean I could buy the cheapest retail version, use it and perform a repair install of my OEM version, by simply selecting the correct OS as per your "Repair Install" tutorial, and then go from there?

Basically, I would like to have a "God" mode DVD, that allows me to a)perform a repair install of existing Vista installs, and/or b)perform a clean install, and to be able to do a) or b) simply by telling the installation process which version I have (Home Basic, Ultimate, etc.), and whether the copy is retail or OEM.

I thought this is why Microsoft WENT to the DVD that would allow all installs, simply by selecting the right OS and OEM or Retail. Guess not.

 

[z3r010]

Your oem disk should allow repair - mine does!!

 

[vantim]

You may have problems doing a repair if you have SP1 installed though. But all the DVD's should let you do a repair. (As long as they are bootable)

 

[philbobilbo]

Unfortunately, no, my OEM disk has the upgrade feature "grayed out"; saying "Upgrade Has Been Disabled" upon attempting the "repair" upgrade from the OEM DVD. That is, when I attempt the repair install/upgrade as featured elsewhere on this forum.

I'll explain why I'm trying to do this; I recently upgraded the guts of my entire PC, and had purchased this copy of Vista for it. I previously test-ran an install on the old guts of my PC, and Vista ran like a sled. I simply was try to do an in-place upgrade/repair "install" of Vista on the new setup. So that's my issue. As a tech, I know full well I'm going to be swamped with Vista calls like this soon, ergo I'd like to figure this one out now so that I'm prepared in the future.

 

[z3r010]

Ah, for the upgrade option you need a retail or upgrade key, the media is still the same.

I wouldn't advice a repair of Vista on new hardware anyway, just do a fresh install with your oem disk.

 

[cpemma]

I recently upgraded the guts of my entire PC, and had purchased this copy of Vista for it. I previously test-ran an install on the old guts of my PC, and Vista ran like a sled. I simply was try to do an in-place upgrade/repair "install" of Vista on the new setup.

Under the MS EULA, an OEM Vista disc is tied to the system it's first activated on, or to be exact, that system's motherboard. Do a clean install. If you activated with the old mobo, a second online activation with the new likely won't work and you'll have to explain to MS over the phone.