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[KW]

My company, RP Computer Services, provided an OEM disk which contained all versions of Vista, it is the product key that determines what version of Vista the disk will install.

Richard.

Your company would be the first company I have ever encountered that sells (or provides) an OEM disc with all the Windows variants on it, how much for the Win 7 all variants version?

[tunnie]

part of 'Windows Anytime Upgrade' - A single disc is shipped, version of Vista/7 is irrelevant, key unlocks specific version.

Reason? Faster Upgrades, ring Mr Bill Gates say how much you love Vista Basic, and you want Ultimate verison, new code, and bobs your uncle, upgrade complete.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Anytime_Upgrade

However KW is right.... (hate saying that  ) You buy a laptop off the shelf, the version of OS shipped with the recovery disk will more than likely be one it was 'sold' with, and not be upgradeable.

Its when you buy the OS packaged from MS you get this 'Windows Anytime Upgrade'

I've was Windows Fan for years, until halfway through Uni when i got my Intel Mac 

[KW]

However KW is right.... (hate saying that  )

I have 20 years on you, get used to it 

[Richard P]

To repeat and clarify my earlier posts.

Computer manufacturers have a duty to their customers to provide a means to allow the customer to restore his or her computer.
Large scale manufacturers tend to do this by having a restore partition on the hard drive and or provide a restore / installation disk. These restore / installation disks will only work with the system that they were supplied with.

Small scale manufacturers like myself should provide a genuine Windows disk with the system. This Windows disk is usually an OEM disk. The OEM disk is supplied in preference to a retail pack version as the OEM version is considerably cheaper. OEM versions of Windows tend not to be sold in the shops due to licensing restrictions.
In the past OEM versions of Windows could only be supplied either preinstalled on a system or sold together with qualifying hardware.

OEM versions of Windows can be identified as such as the legend "OEM Software" will appear on the packaging, on the disk, and on the license number label.

I must admit that I do occasionally have systems to work on where no means of restoring the system has been provided by the manufacturer but this is quite rare. All the  systems that I have worked on this week which were non branded have had Windows OEM disks with them.

An OEM Windows disk does not have all versions of Windows on it, I have not stated that it does.

The Windows Vista OEM disk was unique in that it contained all versions of Vista in the particular bit version. All Vista 32 bit disks were identical irrespective of what version you were supplied. It was the product key that you entered during installation that determined what version of Vista would be installed. The same applies to retail pack versions of Vista.

So to repeat my earlier answer to the initial question. Borrow a Vista disk from somebody (OEM or retail pack) and install using the serial number from the back of your computer.
Any Vista disk that you can get hold of will do, it need not be the same version as the one that you originally had on the computer. Obviously as I have already stated do not use a branded restore / installation disk.

Windows 7 OEM disks do not contain all versions of 7.

Windows 7 Home Premium Edition OEM - £75.29.

Richard

[STMO999]

Did you stay awake all night to get the last word Richard?

[dbug]

To repeat and clarify my earlier posts.

Computer manufacturers have a duty to their customers to provide a means to allow the customer to restore his or her computer.
Large scale manufacturers tend to do this by having a restore partition on the hard drive and or provide a restore / installation disk. These restore / installation disks will only work with the system that they were supplied with.

Small scale manufacturers like myself should provide a genuine Windows disk with the system. This Windows disk is usually an OEM disk. The OEM disk is supplied in preference to a retail pack version as the OEM version is considerably cheaper. OEM versions of Windows tend not to be sold in the shops due to licensing restrictions.
In the past OEM versions of Windows could only be supplied either preinstalled on a system or sold together with qualifying hardware.

OEM versions of Windows can be identified as such as the legend "OEM Software" will appear on the packaging, on the disk, and on the license number label.

I must admit that I do occasionally have systems to work on where no means of restoring the system has been provided by the manufacturer but this is quite rare. All the  systems that I have worked on this week which were non branded have had Windows OEM disks with them.

An OEM Windows disk does not have all versions of Windows on it, I have not stated that it does.

The Windows Vista OEM disk was unique in that it contained all versions of Vista in the particular bit version. All Vista 32 bit disks were identical irrespective of what version you were supplied. It was the product key that you entered during installation that determined what version of Vista would be installed. The same applies to retail pack versions of Vista.

So to repeat my earlier answer to the initial question. Borrow a Vista disk from somebody (OEM or retail pack) and install using the serial number from the back of your computer.
Any Vista disk that you can get hold of will do, it need not be the same version as the one that you originally had on the computer. Obviously as I have already stated do not use a branded restore / installation disk.

Windows 7 OEM disks do not contain all versions of 7.

Windows 7 Home Premium Edition OEM - £75.29.

Richard

Agrreed - when I had my IT business we supplied a Windows OEM disk with every PC we built and sold.

The Vista OEM as stated contains the full version of Vista and the version you get on the install is dependant on the serial key used.

Agreed re Windows OEMs.