Sign In
Register
Help
ok, i have an old windows 95 oem and 98 upgrade disc, i was thinking that at that time they didn't have the technology to track what machines the windows was installed. Could i use those discs to use an upgrade disc for vista for my new build?
Page 1 of 1
cutting costs by upgrading windows instead of oem
MultiQuote
#2
techie4fun 
- Expert
-
- Group: Members
- Posts: 2,838
- Joined: 18-October 06
Posted 12 May 2008 - 07:24 AM
Hang on, I'm trying to figure out what you are doing:
You don't want to shell out the extra money for the full install version of Vista, so you would rather buy an upgrade version of Vista; consequently, one disk you have is a Windows 98 OEM along with a 98 upgrade disk; furthermore, you want to know if you can install Vista by upgrading from 95 or 98?
You don't want to shell out the extra money for the full install version of Vista, so you would rather buy an upgrade version of Vista; consequently, one disk you have is a Windows 98 OEM along with a 98 upgrade disk; furthermore, you want to know if you can install Vista by upgrading from 95 or 98?
#3
rgreen4
- Moderator
-
- Group: Moderators
- Posts: 7,705
- Joined: 22-October 06
- Location:S. Georgia
Posted 12 May 2008 - 07:42 AM
The answer is Yes and No.
XP Upgrade requires the insertion of a previous edition of Windows to install the product.
Vista does away with requirement, but rather than have to install a viable previous edition, and then run the upgrade from withing that OS, there is a method to do a clean install using only the Vista Upgrade install disc. Here is a link to Paul Thurrott's instructions. I used this method to do a clean install of Vista when upgrading from XP MCE as I had so much trouble with MCE I wanted no trace of it on the machine after upgrading.
On a more practical point from my viewpoint here's what I see as the difference between the OEM version of Windows Vista and the Upgrade package.
The OEM comes in a plastic DVD sized box, costs $100 from Newegg (w/SP1, $90 without) has no MS technical phone support and cannot be moved to another machine. The Upgrade comes in the "Vista styled" plastic box, costs $123 from Newegg (w/SP1), has limited MS technical phone support and may be might be able to be moved to another machine.
Me, if I'm building a machine - I would buy the OEM. In fact faced with that choice, I did. That's what's on my new machine (along with XP on a second drive). I will confess, that the sticker is not on the machine but the slim CD case the original DVD is in, because the machine is actually in a temporary case. I have the new case, just haven't made the time to move it yet.
As for the technical telephone support, I have not had reason to call them on any OS, and with the PC World Community there is even less reason to do so today. There is no time limit on the PCW warmth and support.
XP Upgrade requires the insertion of a previous edition of Windows to install the product.
Vista does away with requirement, but rather than have to install a viable previous edition, and then run the upgrade from withing that OS, there is a method to do a clean install using only the Vista Upgrade install disc. Here is a link to Paul Thurrott's instructions. I used this method to do a clean install of Vista when upgrading from XP MCE as I had so much trouble with MCE I wanted no trace of it on the machine after upgrading.
On a more practical point from my viewpoint here's what I see as the difference between the OEM version of Windows Vista and the Upgrade package.
The OEM comes in a plastic DVD sized box, costs $100 from Newegg (w/SP1, $90 without) has no MS technical phone support and cannot be moved to another machine. The Upgrade comes in the "Vista styled" plastic box, costs $123 from Newegg (w/SP1), has limited MS technical phone support and may be might be able to be moved to another machine.
Me, if I'm building a machine - I would buy the OEM. In fact faced with that choice, I did. That's what's on my new machine (along with XP on a second drive). I will confess, that the sticker is not on the machine but the slim CD case the original DVD is in, because the machine is actually in a temporary case. I have the new case, just haven't made the time to move it yet.
As for the technical telephone support, I have not had reason to call them on any OS, and with the PC World Community there is even less reason to do so today. There is no time limit on the PCW warmth and support.
#4
kcihtred2
- Advanced Member
-
- Group: Members
- Posts: 273
- Joined: 07-September 07
- Location:At My Computer!!!
