Uninstalling upgrade and Reinstalling as fresh copy and Activation

I purchased the Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade.. Installed as upgrade
from Windows XP - I have run into some snags and would like to Re-Install as
a FRESH install (wiping clean - hard drive and so on....) Which can be done
w/o a problem but I am concerned if I reinstall a fresh copy that I won't be
able to "ACTIVATE" windows.... Will Microsoft see this as trying to install
on a second computer and not allow me to activate - or will it still
recognize as a valid key?

You will likely have to phone in and activate, no big deal.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] rgharper@gmail.com
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"jettaben" <jettaben@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AE4A5264-2774-47E4-86E2-E081090D30C2@microsoft.com...
>I purchased the Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade.. Installed as upgrade
> from Windows XP - I have run into some snags and would like to Re-Install
> as
> a FRESH install (wiping clean - hard drive and so on....) Which can be
> done
> w/o a problem but I am concerned if I reinstall a fresh copy that I won't
> be
> able to "ACTIVATE" windows.... Will Microsoft see this as trying to
> install
> on a second computer and not allow me to activate - or will it still
> recognize as a valid key?

Not to doubt - but are you certain - If I format / wipe clean my hard drive
and reinstall Vista (keeping in mind it was activated already on the same
system) that I will be able to activate it again? I don't want to run into a
situation where they can't activate again and make me fork out another $160
big ones again...

Just want to REALLY MAKE SURE!



"jettaben" wrote:

> I purchased the Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade.. Installed as upgrade
> from Windows XP - I have run into some snags and would like to Re-Install as
> a FRESH install (wiping clean - hard drive and so on....) Which can be done
> w/o a problem but I am concerned if I reinstall a fresh copy that I won't be
> able to "ACTIVATE" windows.... Will Microsoft see this as trying to install
> on a second computer and not allow me to activate - or will it still
> recognize as a valid key?

OK - Just got done with "Technical Chat Support" they said I can't do this...
Someone in India that I don't think ever understood what I needed! IS
ANYONE SURE THIS WILL WORK? If I format my hard drive and reinstall Vista -
I can re-activate the SAME Key over the phone without problems?




"jettaben" wrote:

> I purchased the Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade.. Installed as upgrade
> from Windows XP - I have run into some snags and would like to Re-Install as
> a FRESH install (wiping clean - hard drive and so on....) Which can be done
> w/o a problem but I am concerned if I reinstall a fresh copy that I won't be
> able to "ACTIVATE" windows.... Will Microsoft see this as trying to install
> on a second computer and not allow me to activate - or will it still
> recognize as a valid key?

I just finished---after many hours---using my XP Pro disk to delete the
partition holding my poorly installed Vista upgrade, format it, re-nstalled
XP Pro, then ran my Vista DVD from within XP, it accepted my key (again), and
did a clean install of Vista. It went very well, with Vista downloading
driver updates for the ones I had trouble with when I tried an upgrade
install.

Very stable system now. Just need to know if I can delete Windows.old on my
C:\ drive. I started to, but cancelled when it said I was deleting a system
file.

Hope the first part answers your question.

Ron
"jettaben" wrote:

> OK - Just got done with "Technical Chat Support" they said I can't do this...
> Someone in India that I don't think ever understood what I needed! IS
> ANYONE SURE THIS WILL WORK? If I format my hard drive and reinstall Vista -
> I can re-activate the SAME Key over the phone without problems?
>
>
>
>
> "jettaben" wrote:
>
> > I purchased the Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade.. Installed as upgrade
> > from Windows XP - I have run into some snags and would like to Re-Install as
> > a FRESH install (wiping clean - hard drive and so on....) Which can be done
> > w/o a problem but I am concerned if I reinstall a fresh copy that I won't be
> > able to "ACTIVATE" windows.... Will Microsoft see this as trying to install
> > on a second computer and not allow me to activate - or will it still
> > recognize as a valid key?

"jettaben" <jettaben@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote

> OK - Just got done with "Technical Chat Support" they said I can't do
> this...
> Someone in India that I don't think ever understood what I needed! IS
> ANYONE SURE THIS WILL WORK? If I format my hard drive and reinstall
> Vista -
> I can re-activate the SAME Key over the phone without problems?

> "jettaben" wrote:
>
>> I purchased the Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade.. Installed as
>> upgrade
>> from Windows XP - I have run into some snags and would like to Re-Install
>> as
>> a FRESH install (wiping clean - hard drive and so on....) Which can be
>> done
>> w/o a problem but I am concerned if I reinstall a fresh copy that I won't
>> be
>> able to "ACTIVATE" windows.... Will Microsoft see this as trying to
>> install
>> on a second computer and not allow me to activate - or will it still
>> recognize as a valid key?

The Vista license allows you to reinstall on the same computer as many times
as you want. An upgrade license can also be moved to a different computer
if first uninstalled from the computer it's on. You might have to do the
activation by phone.

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

If you don't need anything from windows.old, you can delete it.


-Michael

"neverforget" <neverforget@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:76F9BEE3-703F-45FA-8082-E7041BE3D582@microsoft.com...
>I just finished---after many hours---using my XP Pro disk to delete the
> partition holding my poorly installed Vista upgrade, format it, re-nstalled
> XP Pro, then ran my Vista DVD from within XP, it accepted my key (again), and
> did a clean install of Vista. It went very well, with Vista downloading
> driver updates for the ones I had trouble with when I tried an upgrade
> install.
>
> Very stable system now. Just need to know if I can delete Windows.old on my
> C:\ drive. I started to, but cancelled when it said I was deleting a system
> file.
>
> Hope the first part answers your question.
>
> Ron
> "jettaben" wrote:
>
>> OK - Just got done with "Technical Chat Support" they said I can't do this...
>> Someone in India that I don't think ever understood what I needed! IS
>> ANYONE SURE THIS WILL WORK? If I format my hard drive and reinstall Vista -
>> I can re-activate the SAME Key over the phone without problems?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "jettaben" wrote:
>>
>> > I purchased the Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade.. Installed as upgrade
>> > from Windows XP - I have run into some snags and would like to Re-Install as
>> > a FRESH install (wiping clean - hard drive and so on....) Which can be done
>> > w/o a problem but I am concerned if I reinstall a fresh copy that I won't be
>> > able to "ACTIVATE" windows.... Will Microsoft see this as trying to install
>> > on a second computer and not allow me to activate - or will it still
>> > recognize as a valid key?