How many times can u reinstall an original copy of windows vista 64bit?

[cmeyvin]

Am just wondering whether to buy vista or not. The DirectX 10 is tempting me but i heard u can't reinstall lots of times.

[Heartborne]

That probably depends on the license. I don't really know about the details, but with any OS you only have a limited number of licenses. Perhaps someone else can shed some light on this, although I believe it refers to the number of active licenses, which means in the case of a reformat you're still in the clear.

[mjc]

Basically, Windows isn't all that complicated...

One copy bought = one machine installed.

Full retail = basically as many times as needed on the one machine, but transferable to a new build.

OEM/System builder version = original hardware only, basically as many times as needed. Maybe transferable...depends on the number of hardware changes tally.

OEM on prebuilt machine...that hardware (with maybe minor upgrades) not transferable.


Now with Vista things are changed a bit...Basic, Premium and Ultimate have different levels. Basically, Ultimate should allow you to move to any configuration and install as many times as you want, but only one at a time...

Basic has the most limits...

But what it all boils down to, is that if you are installing Vista on essentially the same hardware as it was originally installed on then, you have an unlimited number of installs for that licensed copy. But there is a point that upgrades will trigger a 'hey this is a new machine' and depending on the version you have may prevent the install.

So, I lied...it is complicated..:D

[Paul Komski]

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=166&tag=rbxccnbzd1

Here are the practical implications of the change:

* If you purchase a new computer with Windows Vista preinstalled, or if you build your own PC using an OEM version of Windows, this change doesn't affect you. Your copy is locked to that PC and cannot be transferred to another.
* If you purchase a retail copy of Windows Vista and install it on a PC, you can install that same copy on another PC, provided you remove it from the original PC. In this scenario, you may be unable to activate the new copy over the Internet, but you will be able to activate over the phone.
* You can perform an unlimited number of upgrades to an existing computer running a retail version of Windows Vista. If those upgrades are significant enough to cause the computer to look like a new PC, you'll be required to reactivate within 30 days.
* This change should resolve one issue associated with the use of Windows Vista in virtual machines as well. Under the newly worded license, you should be able to move a virtual copy of Windows Vista to a new physical hardware without violating the terms of the license agreement, provided that you remove the virtual machine files from the old hardware.

So OEMs, as before are tied, but it seems, from the article, that the reactivation algorithm is more lenient than it was under XP. I suspect that, as with XP, you will be reactivated 99% of the time by phone as long as the hardware change doesn't involve the mobo (and even the mobo may be OK if it is a replacement). Auto-activation on line may be problematic though.