can use an oem vista home key with a vista business ISO from microsoft?

[goodseed]

Hello all,

I have a Dell pc with vista home premium installed and i would like to do a wipe and reinstall. Problem is I don't have the oem disc. Can I use an ISO of vista business from the Microsoft volume licensing center? Please don't suggest I go get CD's from somewhere, of course this would work. Thanks in advance!

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Can you use a Vista Business .iso? Yes.
Can you use the Vista Home Premium key to activate it? NO.

Each version has its own key set and they are not interchangeable.

 

[goodseed]

I ask this because I have read several forum posts with conflicting answers on this. Some say that you can use any disc for the install and the version is determined by what cd key you use.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Wrong. An OEM key cannot be used to activate a retail version (and vice-versa). And neither can activate a volume licensed version (and vice-versa).

 

[JDFan]

Wrong. An OEM key cannot be used to activate a retail version (and vice-versa). And neither can activate a volume licensed version (and vice-versa).

That would be correct in windows 7 but with VISTA there were only 4 different disks sold :

SOURCE : WIKIPEDIA ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista_editions )

Microsoft sells four different Vista DVDs in non-emerging markets: Retail/OEM 32-bit, Retail/OEM 64-bit, VL (Volume Licensing) 32-bit and VL 64-bit. The Retail/OEM DVD contains all editions of Windows Vista except Enterprise. The license-key purchased determines which version will get installed; the VL DVD can only install Business or Enterprise edition. Users can "unlock" the features of the Home Premium and Ultimate editions at any time by purchasing a one-time upgrade license through a Control Panel tool called Windows Anytime Upgrade. Similarly one can upgrade the Business edition to Vista Ultimate. End-users purchase such licenses from Microsoft's partners and OEMs, not directly from Microsoft.

So the RETAIL and OEM versions of 32 bit or 64 bit are interchangeable and useable to install any version of VISTA except Enterprise and the installation media will install the relevant files based on the Product Key that is entered !!

 

[ex_bubblehead]

My original answer (No) still stands. The op was asking if an OEM key would activate a Volume Licensed version.

 

[JDFan]

My original answer (No) still stands. The op was asking if an OEM key would activate a Volume Licensed version.

Ahh - yes that is correct then but he could download the installation files from Digital River and burn an installation disk !

Download for the VISTA install files and a tutorial on creating the bootable iso can be found HERE ( http://downloadsnfix.blogspot.com/2012/08/microsoft-windows-vista-official-iso.html ) -- the links go directly to the digital river source which is Microsofts approved digital download source.