Changing Vista retail disc to an OEM?

[HubCityPC]

Hey guys I'm in need of a little help or a point in the right direction.

I have a customer with a Vaio laptop that was severely corrupted. After wasting quite a bit of time on it, I decided to nuke and pave. It's a few years old anyway and could use a refresh. This computer does not have a recovery image on the drive and the customer does not have his physical OS disc.

I'm a Technet subscriber and figured no problem, I'll just d/l the ISO, change it to an OEM version and nLite a new image. This is the first time I've tried doing that with anything newer than XP and well....there's no setup.ini file to edit.

I Googled around and found a few guides but I'm not so confident in the sources. Has anyone successfully done this and if so, could you point me to a reliable online guide or sum up the process here?

While researching I did discover that nLite won't work with Vista but I have already d/l and installed vLite.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[myPCTechs]

What brand OEM is it? Dell, HP, etc. If I remember correctly, each OEM install now since Vista has their own product key allotment and you must have the correct OEM install to match the key. We tried installing a Dell OEM to an HP one time, for example, and the key failed.

The easiest way for us to handle this problem in the past was to download the correct OEM, or in some cases locate a tech who had a copy.

 

[HubCityPC]

It's a Sony Vaio. I grabbed the key off the machine using a portable app and it did not match what was on the COA on the bottom of the laptop.

I just ran across this and I'm wondering if this will work??? The article seems to talk only about Windows 7.

Kevin

 

[arrow_runner]

I'm definitely interested in what you find. Keep us updated!

 

[dogskool]

I haven't used these guys, but I almost did:

http://www.restoredisks.com/default.aspx

I was able to order the restore disk directly from Sony.

 

[ajc196]

You're over-thinking it. Retail Vista discs are able to use both retail and OEM keys. So nothing at all has to be changed. I've never tried an upgrade key, so I dunno about that though.

On TechNet, I believe the image is just listed out as Windows Vista with SP2 (the iso is Vista Ultimate retail). Just get that in x86 and x64 flavors, and you're good to install with any version's key, OEM and retail both.

EDIT:

Oh, just saw you linked to my previous post... item 2 mentions the same thing I just said about Vista Ultimate retail being able to install any version, OEM or retail.

ALSO:

The product key on the COA is what you want to use. Most of the time, the key in the system will not match the COA because the drives are mass-imaged at the factory. Therefore, the key you grab from the originally-shipped OS has (I'd guess) a 5% chance of actually activating.

 

[JRDtechnet]

All Vista dvds have all the versions even if it says Home Premium you can still install Ultimate from it. And it will install and activate with any key, I use my MAPS Vista dvd to do reinstalls using the COA on the computer. You just have to pick 32-bit or 64-bit retail COAs will activate with both, but OEM's won't.

 

[swaddo]

I dont have to reinstall many vista machines from scratch (most times I can recover the restore parition), but i recently had some trouble putting vista back on a couple of toshiba notebooks (L300) using a retail Vista Home Premium disk. In both cases it would not accept the key on the COA.

Is it only the ultimate disks that work with all keys?

 

[TLE]

just d/l the ISO, change it to an OEM version and nLite a new image. This is the first time I've tried doing that with anything newer than XP and well....there's no setup.ini file to edit.

nLite doesn't work with Vista, so you will have to download vLite instead. Bear in mind it only supports slipstreaming of SP1 and not SP2.

Note to self-read all of post before replying...doh!!!

 

[HubCityPC]

Thanks for the input guys but it seems like a few techs have different opinions or experiences.

I have tried Vista x64 Home Premium and Ultimate discs and used the COA on the bottom of the laptop. It accepts the key during setup but once the install is complete it will not activate.

So am I understanding correctly that using a retail Vista x64 Ultimate ISO should work?

For those mentioning the fact that you can use a Vista ISO to install any version of the OS, I understand that and yes, it does indeed work. That much I was aware. The issue is the flavor of the ISO i.e. Retail vs. OEM and what key it will accept.

Thanks again,
Kevin

 

[TLE]

I have tried Vista x64 Home Premium and Ultimate discs and used the COA on the bottom of the laptop. It accepts the key during setup but once the install is complete it will not activate.

I would try the Microsoft phone activation.

There seems to be a lot of conflicting information on this subject. Some say retail COA keys will activate on OEM and retails DVD's, and OEM COA will only activate with OEM media and others say it shouldn't matter.

I personally tend to use the kind of media that the original installation used. I rarely run into activation issues this way.

 

[HubCityPC]

I would try the Microsoft phone activation.

I personally tend to use the kind of media that the original installation used. I rarely run into activation issues this way.

I think I will try to go the phone route.

I too try to avoid these situations but in this case there was no alternative. The customer just didn't have his media.

To top things off I'm also trying to track down a copy of Office 2007 student for this same customer. Again, got the key but no media. Technet doesn't have the student version available for d/l and so far, no luck finding a trial online since 2010 came out. I tried using a standard version thinking it would recognize the key as a student version and only install the appropriate programs but no....complete fail.

I really wish people held on to their media!!! It certainly makes things much easier. I would have been finished with this job in a few hours if I had what I needed!

Kevin

 

[ajc196]

They will activate, there's just a method you have to do. Skip entering a key until you actually get into Windows. Once in Windows, go to System, and change your product key there. If you wait until you're inside Windows to give it a key, I promise it will activate online every time. I've been doing this method for 2 years and it has never failed on me yet.

Now, whether or not the above works with a non-Ultimate image, I dunno. I only use the Ultimate retail from TechNet, so YMMV.

 

[Dark]

They will activate, there's just a method you have to do. Skip entering a key until you actually get into Windows. Once in Windows, go to System, and change your product key there. If you wait until you're inside Windows to give it a key, I promise it will activate online every time. I've been doing this method for 2 years and it has never failed on me yet.

I'm interested in trying this for myself.

 

[ajc196]

I'm interested in trying this for myself.

Definitely, it's a great trick. Unfortunately, the same does not apply for 7. Its online activations are way too spotty to observe a consistent pattern.

Also, once again, keep in mind that unless you're using the Vista Ultimate retail image, YMMV.

 

[Dark]

Sorry, YMMV?
I know as soon as you tell me that that means I'll smack my forehead and go 'duh' but it's escaping me right now. lol

 

[ajc196]

Your mileage may vary.

For future reference:

http://www.urbandictionary.com

 

[Dark]

Haha, Thanks.
Never would have guessed it.

 

[Mushin]

I would try the Microsoft phone activation.

There seems to be a lot of conflicting information on this subject. Some say retail COA keys will activate on OEM and retails DVD's, and OEM COA will only activate with OEM media and others say it shouldn't matter.

I personally tend to use the kind of media that the original installation used. I rarely run into activation issues this way.

+1 I have yet to have a phone activation not work for us.

 

[arrow_runner]

I actually just got done testing using the Vista technet DVD. Here is what I did.

Download and burn en_windows_vista_with_sp2_x86_dvd_342266.iso from technet.

Install and use the OEM key. I did this once with a Dell and once with a Toshiba.

The install goes fine, and the once the minimum networking drivers on on the computer, start the activation wizard. (slui is the command).

It will error out saying that's the wrong key. Just click change key and retype the key again and it works.

I haven't tried this on anything but Vista Home Premium, but between this and what the other guy above me said, the Vista disks do work.