C
Carey Frisch [MVP]
Sorry, but your workaround is not supported by Microsoft
and does, in fact, violate the EULA. Please review the following:
The Vista license “loophole†that isn’t:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=420
--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows System & Performance
"Chad Harris" wrote:
> Ed Bott's Microsoft Report
>
> Vista Hands On #4: Clean install with an upgrade key
> February 15th, 2007
> http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=196#more-196
>
> I've been reading the breathless reports from other websites this week about
> the "Vista upgrade loophole." Most of it is typical echo-chamber stuff, and
> most of the reports I've read so far have gotten the basic facts wrong. The
> Setup feature they're describing isn't a loophole at all. It's a perfectly
> legal workaround for an amazingly stupid technical restriction that
> Microsoft imposes on upgraders. In this installment of my Vista Hands On
> series, I provide the background to help you understand exactly what's going
> on and how you can legally perform a clean install using an upgrade key.
>
> Let's start with a few essential facts:
>
> All retail copies of Windows Vista use the exact same media. The DVD
> contains all editions and can be used to perform a full installation or an
> upgrade. If you compare a full retail copy of Windows Vista Ultimate and an
> upgrade copy of Windows Vista Home Basic, you'll find that the installation
> media for the two products are virtually identical.
> The product key included with the copy you purchase determines how the Setup
> program behaves. These behaviors are hard-coded into the Setup program based
> on the key you enter. Specifically, the Setup program is able to look at
> your key and use an algorithm to determine the edition it "unlocks." The
> same algorithm determines whether you are allowed to use that key for an
> upgrade or a clean install or both.
> The license agreement for a Vista upgrade copy requires that the machine
> already be licensed for Windows. This license agreement does not restrict
> the method of installation in any way. Section 13 of the agreement reads as
> follows:
> UPGRADES. To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the
> software that is eligible for the upgrade. Upon upgrade, this agreement
> takes the place of the agreement for the software you upgraded from. After
> you upgrade, you may no longer use the software you upgraded from.
> When you run Setup with an upgrade key, the installer does not check to see
> whether you're really eligible. In fact, Microsoft's licensing
> infrastructure - the activation and validation servers it uses to check
> product keys against hardware hashes - does not (yet) contain any mechanism
> to match up your upgrade license with a previous license.
> To use an upgrade product key, you must start the Vista Setup program from
> Windows 2000, Windows XP, or any edition of Windows Vista. Your previous
> version of Windows doesn't have to be activated. Even an evaluation copy of
> the edition of Windows Vista you purchased will allow you to run the Setup
> program with an upgrade key. (Remember that last part.)
> Got all that? Good. Now let's put the pieces together.
>
>
> I'm going to assume that you have a PC that came with Windows XP
> preinstalled by the PC maker. Any OEM version of Windows XP is eligible to
> upgrade to any edition of Windows Vista. So you purchase a retail upgrade
> copy of Vista Ultimate. In the box is a DVD and a 25-character product key.
>
> You don't want to do what Microsoft calls an in-place upgrade, which
> preserves your installed programs and data files but has a greater risk of
> migrating your problems as well. Instead, you want to do a clean install.
> But there's a problem: Microsoft used a crude technique to make clean
> installs more difficult for upgraders. If you boot from the Vista DVD and
> enter an upgrade key, you'll see this error message and will not be able to
> go any further:
>
>
>
> Now, this restriction is stupid, because even Microsoft acknowledges that
> you can be legally entitled to purchase the upgrade version and yet have to
> do a clean install. (See the notes on Microsoft's official Windows Vista
> Upgrade Paths from Previous Versions page, for example, which says: "If you
> are currently using Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional
> x64, you are eligible for an upgrade copy to a corresponding or better
> edition of Windows Vista, but a clean install is required." Ahem.)
>
> This silly technical restriction is not required by the license agreement.
> It's designed to frustrate anyone who wants to use the upgrade version on a
> new PC without an operating system and get them to pay more for a full
> version. But it's easily worked around.
