OEM Vista for Reload on Vista Laptop?

[stamsek]

I have a laptop I'm in the process of repairing and thinking about reloading the system to save me troubleshooting.
It's an HP laptop so I'm sure you are all aware of all the junk that comes pre-installed. My issue is, the person does not have their recovery disk and there is no buitl in reinstall program on the laptop.
It came with Windows Vista Home Premium. You think I could simply use my OEM Vista Home Premium DVD with the serial key on the laptop?

 

[munkle]

You should be able to. I have used my oem xp cd's on dell laptops all the time. I assume its the same for vista, but it all depends on how the serials are setup. With xp you couldn't use an oem disk with a retail key, maybe in vista you can't use dell key with and oem disk, I don't know.

 

[DeaconFrost]

That will work just fine, assuming you are dealing with the same license type, which in this case is an OEM. You also could use the pre-install discs, and then manually remove the crap, along with the help of PC De-Crapifier, but if given the option, I'd prefer to just use the plain vanilla disc to install.

 

[stamsek]

That will work just fine, assuming you are dealing with the same license type, which in this case is an OEM. You also could use the pre-install discs, and then manually remove the crap, along with the help of PC De-Crapifier, but if given the option, I'd prefer to just use the plain vanilla disc to install.

That's the issue. The person does not have the pre-install discs. Believe me, I would rather install with those if I could. Makes the drivers easy and I would just remove the bloated garbage.

 

[stamsek]

You should be able to. I have used my oem xp cd's on dell laptops all the time. I assume its the same for vista, but it all depends on how the serials are setup. With xp you couldn't use an oem disk with a retail key, maybe in vista you can't use dell key with and oem disk, I don't know.

I have done this many times with XP as well. Just last night as a matter of fact on a desktop I was working on.
I would just hate to attempt to reload this VIsta laptop with my OEM disk then have it not take. Then without the original restore discs, I would have effectively rendered the laptop useless. And I don't think the customer would appreciate receiving a laptop in worse shape then in which it was received.