Solved Vista Versions

manewman

New Member
I have a DVD that enables me to select any Vista 64 version that I choose based on product key. By mistake I entered the key for "Enterprise" when I wanted "Ultimate". The Enterprise version does not include Media Center and I just want to add Windows Media Center without uninstalling and reinstalling the OS. The install CD will not let me upgrade.
Are there any Registry tweeks I can do to turn on Media Center or change the install to Ultimate?
 
Last edited:

My Computer

Hi manewman, welcome to the board,

Can you delete the optical drive and reinstall it then choose "Ultimate" again like it is a newly install hardware?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    E6850
    Motherboard
    EVGA 122-CK-NF67-A1 680i
    Memory
    4 x OCZ Platinum 1GB
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
    Sound Card
    SB X-Fi X Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 23" 5MS
    Screen Resolution
    2048 x 1152
    Hard Drives
    2 x Barracuda 7200.10 320GB RAID 0 / 1 x 500GB Maxtor
    PSU
    Seasonic 600W M12
    Case
    CM Centurion 5
    Cooling
    air
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
Did you mean a DVD drive or a DVD disk? I took it as a DVD drive which is = to an optical drive. Sorry for the confusion.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    E6850
    Motherboard
    EVGA 122-CK-NF67-A1 680i
    Memory
    4 x OCZ Platinum 1GB
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
    Sound Card
    SB X-Fi X Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 23" 5MS
    Screen Resolution
    2048 x 1152
    Hard Drives
    2 x Barracuda 7200.10 320GB RAID 0 / 1 x 500GB Maxtor
    PSU
    Seasonic 600W M12
    Case
    CM Centurion 5
    Cooling
    air
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
Hello Manewman, and welcome to Vista Forums.

I'm sorry but since you installed Enterprise, the only way to go to Ultimate that I know of is by a clean install with a different product key number for Ultimate instead of Enterprise. :(

Sorry,
Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2, 4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2, 8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system, Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam, HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn, APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI, Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Indeed, I don't think it's actually installed at all. Although, your key is for Enterprise, which means that's what you bought. By reinstalling with no proper key, you will be able to use Vista Ultimate, in trial mode.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Other Info
    Windows 7 is love~~
Hi manewman,

As far as I can make out, all Vista DVDs are identical and contain all versions of Vista (with the 32-bit and 64-bit versions being on separate discs). It is the product key that you enter during install that determines which version (and therefore which features are/are not) is installed. The Enterprise product key is aimed at businesses of upto 250 computers and is designed so that the same key can be used on multiple machines of the same type. This is to facilitate ease of deployment by the company's in-house IT support department. As this licensing option is geared towards business operations, this key will install the Business version of Vista. The only way of getting Media Center onto your PC would be a clean install of Ultimate with a new product key (as suggested by Shawn). This would give you all the features of the Business edition, together with the media capabilities that you require. You should be aware though that your IT department may not take very kindly to this and may automatically reinstall the Enterprise (Business) version of Vista on your machine. It is possible to install additional programs that give some, but not all, of the facilities of Media Center, although again your IT department may have put restrictions on your system to prevent the installation of such programs. Even if they haven't, it is quite possible that when they carry out the automatic redeployment of Vista to your machine (as mentioned above) that this restriction may be put in place.
If you are using the Enterprise license on your home PC then you could also be in breach of the licensing terms as this license is only intended for businesses. To be on the safe side, if this is the case, I would purchase a new product key and use that to perform a clean install of the Ultimate version of Vista.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 r09/2013
    CPU
    Intel Core-i5-3570K 4-core @ 3.4GHz (Ivy Bridge) (OC 4.2GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M
    Memory
    4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (16GB)
    Graphics card(s)
    MSI GeForce GTX770 Gaming OC 2GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition on board solution (ALC 898)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VA1912w Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA III x2 (RAID 0) Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA II x2 Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA II Iomega 1.5TB Ext USB 2.0 WD 2.0TB Ext USB 3.0
    PSU
    XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular
    Case
    Gigabyte IF233
    Cooling
    1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust
    Mouse
    Microsoft Comfort Mouse 3000 for Business (USB)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 (USB)
    Internet Speed
    NetGear DG834Gv3 ADSL Modem/Router (Ethernet) ~4.0 Mb/s (O2)
    Other Info
    Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 SATA Bluray Lexmark S305 Printer/Scanner/Copier (USB) WEI Score: 8.1/8.1/8.5/8.5/8.25 Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter)
Thanks for all your help on this!!
I do have a volume license from work but it was my mistake in entering the wrong key from the list supplied from my IT department. I was trying to avoid blowing away the work I had already completed with a clean install using the correct key.
 

My Computer

Hi manewman,

In that case, backup (and verify) all your data/work that you have already completed and then reinstall using the correct key. You can then recover the data/work from the backup you created. You will, of course, need to reinstall your applications such as Office 2007 or Open Office and any other application(s) that you use.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 r09/2013
    CPU
    Intel Core-i5-3570K 4-core @ 3.4GHz (Ivy Bridge) (OC 4.2GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M
    Memory
    4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (16GB)
    Graphics card(s)
    MSI GeForce GTX770 Gaming OC 2GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition on board solution (ALC 898)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VA1912w Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA III x2 (RAID 0) Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA II x2 Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA II Iomega 1.5TB Ext USB 2.0 WD 2.0TB Ext USB 3.0
    PSU
    XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular
    Case
    Gigabyte IF233
    Cooling
    1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust
    Mouse
    Microsoft Comfort Mouse 3000 for Business (USB)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 (USB)
    Internet Speed
    NetGear DG834Gv3 ADSL Modem/Router (Ethernet) ~4.0 Mb/s (O2)
    Other Info
    Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 SATA Bluray Lexmark S305 Printer/Scanner/Copier (USB) WEI Score: 8.1/8.1/8.5/8.5/8.25 Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter)
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