How well does Vista upgrade from XP?

[woody]

Ok, so I got my vista disks (interestingly ramesys have split the DVD across 4 cds),

 

I got the code.

 

Should I try to upgrade my PC from XP? How well will currently installed software work after the upgrade? If I bought two licenses initially, (I purchased them from ramesys under the volume license agreement) is there a limit to how many times I can install with the product key, or is it like XP where basically you are trusted to purchase the number of licenses you plan to use, but there are not actual restrictions on installs.

 

BTW I ask this because I want to install on test machines, but afterward I will probably wipe them. I don't necessarily want vista to stay on them.

[Geoff]

I'm a veteran of two failed upgrades. I suggest you start from scratch. Even if it does work you end up with the odd hangover. A clean system is much more pleasant to use.

[Netman]

Worked well on my workstation - only software problems were acrobat 6 standard, ab tutor control (solved in update) and I still can't run AD Users and Computers (won't open snap-in).. in fairness, haven't even tried to fix the last one yet... pretty much everything runs after the upgrade.

 

Depends which type of licence key you have... but if you're not doing the local licence activation then MS have a record of how many Vista licences you hold and count them off as you activate them. Surely you won't need to activate for testing puposes though?

 

Only do it with a good backup in place as there is NO rollback afterwards!

[srochford]

http://www.petri.co.il/running_win_2003_adminpak_on_vista_rtm.htm gives details of how to use the admin tools on Vista - there won't be a "proper" release until Longhorn ships.

 

Steve

[john]

Hmmm, I have had them working no problems on my Vista rig without modifications. MS would not let that go through as they are designed to be used with Server 2000 and 2003 so thats not right. I will do some digging....

[anthrax69]

its better to "fresh" install than upgrade. its more of psychological factor.... hahaha! 8)

[Gatt]

I tend to agree with a fresh install - take just under an Hour

An upgrade, however, takes almost 3 hour!!

[mrforgetful]

Ok, so I got my vista disks (interestingly ramesys have split the DVD across 4 cds),

 

Is this been standard practice for Vista from Ramesys?

 

I may well look at moving my School Agreement to another company if this is the case. It's bad enough them making us pay for media that they download for free nevermind then making it even more shoddy and useless. 'Oh I'll leave my Vista installing and go do something, damn I can't I have to be here to swap disks'

[Chris]

I did upgrade from XP pro, worked fine, i agree i was fed up with disk swaps, i took 2 hours, i didnt lose any softwares or settings at all

 

i will recommend upgrade just to save time,

 

one issue norton antivirus enterprise edition is not compatible

[gwendes]

I'd be steering well clear from CD swapping anyway - make and image and then let ghost work it's magic! Can the CDs be converted into a DVD?

Has anyone else found that integral software has problems?

[mrforgetful]

Surely that's not the point! Why, when I'm paying £20 for media, should I have to spend my own time, and use my own DVD, to make media I can use?

[DMcCoy]

VLK media is usually an additional cost, with a schools agreement you get the current set of discs when it starts but thats all (you do get to download the ISO images from MS licensing site though ).

[gwendes]

I suppose they did it to be helpful really- not many schools are decked out with DVD drives in every room. You'll probably end up with a decent layer of DVDs and CDs anyway. I've got an XP everywhere I look!

[mrforgetful]

VLK media is usually an additional cost, with a schools agreement you get the current set of discs when it starts but thats all (you do get to download the ISO images from MS licensing site though ).

 

Not through Ramesys you don't, they won't alllow it because (presumably) of how they've set up their account.

 

So, do you mean I should be receiving some disks and a key for Vista some time soon?

[AlexB]

I get our volume licensing from Insight. When I signed up I was sent every CD/DVD possible to buy a license for and 4 pretty cases for them to go in direct from Microsoft. This year when I renewed the agreement they sent the same stuff out again and throughout the year I receive new CD/DVDs as they release updates... Its a lot damn better than the more expensive licenses I bought from County b4 and the £25 per disc I wanted!

[mrforgetful]

I get our volume licensing from Insight. When I signed up I was sent every CD/DVD possible to buy a license for and 4 pretty cases for them to go in direct from Microsoft. This year when I renewed the agreement they sent the same stuff out again and throughout the year I receive new CD/DVDs as they release updates... Its a lot damn better than the more expensive licenses I bought from County b4 and the £25 per disc I wanted!