Posted 12 May 2008 - 08:14 AM
kinda, i want to use my 95 retail version, install it on the machine, then right away upgrade to vista ultimate, to save some $$$. i also have a 98 upgrade disc at my disposal if we need it. not 2 versions of 98. finally i want to get arid of the other OS so that i only have vista on it. and i dont care about tech support (thanks to pcworld.com :) )
btw will windows 95 or 98 work with a core 2 quad or athlon x2 black?
btw will windows 95 or 98 work with a core 2 quad or athlon x2 black?
#5
rgreen4
- Moderator
-
- Group: Moderators
- Posts: 7,705
- Joined: 22-October 06
- Location:S. Georgia
Posted 12 May 2008 - 10:40 AM
With Vista Ultimate - it changes things a bit. The price difference between the OEM and Upgrade distribution is closer, and the OEM only has one bit version wheras the Upgrade has both.
The OEM 32bit package from Newegg is $189.99 for the 32bit and $179.99 for the 64bit, both with SP1. The 64bit w/o SP1 is 169.99.
The Upgrade package is $199.99 and the full retail is $279.99. Both packages are SP-1 and both contain 32bit and 64bit versions.
For $10 more you get the 64bit version if you have the hardware and aren't using apps that require a 32bit OS rather than the 64bit. Of course you can install the 32bit version and upgrade to the 64bit version later (using the same disc).
There is no advantage to installing 95 or 98 as neither is an upgradable path to Vista. If you are going to upgrade from within the existing OS, it must be Win2K, XP, or another version of Vista (lower or same level). I don't know of anyone who has tried it, but since 95 and 98 were FAT32 at most, and Vista is NTFS, I doubt it would even run. I may try my Vista Home Premium Upgrade disc on my old 98 machine just to see what the reaction is.
As to whether 95 or 98 for that matter would run on a dual core - your joking right? I doubt if it would recognize the drive (too large) the memory (out of its range) and the drive controller (SATA? what's that), not to mention no drivers for the USB connections, Raid (what's that?) I thought at one time when I was getting a little silly to see if I could turn my tri-boot (Vista HP, XP Pro, W2k Pro) machine into a quad boot (Vista, XP, W2K, 98), but recognizing that there was too much about the machine it wouldn't recognize (C2D E6750, 4 GB DDR2 6400, SATA HD's, 2 Raid Controllers) plus the fact that the Gigabyte Driver Disc didn't have drivers for 98 on it, returned me to semi-sanity. I decided that W2K is primitive enough, and left 98 on my old P3 1000 with the 4GB IDE drive.
The OEM 32bit package from Newegg is $189.99 for the 32bit and $179.99 for the 64bit, both with SP1. The 64bit w/o SP1 is 169.99.
The Upgrade package is $199.99 and the full retail is $279.99. Both packages are SP-1 and both contain 32bit and 64bit versions.
For $10 more you get the 64bit version if you have the hardware and aren't using apps that require a 32bit OS rather than the 64bit. Of course you can install the 32bit version and upgrade to the 64bit version later (using the same disc).
There is no advantage to installing 95 or 98 as neither is an upgradable path to Vista. If you are going to upgrade from within the existing OS, it must be Win2K, XP, or another version of Vista (lower or same level). I don't know of anyone who has tried it, but since 95 and 98 were FAT32 at most, and Vista is NTFS, I doubt it would even run. I may try my Vista Home Premium Upgrade disc on my old 98 machine just to see what the reaction is.
As to whether 95 or 98 for that matter would run on a dual core - your joking right? I doubt if it would recognize the drive (too large) the memory (out of its range) and the drive controller (SATA? what's that), not to mention no drivers for the USB connections, Raid (what's that?) I thought at one time when I was getting a little silly to see if I could turn my tri-boot (Vista HP, XP Pro, W2k Pro) machine into a quad boot (Vista, XP, W2K, 98), but recognizing that there was too much about the machine it wouldn't recognize (C2D E6750, 4 GB DDR2 6400, SATA HD's, 2 Raid Controllers) plus the fact that the Gigabyte Driver Disc didn't have drivers for 98 on it, returned me to semi-sanity. I decided that W2K is primitive enough, and left 98 on my old P3 1000 with the 4GB IDE drive.
Page 1 of 1
