Hey guys. Since my moms PC crashed, and our vista disc is nowhere to be found, I now have to "aquire" a vista home premium disc from the internet.

Will my moms Vista Home Premium Key work with a Vista Home Premium SP2 disc?

Note: My moms vista pc is from like the days BEFORE there was a service pack. So it is "SP0".
Also: On the websites where I can "aquire" a disc, there are downloads that seem to have like every single version of vista in the same download. I dont know how this works, so can someone help me?

(Also: Before I "aquire" one, I'll see if my old boss at the PC store where I worked, will lend me a disc. But I still will need my first question awnsered, as I think the only discs he has are ones with Vista SP2 or SP1 on them.)

As long as the version matches (Home Premium/Business/etc, 32-bit/64-bit), you should be fine. I have reinstalled XP numerous times with a SP2/SP3 disc on machines that got their XP key long before SP2 came out.

As long as the key is legit and matches the edition you want to install, it will work.



With Vista and Windows 7, all the different editions of the install discs are made from pretty much the same master. Every disc has the necessary files to install any version from Starter to Ultimate (which makes the "Anytime Upgrade" feature easier because all you have to do is buy a key). The only difference is a very small (1 or 2 kilobyte) configuration file that tells the installer what version to install. If that file isn't present, the installer will kick up a window that asks you which edition you want to install. Just select Home Premium on that screen and your Home Premium key will work.

Before you wait for the install disc to download, does your mom's PC have a recovery partition? (Some OEMs like Compaq, HP, and I think Gateway have an emergency partition you can boot from that acts like a set of recovery discs. It saves them the expense of manufacturing DVDs for every model.) If it does, use that instead because you know it will work and you don't have to wait for 4 gigs of DVD to download.

I would recommend against doing that. The recovery partition will restore it to how it was when you first got it. However, that also means you get all the pre-loaded crapware. If at all possible, I would suggest doing a reinstall from a plain Windows install disc. (Granted, you will likely have to do a bit of driver-hunting with the Windows disc, but I'd say it's worth it.)

Well, the recovery partition will have the proper drivers preinstalled, and removing all the trialware isn't that daunting of a task with tools like CCleaner and PC Decrapifier.