- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
So I buy Windows XP 64 from the Egg and it comes with a coupon for an upgrade to Vista Business 64. My upgrade comes in the mail...no problems. I start installing Vista and it gets to a screen that asks if I want to do an "in-place upgrade" or a "clean install". The "in-place upgrade" option is grayed out. Vista informs me that I must do a clean install. The funny thing is there's a hyperlink that says "Help me decide...". Help me decide what? There's only one frickn' option! Actually, I'm very happy to do a clean install. I never, ever do in-place upgrades. Ever! So, I'm stoked. Vista loads smooth as silk and I don't have any problems. I purposely didn't activate because this was basically my test install. I wanted to see what works and what doesn't.
So a month later, I've figured it all out and I'm ready for "install candidate #2". I start loading Vista and put in my key. Vista then informs me this is an upgrade key and must be loaded over a qualifying version of Windows. Wait a minute...let's think about this. What exactly is Microsoft trying to do here?
I swear, if I load the trial version of Windows XP 64 that I downloaded from Microsoft's download center and Vista allows me to install over the top of that, I'm going to blow! Couldn't they just have asked me to insert my XP CD and enter my XP key during the Vista install to check if I have them? So this is what I get for buying the operating system? I guess it just goes to show: No good deed goes unpunished!
So a month later, I've figured it all out and I'm ready for "install candidate #2". I start loading Vista and put in my key. Vista then informs me this is an upgrade key and must be loaded over a qualifying version of Windows. Wait a minute...let's think about this. What exactly is Microsoft trying to do here?
- Are they checking to see if I'm the legitimate owner of a qualifying operating system? No...because I never activated Windows XP 64. I could have taken any OEM Windows XP 64 disk, loaded it and upgraded to Vista 64.
- Are they making people who buy the upgrade version do an in-place upgrade? No...an in-place upgrade isn't even an option. No matter what, it's going to wipe out whatever you have and do a clean install.
I swear, if I load the trial version of Windows XP 64 that I downloaded from Microsoft's download center and Vista allows me to install over the top of that, I'm going to blow! Couldn't they just have asked me to insert my XP CD and enter my XP key during the Vista install to check if I have them? So this is what I get for buying the operating system? I guess it just goes to show: No good deed goes unpunished!