Calling PC experts!, Question about upgrading. Options

[Internet Jesus]

A few years back, my parents' PC running on Vista died. I managed to recover the HD and recently wiped it to use as an external HD.

My computer just died. Right now, I'm using an HP mini (on XP SP3) and upgraded its RAM. I want to upgrade it to Vista but am unsure if I can use the same product key on it.

So I ask this to you guys: Can I use the same key to upgrade my Mini or is my Vista disk useless now?

This post has been edited by Internet Jesus: Feb 29 2012, 06:03 AM

[TM2-Megatron]

Is it your parent's old copy of Vista (I assume it's an OEM license) you wanted to use on the computer currently running XP? Assuming you have the key, there's no reason it shouldn't work. Those aren't tied to the computer they initially came on; and there shouldn't be any issues installing it on different system, assuming the same license key isn't being used simultaneously on another. If it gives you trouble activiating, calling Microsoft over the telephone activation line should resolve it in just a few minutes; it always has for me.

Honestly, though, it's easier just building a new system from scratch; even if you decide to keep Vista as opposed to buying a Windows 7 license to go with the new build. Upgraded though it may be, you'll likely find Vista will slow down that system you're on considerably, even with the fanciest of the UI elements disabled. Vista isn't nearly as bad as word of mouth made it appear, particularly not the newer service pack; but it's still not exactly easy on resources, either. One of the reasons it ran so terribly a lot of the time when it was first released is that the budget-priced PCs (the models that the average consumers inevitably buy the most of) weren't up to the task of running it.

This post has been edited by TM2-Megatron: Feb 29 2012, 07:19 AM

[lordtaco]

Skip Vista, go directly to Windows 7.

[The Predaking]

Skip Vista, go directly to Windows 7.

Agreed!

[Dake]

Skip Vista, go directly to Windows 7.

Agreed!

This implies having or buying a copy of 7 which would preclude needing to recycle Vista.

And yes, your product key should work fine.

[Glenn]

the product key will let you install the OS. You may need to call the automated 800 line to register it afterwards.

[Kalidor]

Your Vista disk was useless regardless of the product key.

Seriously.. if you can't go to 7 then you should stay with XP. XP is perfectly fine and is not full of problems like Vista is.

[The Predaking]

Skip Vista, go directly to Windows 7.

Agreed!

This implies having or buying a copy of 7 which would preclude needing to recycle Vista.

And yes, your product key should work fine.

I don't think that the Vista disk will work unless you can get the PC to fake itself to look like one of the manufacture's PCs. I think that he is going to run into problems.

[JRSBill]

Keys are not manufacture specific. They can be used on any system.

The only way you will run into problems is if your trying to use the OEM key used for the mass installs. Then you will have problems as that serial is tied to the SLIC 2.0 or 2.1 bios code. There are ways around that, I'm not saying as I'm not going to tell someone how to pirate copies using the OEM specific serial used for all installs from the factory.

Use the key on the side of the computer and you can use it anywhere on any system as long as you haven't activated another computer using that in the last 6 months. Just run the activation request or will you lose the system in 30 days and then they force you to activate.

[CORVUS]

Your Vista disk was useless regardless of the product key.

Seriously.. if you can't go to 7 then you should stay with XP. XP is perfectly fine and is not full of problems like Vista is.

This right here.

[Nanite]

Your Vista disk was useless regardless of the product key.

Seriously.. if you can't go to 7 then you should stay with XP. XP is perfectly fine and is not full of problems like Vista is.

This right here.

Yup. DO NOT INSTALL WITH VISTA. It will mess your PC up something fierce. It will likely also run incredibly slowly. Stick with XP.

[Copper Bezel]

Well, it probably won't break itself, but it's never been shipped on a netbook, and there's a reason. Upgrading the RAM isn't going to compensate. Vista is the most resource-intensive consumer OS ever released, and netbooks are the kind of low-performance devices that Windows 7 was sold on supporting. Now, if he has special requirements for things that don't work with XP, that's another issue, but I can't imagine what that could be.

This post has been edited by Copper Bezel: Feb 29 2012, 02:21 PM

[Internet Jesus]

Well, I would have used the Windows 7 disk if it were 32-bit, but it's 64-bit and I still plan on repairing my main PC.

So I'm stuck with either Vista or XP.

Looks like XP is the consensus, though.

[Copper Bezel]

Yeah, I mean, there are advantages to using Vista, and it does have better security and smarter drivers and so on, but even on ordinary machines, it's really a wash with XP, and it's just not intended for that kind of hardware.

This post has been edited by Copper Bezel: Feb 29 2012, 09:59 PM

[Nebucron]

Your Vista disk was useless regardless of the product key.

Seriously.. if you can't go to 7 then you should stay with XP. XP is perfectly fine and is not full of problems like Vista is.

Definitely this. I still have an old laptop running on XP and it works just fine, and I haven't had any problems transferring things back and forth to my other computers running on Windows 7, even when going backwards from 7 to XP.

[TM2-Megatron]

Conversely, the PC I'm about to retire in the next two months or so has been going strong for over 4 years with Vista installed with no crashes, viruses, malware, or any other issues in all that time. Mostly because I waited to move from XP until after the first Service Pack was released, and also because I built the system myself and didn't install garbage components in it, which tends to be what you get in most moderately-priced store-bought PCs. On a high-end machine, it's much more difficult to notice Vista's resource hogging issues.

When the Ivy Bridge chipset is released in the next few months, I'll be building a new system around the Core i7 3770K. I've been putting off upgrading to 7 until then, as Vista still seems quite serviceable on this machine.

But on a system as old as the one being discussed here, as I mentioned in my first reply, upgraded RAM won't really be enough to prevent a very large performance drop-off with Vitsa.

This post has been edited by TM2-Megatron: Mar 1 2012, 07:25 AM