Vista Free Upgrade Experiences

[whizkid]

I used the Modusweb site to ask for the "free" upgrade to Vista (Business for my T60). It seemed to work, and asked that I send or fax my "redemption form", which I didn't get. It also asked for my original receipt or a certified copy.

I ordered online, so there is no original. I "certified" my printout of a screen capture myself and faxed that in.

My order status is "Order confirmed" with no shipping date.

What are others getting for order status?

[Jedacite]

I get the same thing. Order Confirmed but no date on the website. They did send me an email though saying it will take 4-6 weeks after January so I guess guess It'll arrive between beginning and mid-March if I'm lucky.

I'll probably install it on my T60 when I get it, but I'm pretty sure that I'll revert back to XP right after. I'm not very confident on the level of support and stability that will be there at the time, but you never know.

I'm also hoping that it is like the other "upgrades" where you can still do a fresh install off them when you have the original install media (hopefully the rescue / recovery discs will work)

[whizkid]

I got an e-mail saying I needed to complete the order. I faxed my confirmation page and copy of receipt, and this time, the fax was delivered - according to the fax machine, anyway.

No update of status on their site within 10 minutes. :)

[Jedacite]

Even though my order says confirmed I got another email today asking for the COA again. They have now been given it twice.

I find it weird that the web-site says its confirmed then to get an email that says its not confirmed and requires the COA to confirm it (although its already been given.)

So to date my experience has been:

1. Give COA, Model, Shipping and Credit Card info to the ugrade site.
2. Received email stating need for reciept and redemption form.
3. Give reciept.
4. Get confirmation that redemption form is not needed.
5. Website says order is confirmed to ship March 1 2007 - March 15 2007.
6. Received email stating order cannot be confirmed until I send in my COA.

Guess we'll just see what happens I guess.

[GomJabbar]

I received an email ad from Microsoft this morning and it said the following [bolding added].

Don't wait to buy a new PC--that was our advice in the last issue. Buy a Windows XP-based PC that qualifies for an Express Upgrade to Windows Vista, and you can enjoy your new PC now, then easily upgrade to Windows Vista when it becomes available January 30.

[whizkid]

Status update. It now says this:

Order Status : POP validated

[kf_man]

I'm confused, I just ordered my ThinkPad on 12/6/2006 and when I go to the site I say I don't have a serialized redemption form (which is true) and continue to put in my system information. When I input my COA, the site says that the COA is not valid. I can't figure out why this is happening. I also noticed that my computer does not have a Windows Vista Capable sticker. If I can't get my free upgrade to Vista, I never would have purchased the computer now. I'll be royally [censored] if this is the case. The only reason I can think of that I may not be eligible is because I bought the laptop through the Student purchasing. Anyone have any insight?

EDIT: I called Lenovo and actually got someone after 7PM EST. The guy on the phone said that what I experienced was a problem with the site. I'm hoping he's right and not just lying to me!

[Gex]

They are charging for S&H and only offering the 32-bit version

Since I already have the media as part of my works software assurance I wonder if there is anyway to get an updated CD Key for Vista instead of having to order the media from them...

....suppose I can try MS Activation Center or Product Support....or I could use our open license key (no activation required) from work but really wanted to use the one that comes with the notebook.

Has anyone been able to just get a new key without having to order the media?

[kf_man]

I finally got my orders in for both my HP dv6000t and my Lenovo T60 on the ModusLink site. It took a lot of patience for sure. I kept getting stupid site errors and when it finally took my COA for the T60 and I got all the way to the last page, the site failed on me and never gave my order confirmation. Luckily the HP order went through okay and I got the confirmation e-mail. This may only come in the HP order status e-mail, but they included their support phone numbers. I will post them below incase anyone else needs them.

• ModusLink Call Centers (Toll Free Phone):
  • Europe, Middle East and Africa
    • Germany: 00800 666 44 666
    • United Kingdom: 00800 666 44 666
    • France: 00800 666 44 666
    • Italy: 00800 666 44 666
    • Netherlands: 00800 666 44 666
    • Spain: 900 973154
  • AMERICAS
    • 800-817-5602
    • 801-431-1504
  • ASIA PACIFIC
    • Australia: 1800-603517
    • Singapore: 1800-2221111
• Toll Paid Number All Other Countries:
  • Europe, Middle East and Africa
    • 31 88 0016102
  • AMERICAS
    • 1 801 4311504
  • ASIA PACIFIC
    • 65 62423642
• E-Mail:
  • Europe, Middle East and Africa: MSTUPVISTAEMEA@moduslink.com
  • Americas: MSTUPVISTANA@moduslink.com
  • Asia: MSTUPVISTAASIA@moduslink.com

Sorry if the formatting is a little awkward, the formatting from the e-mail was worse and I figured it needed to be reorganized. Hopefully this will be useful to someone else since the numbers do no seem to be posted anywhere online!

[intelliot]

I'm in a similar situation as kf_man. My new ThinkPad doesn't have a Vista Capable sticker, but I called up Lenovo and they said my system is "definitely" Vista Capable and that I certainly quality for the free Express Upgrade.

We'll see what happens. I haven't tried to order yet because I read that nothing would be available until January anyway.

[kf_man]

I'm not sure why the Lenovo site makes an explicit reference to the "Vista Capable" sticker since I know we aren't the only ones to be confused by this. In any event, I just wanted to get my order in ASAP so that any problems could be worked out. Since I now have phone numbers for the service center, it's not such a big deal, but they are very slow to answer e-mail. Good luck when you do order, hopefully the site will work better for you than it did for me.