>
> Your easiest option - by far - is to use the PC maker's system recovery
> media to restore an image of Windows XP as it existed when you first got the
> computer, and then install Vista. I can hear the complaints now: "That copy
> is out of date. It's loaded with crummy, obsolete drivers and crapware."
> Yes, I know. That doesn't matter. Every bit of that junk will be erased soon
> enough. It will never get mixed with your new Vista setup.
>
> After you finish restoring that original system image, start Windows, insert
> the Vista DVD, and run Vista's Setup program. Follow the steps I listed in
> Vista Hands On #2: A no-fuss, nondestructive clean install, this time using
> your upgrade product key. When you're done, use the Disk Cleanup tool to
> remove all traces of your old installation. You have a fresh, clean system
> and you are in perfect compliance with your license agreement.
>
> What if you don't have a restore CD? In that case, you can install an
> evaluation copy of Windows Vista on the system, specifically to allow you to
> run Setup. Here's how:
>
> 1. Boot from the DVD and click Install Now.
>
> 2. Leave the product key box blank. Instead, click Next.
>
> 3. Click No in this warning dialog box.
>
>
>
> 4. From the list of Vista editions, choose the one that matches the upgrade
> you purchased.
>
>
>
> 5. Complete the installation, accepting all defaults.
>
> Do whatever minimal steps are required to start your new installation for
> the first time. Wouldn't it be nice if you could enter your perfectly legal,
> fully paid-for product key now and just make the installation complete?
> Sorry, you can't do that.
>
> Instead, you need to run Setup again, this time from within Windows Vista.
> Don't choose the Upgrade option unless you want to spend an hour or two
> migrating your nonpersonalized default Vista settings. Instead, do a
> nondestructive clean install. When that's done (it should go very quickly),
> use the Disk Cleanup tool to blow away the redundant installation in
> Windows.old. You're now good to go.
>
> Now, was that a loophole? No. You satisfied every condition of the license
> agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The fact that you have to
> use a kludgey workaround to use the license you've purchased and are legally
> entitled to is Microsoft's fault.
>
>
>
and does, in fact, violate the EULA. Please review the following:
The Vista license “loophole†that isn’t:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=420
--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows System & Performance
"Chad Harris" wrote:
> Ed Bott's Microsoft Report
>
> Vista Hands On #4: Clean install with an upgrade key
> February 15th, 2007
> http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=196#more-196
>
> I've been reading the breathless reports from other websites this week about
> the "Vista upgrade loophole." Most of it is typical echo-chamber stuff, and
> most of the reports I've read so far have gotten the basic facts wrong. The
> Setup feature they're describing isn't a loophole at all. It's a perfectly
> legal workaround for an amazingly stupid technical restriction that
> Microsoft imposes on upgraders. In this installment of my Vista Hands On
> series, I provide the background to help you understand exactly what's going
> on and how you can legally perform a clean install using an upgrade key.
>
> Let's start with a few essential facts:
>
> All retail copies of Windows Vista use the exact same media. The DVD
> contains all editions and can be used to perform a full installation or an
> upgrade. If you compare a full retail copy of Windows Vista Ultimate and an
> upgrade copy of Windows Vista Home Basic, you'll find that the installation
> media for the two products are virtually identical.
> The product key included with the copy you purchase determines how the Setup
> program behaves. These behaviors are hard-coded into the Setup program based
> on the key you enter. Specifically, the Setup program is able to look at
> your key and use an algorithm to determine the edition it "unlocks." The
> same algorithm determines whether you are allowed to use that key for an
> upgrade or a clean install or both.
> The license agreement for a Vista upgrade copy requires that the machine
> already be licensed for Windows. This license agreement does not restrict
> the method of installation in any way. Section 13 of the agreement reads as
> follows:
> UPGRADES. To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the
> software that is eligible for the upgrade. Upon upgrade, this agreement
> takes the place of the agreement for the software you upgraded from. After
> you upgrade, you may no longer use the software you upgraded from.
