Clean Vista install WITH NO ACTIVATION

[WWScoobyDo]

This worked for me! Thanks a lot orev! I did it on my desktop...from 32-bit to 64-bit. Please take note that SOME HARDWARE WON'T WORK WITH A 64-BIT SYSTEM! Check your hardware first! I had to go back to being wired because my wireless adapter didn't have drivers for Vista 64. It's ok I just switched the computers and now my desktop can see the full 4GB of memory.

what model # and drivers didn't work? I'm thinking about going from 32 to 64 on my dv9500z. It seems like all the necessary 64 bit drivers are available from hp.com

[salemboot]

1. Boot into the bios
a. Set the date back to December 20th 2006
2. Boot off your recovery disc
a. During setup it will ultimately boot into Vista as you will see the Vista boot screen and etc. "I had mine installing the pre-installed software so I havn't checked a install without. I'm sure it will work though."
b. While it is installing. Hit CTRL - ALT - DEL and choose the task manager.
c. Start a new process, "cmd.exe"
d. type, "date 11-01-2007" Actually whatever today's date is.
e. type, "slmgr -rearm"
f. Wait for it to finish installing.

3. After all is done and installed. go to the command prompt and type slmgr -xpr

Walla! Totally activated!

This worked on my VAIO. SONY should have taken care of this for us, among others. I paid a lot for this laptop and I'm by far no pirate. So why are we treeted like scum. Vista isn't even that great. I mean you have to basically update it for 2-days to get the performance up. I had just gave in and installed UBUNTU then Slackware for some time. But one night I was thinking why I had to accept being treeted like a punk. I suspect my legitimate copy of 2007 office is just as bad.

I've actually delt with ms support trying to punch in the 32 bit code over the tele. They were nice about it but I don't like being questioned about my reasoning for having to reinstall. Put it like this, "Say its 2009 and you need to install vista again." Well you can't because the telephone is down. oh bother n/m

rant

[orev]

Interesting procedure. I would still be concerned that after your 30 days is up, or you run out of re-arm tries that it will eventually stop working. Using ABR will restore it completely so you don't ever have to worry about it.

If anyone gets that working, I'd be interested to hear about it.

[WWScoobyDo]

Orev,
In another post to me in a different thread, you made it sound like I would have no licensing issues taking my HP dv9500z with 32bit Vista Home Premium to 64bit Home Premium

However, in the original post in this thread:

However, there may be licensing issues with this, so you must determine if you are licensed to do this by looking at the license you have.

I just ordered the 64 bit anytime disc from CompUSA. I should be ok from a license standpoint, correct?

[orev]

Orev,
In another post to me in a different thread, you made it sound like I would have no licensing issues taking my HP dv9500z with 32bit Vista Home Premium to 64bit Home Premium

However, in the original post in this thread:


I just ordered the 64 bit anytime disc from CompUSA. I should be ok from a license standpoint, correct?

The key and activation will work on the 64bit version, and Microsoft has no incentive to prevent people from switching between 32 and 64 bit, as long as they are on the same edition of Vista.

I say that because I am not a lawyer, and this seems to be a gray area in the licensing terms. The general consensus is that you can do this with no problem.

[WWScoobyDo]

Sounds good, thanks again for you work on this thread. I'm hoping 64bit Vista with 4GB of ram will be a bit snappier than 32bit Vista with 2GB.

[KSC]

The key and activation will work on the 64bit version, and Microsoft has no incentive to prevent people from switching between 32 and 64 bit, as long as they are on the same edition of Vista.

That's right, the same activation procedure and even the license key on the bottom of the laptop will work for 64-bit - I've tried it and called Microsoft to activate my 64-bit license.

I say that because I am not a lawyer, and this seems to be a gray area in the licensing terms. The general consensus is that you can do this with no problem.

Yes and no.

While it will work, the license you agreed to when you bought the laptop was only for the 32-bit version, so HP will only support the 32-bit install. If you switch to 64-bit, HP will not honour the license and will not give you support until you re-install the 32-bit software.

As far as legit licensing from Microsoft, that's still a bit unclear, but most Microsoft reps claim it's legal to install the 64-bit version - one license is good for both as long as it's the same edition, like Premium, Ultimate, Business. But Microsoft does not support OEM editions, the hardware vendor does, so unless you buy a retail license, Microsoft will not help you if you have an OS issue.

Having said that, I switched to 64-bit because I know more about supporting my setup than both HP and Microsoft combined (google helps too), so I don't need them anyway.

Just verify that all of your peripherals (printer, scanner, etc.) are supported first and go for it, and have fun!

[KSC]

Sounds good, thanks again for you work on this thread. I'm hoping 64bit Vista with 4GB of ram will be a bit snappier than 32bit Vista with 2GB.

In my experience, the operating system itself is a bit snappier. If you have 64-bit applications that are written for multi-threaded CPUs, then they will be a bit snappier too.

However, 32-bit applications will run a bit slower. Not a lot, but a bit. I feel the trade-off is worth it.

NB - don't try to run 64-bit Vista with less than 1.5gigs of RAM as it will slow down quite a bit.

[orev]

That's right, the same activation procedure and even the license key on the bottom of the laptop will work for 64-bit - I've tried it and called Microsoft to activate my 64-bit license.

Yes and no.

While it will work, the license you agreed to when you bought the laptop was only for the 32-bit version, so HP will only support the 32-bit install. If you switch to 64-bit, HP will not honour the license and will not give you support until you re-install the 32-bit software.

As far as legit licensing from Microsoft, that's still a bit unclear, but most Microsoft reps claim it's legal to install the 64-bit version - one license is good for both as long as it's the same edition, like Premium, Ultimate, Business. But Microsoft does not support OEM editions, the hardware vendor does, so unless you buy a retail license, Microsoft will not help you if you have an OS issue.

Having said that, I switched to 64-bit because I know more about supporting my setup than both HP and Microsoft combined (google helps too), so I don't need them anyway.

Just verify that all of your peripherals (printer, scanner, etc.) are supported first and go for it, and have fun!

Maybe I should add a F-A-Q. I think it's sort of understood that if you do a clean install using this guide, it won't be supported by HP. I would expect that most people can figure this out, but you never know what to expect from people!

[KSC]

Maybe I should add a F-A-Q. I think it's sort of understood that if you do a clean install using this guide, it won't be supported by HP. I would expect that most people can figure this out, but you never know what to expect from people!

True...some people googling for info might not realize it's not supported.

PS - not sure if I said, "thanks for the guide" before, it made re-installs on my computer a lot easier (I re-install about 6-8 times a year due to alpha and beta tests).