Premium or Ultimate?

G

GriffTech

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Jun 3, 2004
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My new rig I am building is goign to be a gaming machine and I am trying to find out if I should get the Premium 64 or Ultmate 64?

Also I plan on getting the OEM disk from Newegg and it says I can't move Vista to another PC, does that mean if I upgrade my motherboard or any hardware I wont be able to reload the OS?

Thansk for any help
 
I would go with the 32 bit version for now. Drivers, drivers, drivers..................not there for 64 bit.

I believe MS will send you a 64 bit version for a few bucks if you want it. I cannot remember if the link is somewhere on these forums or not. I will look.

I could not even get anywhere with my vista install on the 64 bit version
 
ziscwg said:
I would go with the 32 bit version for now. Drivers, drivers, drivers..................not there for 64 bit.
Click to expand...
The drivers are available for primary hardware at the same level of availability between x86 and x64.

As for which version, only you can decide that. Compare the differences and decide based on the costs differences.

As for the upgrading, you should be able to reinstall it on the same computer (with upgraded hardware), but expect to have to call it in.
 
I installed Vista 64 last night, and I didn't have any problems with drivers. In fact, the only thing I *had* to install was video drivers.

I run an Althon 64 X2 3800+ with an ASRock 939-DualVSTA board. I've got a 7600GT for video. Everything else is pretty generic...
 
Personally I run Ultimate x64 (I wanted MUI for other members of the family and some of the other stuff like Terminal Services Server) but you should look at the feature comparison list to determine whether or not to pay the difference between a Home Premium license and an Ultimate license. It seems the difference in price between OEM versions of both is ~$70.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx
 
And just like w/ XP, if your motherboard mysteriously goes tits up and you have to replace it, if it complains to you, you can simply call up M$ and get a new authentication code.
 
ziscwg said:
I would go with the 32 bit version for now. Drivers, drivers, drivers..................not there for 64 bit.
Click to expand...


Depends on the computer. I have 2 PC's running with Ultimate 64 with no driver issues, and a laptop with no issues. Most, if not all, programs I throw at it work. If not, it's a Vista issue, not a 32 vs. 64 bit issue. Check your hardware for compatibility, if everything is supported, 64 Bit is awesome. :)
 
Probably the best thing to do with OEM installations is install the minimum required to activate it (i.e. just network drivers), activate, then immediately image the partition. I can't confirm this from experience, but it seems like a good way to start over without having to reactivate.

Whether this works with different hardware is questionable and depends on whether Windows scans the system continually or only on installation.
 
Ultimate 32 bit. I have tried running both 32 and 64. I like 32 better but then again I run alot of older programs that the 64bit version hates.

I have reloaded several times already, you will have to use the automated line when you register your Vista again.
Remember you have 30 days to register, I have had this happen EVERYTIME on the same exact system.
According to Microsoft the activation key is generated by your current hardware AND the Key that you enter for your installation. These 2 numbers together make the Activation key.
Like I said I havnt changed one piece of hardware but it will always ask me to call the automated system to reactivate since my key has already been used?! Very Very frustrating.
I finally got an image of my PC with Vista so I wont have to call, beware this image of Vista and Office 2007 is 99.6 Gigs with no compression using True Image Home 10. Compared to that of XP with Office 2003 and apps wieghing in at mere 2.27Gig.
 
Ultimate. If you want to save a few bucks and don't need media center then business.

Personaly I run business as I didn't need media center.

Have had to setup home premium for 1 client at home and it sucks. Went to do a few random things to change the system around and enable the administrator account for some compatabilty and ran into a bunch of issues. Too many random things were disabled over the business and ultimate versions.
 
I would also suggest business if you don't need to media center. Otherwise I would suggest ultimate.

Oh, and vista's hardware license key reliance is much more intensive than XP. Just changing out a hard drive can set off a new activation request. Consider it XP's paranoid cousin that just ate some bad mushrooms
 
swatbat said:
Have had to setup home premium for 1 client at home and it sucks. Went to do a few random things to change the system around and enable the administrator account for some compatabilty and ran into a bunch of issues. Too many random things were disabled over the business and ultimate versions.
Click to expand...


Excuse me for saying so, and please don't take it as a personal attack, but that comment is typical of what you'd expect to hear from a Tech Support person who wants to attribute blame to anything other than himself over an inadequacy for dealing with a circumstance.

Home Premium is a perfectly fine choice for anybody wanting the Vista 'multimedia' features, and not needing either domain join or remote desktop. Sure, there are a couple of administrative tools not included, but just as with the XP versions that only mean that SOME configuration changes need to be performed via registry edits rather than via a 'Policy editor'. Apart from the two capabilities mentioned in this paragraph, there is nothing in Vista Ultimate (or Business) which can't be achieved in Home Premium with the addition of cheap or freeware tools, even if 'need' for those facilities arises at some later stage.