> When you run Setup with an upgrade key, the installer does not check to see
> whether you're really eligible. In fact, Microsoft's licensing
> infrastructure - the activation and validation servers it uses to check
> product keys against hardware hashes - does not (yet) contain any mechanism
> to match up your upgrade license with a previous license.
> To use an upgrade product key, you must start the Vista Setup program from
> Windows 2000, Windows XP, or any edition of Windows Vista. Your previous
> version of Windows doesn't have to be activated. Even an evaluation copy of
> the edition of Windows Vista you purchased will allow you to run the Setup
> program with an upgrade key. (Remember that last part.)
> Got all that? Good. Now let's put the pieces together.
>
>
> I'm going to assume that you have a PC that came with Windows XP
> preinstalled by the PC maker. Any OEM version of Windows XP is eligible to
> upgrade to any edition of Windows Vista. So you purchase a retail upgrade
> copy of Vista Ultimate. In the box is a DVD and a 25-character product key.
>
> You don't want to do what Microsoft calls an in-place upgrade, which
> preserves your installed programs and data files but has a greater risk of
> migrating your problems as well. Instead, you want to do a clean install.
> But there's a problem: Microsoft used a crude technique to make clean
> installs more difficult for upgraders. If you boot from the Vista DVD and
> enter an upgrade key, you'll see this error message and will not be able to
> go any further:
>
>
>
> Now, this restriction is stupid, because even Microsoft acknowledges that
> you can be legally entitled to purchase the upgrade version and yet have to
> do a clean install. (See the notes on Microsoft's official Windows Vista
> Upgrade Paths from Previous Versions page, for example, which says: "If you
> are currently using Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional
> x64, you are eligible for an upgrade copy to a corresponding or better
> edition of Windows Vista, but a clean install is required." Ahem.)
>
> This silly technical restriction is not required by the license agreement.
> It's designed to frustrate anyone who wants to use the upgrade version on a
> new PC without an operating system and get them to pay more for a full
> version. But it's easily worked around.
>
> Your easiest option - by far - is to use the PC maker's system recovery
> media to restore an image of Windows XP as it existed when you first got the
> computer, and then install Vista. I can hear the complaints now: "That copy
> is out of date. It's loaded with crummy, obsolete drivers and crapware."
> Yes, I know. That doesn't matter. Every bit of that junk will be erased soon
> enough. It will never get mixed with your new Vista setup.
>
> After you finish restoring that original system image, start Windows, insert
> the Vista DVD, and run Vista's Setup program. Follow the steps I listed in
> Vista Hands On #2: A no-fuss, nondestructive clean install, this time using
> your upgrade product key. When you're done, use the Disk Cleanup tool to
> remove all traces of your old installation. You have a fresh, clean system
> and you are in perfect compliance with your license agreement.
>
> What if you don't have a restore CD? In that case, you can install an
> evaluation copy of Windows Vista on the system, specifically to allow you to
> run Setup. Here's how:
>
> 1. Boot from the DVD and click Install Now.
>
> 2. Leave the product key box blank. Instead, click Next.
>
> 3. Click No in this warning dialog box.
>
>
>
> 4. From the list of Vista editions, choose the one that matches the upgrade
> you purchased.
>
>
>
> 5. Complete the installation, accepting all defaults.
>
> Do whatever minimal steps are required to start your new installation for
> the first time. Wouldn't it be nice if you could enter your perfectly legal,
> fully paid-for product key now and just make the installation complete?
> Sorry, you can't do that.
>
> Instead, you need to run Setup again, this time from within Windows Vista.
> Don't choose the Upgrade option unless you want to spend an hour or two
> migrating your nonpersonalized default Vista settings. Instead, do a
> nondestructive clean install. When that's done (it should go very quickly),
> use the Disk Cleanup tool to blow away the redundant installation in
> Windows.old. You're now good to go.
>
> Now, was that a loophole? No. You satisfied every condition of the license
> agreement and aren't skating by on a technicality. The fact that you have to
> use a kludgey workaround to use the license you've purchased and are legally
> entitled to is Microsoft's fault.
>
>
>