Perform A Clean Install With Vista Upgrade DVD’s

I’m pretty sure a lot of you were worried when Microsoft announced in their licensing requirements that you would only be able to upgrade to Vista from within Windows XP. This means that you can’t do the old fresh install and verify by inserting the Windows XP disc anymore. You actually have to have a legitimate Windows XP installation on the computer your trying to upgrade. Again, some of you may be worried and others of you may not be worried. I for one however prefer to have a clean installation anytime an operating system is involved.

Now you may be wondering what exactly you can do to have a clean install. But thanks to M$ leaving behind a huge flaw there’s actually a pretty simple workaround.

1. Boot from the Vista Upgrade DVD and start the setup.
2. You will be prompted to enter your product key but DO NOT enter it.
3. Instead just hit “Next” and install Vista as a 30-day trial.
4. After Vista is finished installing and your at the desktop for the first time, run the upgrade install again from within Vista.
5. This time when your prompted, enter your Vista key and proceed with the setup.
6. When your asked whether you want to Upgrade or Custom install, choose Custom install to perform a clean installation of Vista.
7. Once setup is finished with a so fresh and so clean installation of Vista you will be able to activate Vista normally and at this point you can also delete the old directory which contains info from your first Vista installation.

Note: This hack only works with the Retail Upgrade DVD’s. Also note that M$ may at any time disable this workaround so don’t count on this hack to work forever.

Finally, yes this hack requires you to install Vista twice. Don’t worry though, installing Vista is a pretty seamless procedure and doesn’t take very long.

BTW, one more thing. If you don’t know already, the upgrade version of Vista costs around half the price of a full version so if you already have Windows XP and want to upgrade I’d highly recommend an upgrade version and save the cash for a DX10 Graphics Card.

-ps3udo