Vista to Vista Upgrade

We received a donation two new laptops with Vista Home on them and we need them to be Vista Business.  What are our options, if any, short of purchasing a full price full blown Vista Business OS?

OK, so this might sound kind of silly, but if you first apply for the [ Microsoft Donated Computer Operating System ] program to get Windows XP Home, then that will qualify as a valid upgrade product to get Windows Vista Business - at least [ this MS Site ] so implies.  What I would do is wipe the drives and install fresh.  HOWEVER... these laptops might have Vista Home Basic because they can't handle Vista Business.  You may also want to look into increasing the amount of RAM they have.  Or installing XP Professional instead if drivers are available (you should be able to install XP Professional if you get the Vista Business upgrade license...)  Well - hopefully you aren't too confused and can still do what you want for abotu $25 / pc for the Operating system instead of $10.

Unfortunately the DCOS program is only for PCs that were donated with out any OS and COA tag on the side of the box, so you can't use a DCOS license on a machine that has already a licensed copy of the operating system. 

Does the Vista Business upgrade here on tech soup officially prohibit the use to upgrade Vista home?

Dave

Dave,

  This is the information listed on the product detail page:

"This is an upgrade product. To install this operating system, you must have a valid license that is not in use on another computer for one of the following operating systems: Windows 2000; Windows XP Media Center, Tablet PC, Professional, or Professional x64. Upgrading from some of these systems requires a "clean install," meaning you must remove all files and applications, install the system, and then copy back the files and reinstall the applications. For the rest of the systems, you can install "in place" as long as you have the latest service pack for the current system. For complete information, see Microsoft's Upgrade Paths page."

Autumn

The upgrade paths page doesn't allow you to do Vista Home, but does allow XP Home (someone may want to update the description of the product).  You're right Dave, would be a shame if those hard drives got wiped.

Chris,

  Do you have more information about this? Is there a URL you can provide?

"The upgrade paths page doesn't allow you to do Vista Home, but does allow XP Home"

Autumn

It's on the upgrade paths page you linked already. It says "You can upgrade from your current edition of Microsoft Windows XP or Windows 2000 to a corresponding or better edition of Windows Vista by purchasing and installing an upgrade copy of Windows Vista."  So, a corresponding better edition from XP Home is Vista Business.  They then further indicate that an in-place upgrade is possible from XP Home to Vista Business with the upgrade installation chart lower on that page.

Chris,

  Yes.. indeed it is. Though I am not certain I understand it completely. I will see if we can review and add more information to the product detail page.

Autumn