January 31st, 2007
Workaround for “Clean Install” for Vista Upgrades Discovered
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Earlier I wrote about clean installs not being available any longer with Windows Vista Upgrade DVDs. There was conjecture that it might be related to Home versions, but even the mainstream press was confused. Now, it seems Paul Thurott, through some internal Microsoft documents, has discovered a workaround. However, he did not test it, but the enterprising folks at DailyTech did, and they confirm it works.
We Say: You could say this is even more liberal than a “clean install” for XP was (and therefore, probably a bug). Why? Because done as instructed in the DailyTech article, you don’t even have to have an XP key. I’m not going to print the DailyTech instructions verbatim (please use the link above), but to summarize:
With a clean drive, install Vista by booting from the DVD but do not enter the key when asked. This installs Vista as a 30 day trial. Once complete, run the installation from inside Vista and do an in-place upgrade. Viola. 
VoIP News » Blog Archive » Windows Vista is Everywhere says:
[…] The folks at RealTechNews are talking about a workaround for clean install that was discovered for Vista. And better still, it’s been tested and it works! […]
January 31st, 2007 at 10:43 am
Mike says:
I thought you had to enter your key when you did the upgrade, or else it keeps the 30-day trial…
Mike
February 1st, 2007 at 3:37 am
MicroSucks Blows Chunks Again! says:
If this is how MS “secures” their products, can you imagine the quality of the “security” built into their OS????? 5 years to produce another hole-riddled, bloated OS? The best advertisement for Linux is MS themselves!!!!
Have they ever heard of testing a product before they release it (never mind, their past track record has proved that they are either not capable, or don’t care!)?
Won’t need Anti-Virus? Wanna buy a bridge??? Or the Washington Monument??
Almost free today, for you my friend!!!
February 1st, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Clownius uses Linux says:
Who said security in a M$ product lol. You are kidding me right. the only way M$ would get their OS on my computer is if it came in a virus that somehow managed to get onto my Linux machines. I cant see that happening any time soon though.
It scares me to believe people will buy an OS that stresses a computer so much (don’t bother with less than 1Gb RAM, 2Gb is usable, Linux runs happily on 256Mb), plays big brother (you didn’t pay for that photo you took) and is generally swiss cheese for viruses and hackers when a free product is available out there doing a better job. the only valid reason i could see for running windoze anymore is games (please games makers discover Linux you know the secure machines you make the games on. We wanna play too) or you have a piece of old software you cant use in wine or live without (or better yet get a Linux version of). in that case use XP for longer don’t be fooled into Vista.
February 2nd, 2007 at 2:09 am
» Dell and My Real-Life Vista Upgrade Frustration, Conclusion (For Now) » Blog Archive Alice Hill’s Real Tech News - Independent Tech says:
[…] So, the driver showed up in late March, as he said. I opted to try the clean install hack I had written about earlier (as I had always planned to do), with an upgrade copy of Vista Ultimate. Because it really has to do the equivalent of 2 installs, it takes longer, but you get a clean install, and you can just use an upgrade copy. […]
April 8th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
DailyWireless » Blog Archive » Windows Vista is Everywhere says:
[…] The folks at RealTechNews are talking about a workaround for clean install that was discovered for Vista. And better still, it’s been tested and it works! […]
October 25th, 2007 at 11:09 am