I've been running Home Premium myself, since Vista was released, and with no need for connectivity to corporate networks there is NOTHING I can't achieve in that working environment, which Vista Ultimate would enable me to do.

System backup? There are better tools available. Data encryption? There are better tools available. Dreamscene? Who the hell pays extra for a wankfest gimmick?

etc. etc. etc.
 
Catweazle said:
Excuse me for saying so, and please don't take it as a personal attack, but that comment is typical of what you'd expect to hear from a Tech Support person who wants to attribute blame to anything other than himself over an inadequacy for dealing with a circumstance.

Home Premium is a perfectly fine choice for anybody wanting the Vista 'multimedia' features, and not needing either domain join or remote desktop. Sure, there are a couple of administrative tools not included, but just as with the XP versions that only mean that SOME configuration changes need to be performed via registry edits rather than via a 'Policy editor'. Apart from the two capabilities mentioned in this paragraph, there is nothing in Vista Ultimate (or Business) which can't be achieved in Home Premium with the addition of cheap or freeware tools, even if 'need' for those facilities arises at some later stage.


I've been running Home Premium myself, since Vista was released, and with no need for connectivity to corporate networks there is NOTHING I can't achieve in that working environment, which Vista Ultimate would enable me to do.

System backup? There are better tools available. Data encryption? There are better tools available. Dreamscene? Who the hell pays extra for a wankfest gimmick?

etc. etc. etc.
Click to expand...


QFT.

And remember, you DO get the RDP client with all versions of Vista... the main features you lose by going with Home Premium are just RDP server and the ability to join a domain. If you don't need those, don't bother with Ultimate IMO. (Dreamscene is cool, but not worth paying for unless you're into paying $$$ for screensavers, backgrounds, ringtones, etc)
 
Catweazle said:
Excuse me for saying so, and please don't take it as a personal attack, but that comment is typical of what you'd expect to hear from a Tech Support person who wants to attribute blame to anything other than himself over an inadequacy for dealing with a circumstance.
Click to expand...

I understand where you are comming from on this but the fact that you have to do it different and do workarounds is a pain in the ass. Yes I did get around it with them. I also have notes on how to do the various tricks in the future. For the admin account thing I ended up using net use to turn it on. Other features I had to do some other random work arounds. Nothing too hard and nothing you can't find with a little bit of looking. Thing is you shouldn't have to do this.

Business was the way to go for me as it doesn't have these limits and I didn't need media center. Ultimate would have been the next way to go. Besides you never know when you might need or want the extra function.
 
DeaconFrost said:
The drivers are available for primary hardware at the same level of availability between x86 and x64.

As for which version, only you can decide that. Compare the differences and decide based on the costs differences.

As for the upgrading, you should be able to reinstall it on the same computer (with upgraded hardware), but expect to have to call it in.
Click to expand...

I have a pretty generic wireless network card, I wasn't able to find a 64 bit driver for it. For the most part, my other components do have 64 bit drivers.
I think the Media Center that comes with Vista Ultimate is one of the greatest I have ever used. If you have a TV card, you will wonder how any other company could charge money for their software.
 
wolveen said:
Ultimate 32 bit. I have tried running both 32 and 64. I like 32 better but then again I run alot of older programs that the 64bit version hates.

I have reloaded several times already, you will have to use the automated line when you register your Vista again.
Remember you have 30 days to register, I have had this happen EVERYTIME on the same exact system.
According to Microsoft the activation key is generated by your current hardware AND the Key that you enter for your installation. These 2 numbers together make the Activation key.
Like I said I havnt changed one piece of hardware but it will always ask me to call the automated system to reactivate since my key has already been used?! Very Very frustrating.
I finally got an image of my PC with Vista so I wont have to call, beware this image of Vista and Office 2007 is 99.6 Gigs with no compression using True Image Home 10. Compared to that of XP with Office 2003 and apps wieghing in at mere 2.27Gig.
Click to expand...
Wow 99 gigs. Are you sure you know waht you are doing? I mean i don't see how the operating system becomes a factor, and my install doesnt take up more than 10 gigs. doesn't imaging it just takes a picture of how your hard drive looks.
 
Yeah, there's definitely something wrong with the image settings if it's coming out to 99.6 GBs. I've created Vista images already that fit on a single DVD easily.
 
Home basic, because it's the cheapest and doesn't include so much of the bloatware. That is, if you absolutely must get Vista at all.
 
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