EULA/CD Key De-activation blah blah blah Answer

[nX07]

Okay well I have Vista Ultimate Upgrade (retail) sitting right beside me, unopened.. and when I read the news about the deactivation of your XP CD-Key I said no way am I installing.. but let me call Microsoft to confirm all is well.

I asked them the question straight up if my XP Key becomes deactivated and I can no longer activate any installations with that CD-Key.. they said no thats not true, it will NOT deactivate your key.

Then, to make sure, I gave them the senario to ensure they were on the same page as me.

I basically said in the event I need to format and re-install my OS; I will obiviously first need to install XP and Activitate it before I can "upgrade" it to vista. So, in this case, I will still be able to install and activiate XP again even though I've already performed an upgrade on this license before, right? They said yes I will have no problems.

So, as per the customer service agent in the department of licensing and product information we should all be fine.

[ahfunaki]

good to know...

[blachole]

I ended up installing it anyways, but this settles my stomach after reading all the stories about this. Thanks!

[trparky]

Thank you!

That's been a question that I've had for the past two days. Nice to have an official answer to this nagging question.

[DJLunacy]

good to know, I didn't think that would be the case in light of the needing to install and activate XP before the upgrade.

But stranger things have happened.

Thanks

[bilemke]

nX07 asked the exact question I thought of as soon as I noticed this topic.

Vista Upgrades requiring a activated copy of XP would only be able to install Vista once and never reinstall (if this de-activating keys thing were true).

[Gambit MEM]

Thanks! Your time and effort on this are greatly appreciated.

[dirtfarmer]

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?show...#entry588277583

EULA/CD Key De-activation blah blah blah Answer, I called MS

Okay well I have Vista Ultimate Upgrade (retail) sitting right beside me, unopened.. and when I read the news about the deactivation of your XP CD-Key I said no way am I installing.. but let me call Microsoft to confirm all is well.

I asked them the question straight up if my XP Key becomes deactivated and I can no longer activate any installations with that CD-Key.. they said no thats not true, it will NOT deactivate your key.

Then, to make sure, I gave them the senario to ensure they were on the same page as me.

I basically said in the event I need to format and re-install my OS; I will obiviously first need to install XP and Activitate it before I can "upgrade" it to vista. So, in this case, I will still be able to install and activiate XP again even though I've already performed an upgrade on this license before, right? They said yes I will have no problems.

So, as per the customer service agent in the department of licensing and product information we should all be fine.

................................

http://www.tomcoyote.org/tech/vista-upgrad...your-xp-key/74/

Vista upgrade invalidates your XP key

If you choose to purchase an upgrade version of Windows Vista to upgrade XP, you will no longer be able to use that version of XP. Either on another system, or as a dual-boot option. The key will be invalidated, preventing activation.

From Vista?s EULA found here (PDF) :

13. UPGRADES. To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the software that is eligiblefor 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.

For many people this may not be a problem, but it?s a change from earlier versions of Windows.

Update: Workaround posted here!

http://www.tomcoyote.org/security/workarou...pgrade-dvds/76/

Workaround For Clean Install With Vista Upgrade DVDs

ActiveWin published a workaround provided by Microsoft internal documentation for Vista Upgrade DVDs that will not invalidate the Windows XP Key, as discussed here.

Edit Update: As noted in the comments below, Blair provided the original source, not credited by ActiveWin, as Paul Thurrott.

?Per Microsoft?s new licensing requirements for Vista, users are required to install a Windows Vista Upgrade from within Windows XP. When this occurs, the Windows XP license is forfeited and the Windows Vista installation process can take place. Now, however, this workaround allows users to perform a ?clean install.? The process is a bit tedious, but is not hard are all to complete. Users have to perform these simple steps to perform a clean install of Vista without a previous version of Windows installed with an upgrade DVD:

1. Boot from the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD and start the setup program.

2. When prompted to enter your product key, DO NOT enter it. Click ?Next? and proceed with setup. This will install Windows Vista as a 30-day trial.

3. When prompted, select the edition of Vista which you have purchased and continue with setup.

4. Once setup has been completed and you have been brought to the desktop for the first time, run the install program from within Windows Vista.

5. This time, type in your product key when prompted.

6. When asked whether to perform an Upgrade or Custom (advanced) install, choose Custom (advanced) to perform a clean install of Vista. Yes, this means that you will have to install Vista for a second time.

7. Once setup has completed for the second time, you should be able to activate Windows Vista normally. You can also delete the Windows.old directory which contains information from the first Vista install.?

.......................................

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10152_102-0.ht...amp;tag=nl.e729

Buzz Out Loud Lounge: Is it true? Vista upgrades invalidate XP licenses???

................................................

http://forums.winxpcentral.com/showthread.php?p=42580

Vista upgrade invalidates your XP key

Yea, this was a topic of discussion at the Launch Today. I was asked this question by a very nice couple.

If you choose to purchase an upgrade version of Windows Vista to upgrade XP, you will no longer be able to use that version of XP. Either on another system, or as a dual-boot option. The key will be invalidated, preventing activation

You can relax people, this has been proven incorrect.

See https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.ph...entry588277583

Even Microsoft knows that if they did this, they would be really shooting themselves in the foot.

And besides, the XP EULA has the same clause.

9. UPGRADES. To use Software identified as an upgrade, you must first be licensed for the software identified by Microsoft as eligible for the upgrade. After upgrading, you may no longer use the software that formed the basis for your upgrade eligibility.

Its just that this is the first time Microsoft will be taking the ability of just feeding the installer a CD of a past version of Windows away from us.

[nX07]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Internet Media.. one some source reads the EULA the wrong way and spits out bent truth, everybody else is there to spit it out again.

Not only did Microsoft confirm this is not true, but there was also several people here on neowin in various threads that let known their XP keys were not invalid after their upgrade.

[+DKAngel Subscriber²]

if ppl didnt freak out everytime so much bullcrap wouldnt spread so fast

use your common sence ppl!