I've been mucking around with Vista (formally Longhorn) for about 3-4 years. This means that things like "all editions are on the one DVD" is pretty much ingrained in my skill, however sometimes I forget that this was not the norm previously and sometimes trips people up.
I got a mail the other day that said (edited a bit and published with permission of the sender):
I installed Vista Business on my PC. I read in your blog that if you use a genuine Vista DVD (including a MAPS version), then you would not need the upgrade disk. I tried to upgrade to Ultimate. I made the purchase online and and attempted the upgrade. I need the disk. I went back online and ordered it and now I am waiting to upgradewindowsanydaynow. Did I do something wrong?
The answer was very, very simple - take the downloaded utility, run it and when it asks for the Vista DVD, put in the same one you already have. However, since I have to admit that I have NEVER actually bought an upgrade key online I replied:
You absolutely should not require the disk, can you describe the process to me - it should be something like:
- You may the purchase
- Download the code
- Run the code
- Insert your Vista DVD
- Let the install happen.
Could you a) test the process and b) send me a screenshot of the error(s).
Being the lucky (or well researched) person, I quickly got the reply back:
Despite all my experience and training, I felt uncomfortable when it came to launching the original Install again. It just didn't seem intuitive. I felt it should have been more evident as I was inserting the Vista disk that it would lead to an upgrade.
Got Ultimate installed now.
THANKS!!!
It does work - it may seem a bit odd that on the one DVD, contained in the 1 WIM file are all the files required for Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, all the "N" versions and recovery information. However that is what a single instance manager can do for your disk copying technology (i.e. the ImageX technology used by Vista).
ttfn
David
Posted
Sun, Feb 18 2007 3:54 PM
by
David Overton