 

Right, this is what I believed the Agreement was like, but it seems as a cost cutting exercise it is not.

 

Does anyone know how we'd go about moving our agreement to another company?

[DMcCoy]

You can't

 

I am awaiting a refund from Ramesys for an incorrect Schools agreement, its only taken me 5 months to get this far!

 

When my cheque does arrive, I will be in the position of having no licenses, but due to the active (incorrect) schools agreement, I will not be able to start another agreement!

 

Ramesys got it wrong, microsoft made it worse.

[mrforgetful]

DMcCoy, could you ellaborate a bit for me?

 

What do you mean it was incorrect? In what way and what effect did it have?

 

So it's not possible to just ring up Insight or someone else of the Microsoft list and get things from them instead? I'd have to pay it all again?

 

It's so confusing!

[GrumbleDook]

Schools Agreements and Select Agreements are specific to the reseller you get it from. The reseller often negotiates better deals (in the case of Ramesys and the SSAT) that you can take part in. Should you leave that agreement you do not take licences with you.

 

The difference between Select and Schools is that you can have more than one Select Agreement open.

 

Most schools that work outside of Schools Agreements or Select Agreements do so under the VL agreements (the revamped OPen Agreements) which allow you to buy what you want and when you want ... it is from these agreements that you get access to a download site for images. If you have a Select Agreement that is limited to your school then you are also likely to have a download site of your own. If you are part of a Select Agreement that is part of a cluster / consortia / LA then the individual school is unlikely to have access to a download site and must purchase media, either original MS media or rebranded by the reseller.

 

There is a lot more stuff that goes into it, but that is a shortend version ... part of the issue of Vista has been how authentication is controlled for resellers that have schools in Select Agreements consisting of tens or hundereds of schools ... and that appears to be sorted now.

 

It is has been very easy for things to go wrong ... and for licences to be abused. A number of companies are tightening things up now and in some cases it leaves some schools high and dry but others have found things easier.

 

Because Schools Agreement is an annual cost you can drop it from one supplier and take it up with another ... but the admin of this is difficult.

 

Does this make anything a bit clearer?

[localzuk]

VLK media is usually an additional cost, with a schools agreement you get the current set of discs when it starts but thats all (you do get to download the ISO images from MS licensing site though ).

 

We have a schools agreement and get a constant stream of discs sent to us. We received Vista on DVD and CD this month, and Office 2007 and a bunch of other stuff.

[mrforgetful]

Yes GrumbleDook that makes it a bit clearer, thankyou.

[DMcCoy]

DMcCoy, could you ellaborate a bit for me?

 

What do you mean it was incorrect? In what way and what effect did it have?

 

So it's not possible to just ring up Insight or someone else of the Microsoft list and get things from them instead? I'd have to pay it all again?

 

It's so confusing!

 

You can change the agreement to whoever you want when it expires.

 

I guess it might be possible to move it while its running, but it will probably kill you trying to get it done!

 

I used to do it though Misco, and everything was fine. This year I changed to Ramesys, I sent the order (with part codes) and paid (as the agreement wouldn't become active for two months). When the agreement started the products on it were wrong and not the ones I ordered (and paid for!).

 

Since September I have been fighting with Ramesys and Microsoft to get the situation resolved, it seems you can't alter the items on a schools agreement once it has started. You might be able to add additional ones, but as it was my primary desktop that was wrong, and my servers, and exchange - and I was now 4 months into trying to get it fixed, I gave up. I told Ramesys to refund me (hopefully this will appear soon!).

 

Now it gets even more fun

 

When I get my refund, technically I will have not purchased any licenses, but I will have a running schools agreement according to Microsofts Network operations Center. This means that I will be unable to order another agreement (with correct licenses this time I hope) until the last has cleared. Do you notice the slight problem with that? Yes, I will have no licenses!

 

Ramesys have been too difficult to contact and too slow in trying to fix a mistake (that I did not make - original order from the school is correct). However, Microsoft have made it almost impossible to correct a schools agreement once it is underway, so I can't blame Ramesys completely.

 

What effect? 5 Months of Hell and spending my life trying to get through to people who might be able to help, and not getting very far.