Also keep in mind that they say it will take 6-8 weeks after the consumer release to get your copy, so like mid to late March. That's not such a bad thing for me since a lot of information will have come out by the time I even get my copy. I know that if I had it in my hands on January 30th (My Birthday!), I would have no choice but to install it and deal with all the bugs.

[Ianski]

I bought a T60 on November 14, 2006 and am advised that it qualifies for the "free" Vista Upgrade. (it came with Windows XP Pro.) I am in no big hurry to get this upgrade, and would just as soon order later, when I'm more likely to get a bug-free (or bug-reduced) pressing of Vista. Does anyone know if there's a time limit on getting one's order in?

Also, what are the shipping and handling costs - it really bugs me that Microsloth won't tell you until after you've entered all the codes. I don't want to be paying $100 for a piece of unnecessary bloatware (anyone remember Windows Me?)

Have to say I'm very happy with the T60 so far. Nice machine.

[Ianski]

This is probably a dumb question, but if I were to obtain Vista through the 'free-upgrade' program, does installing it invalidate the XP Pro OEM key, or would I still be able to use the recovery partition or recovery disk set to get my system back to original specs?

[Ken Fox]

This is probably a dumb question, but if I were to obtain Vista through the 'free-upgrade' program, does installing it invalidate the XP Pro OEM key, or would I still be able to use the recovery partition or recovery disk set to get my system back to original specs?

For sure you want to get a good image (copy) of your entire hard disk before you install Vista. That way, you can reimmage your hard disk with XP if needed. I have never put an old image back on the same system with the same hard disk and had any issues with product activation. Some products, like photoshop, seem to write to normally unwritable sectors of a hard drive for activation, whereas others such as Win XP, Office apps, etc., have some sort of algorithm that checks the hardware, including the disk, and if nothing changes it passes and remains activated.

You shouldn't be asked to input any product keys or anything if you do this.

I would be SHOCKED if MS were to decide that once you put your Vista upgrade on the system you could never revert to XP if Vista didn't meet your expectations. That would be dumb. I don't think that your OS will even run on any other type of system than a thinkpad, since it is going to check the hardware brand to be sure before it boots up; even if it did boot you would be likely to have more trouble with hardware drivers than it was worth on a different system.

I wouldn't worry about this.

[GomJabbar]

This is probably a dumb question, but if I were to obtain Vista through the 'free-upgrade' program, does installing it invalidate the XP Pro OEM key, or would I still be able to use the recovery partition or recovery disk set to get my system back to original specs?

My belief is that if you install Vista, it will generally be a one-way street. However, you should be able to use the Rescue and Recovery repair diskette to get the Rescue and Recovery features to work again. However, if I remember correctly, the use of this diskette damages the Vista mbr, so then you will not be able to boot into Vista. Perhaps a Vista version of the Rescue and Recovery repair diskette will be forthcoming. Alternatively, I believe you could boot up off of a Rescue Media CD and Restore Factory Contents on the hard drive. For sure the Product Recovery Disc set will put XP and all the original software back on your existing hard drive or on a new hard drive.

For those planning the upgrade to Vista, it would be prudent to test the Product Recovery Disc set first to make sure it works properly. If there was any problem, it would be easier to coax a replacement set from Lenovo without cost soon after you bought the machine than at some future date.

[kf_man]

Ianski,

There is a limit to when the order must be placed and I urge you to just put it in ASAP since the company, ModusLink, is not very good a processing orders. I believe the deadline is around the March 15, 2007 cutoff for new machine purchases, but that's only a rough estimate at this point. I did read somewhere on the ModusLink site that they would only guarantee stock until a date in March.

As far as cost, it's only $10 in shipping costs if you bought Pro (which you did it appears) to get Vista Business, but about $100 if you bought Home (Lenovo gives you a rebate for the cost less shipping) to get Vista Home Basic or Premium (I believe you can get either for free after rebate). The price is not bad in my opinion, but I'm glad I have XP Pro so I don't need to screw around with a rebate.

As far as XP Pro being invalid, I'm not exactly sure on that. I'm not sure what the license agreement says, but the install and key will definitely work since the key embedded into the recovery doesn't even check with Microsoft. It wouldn't be fair of Microsoft to make it a truly one-way street and I think they would be more worried about you trying to take your old Pro copy and installing that on another computer. In any event, I see no harm in trying Vista out when I get it since I can always roll back to Windows XP using my custom XP Pro OEM CD.

[whizkid]

If you qualify for Vista for free or cheap, you should GET it right away. When you INSTALL it is another matter entirely. Wait for patches, service packs (even though they say it won't need them), or when you sell the machine... or never.

The license for XP on your machine says it can't be transferred to another machine. I believe the upgrade Vista license will also apply only to the machine you specified to get it. Makes sense.

Only if MS wants to shoot itself in the foot would they make it irreversible, either by license or technological lockout... and you have restore discs, right?

[GomJabbar]

As far as XP Pro being invalid, I'm not exactly sure on that. I'm not sure what the license agreement says, but the install and key will definitely work since the key embedded into the recovery doesn't even check with Microsoft. It wouldn't be fair of Microsoft to make it a truly one-way street and I think they would be more worried about you trying to take your old Pro copy and installing that on another computer.

I probably should not have used the term "one-way street". I certainly did not mean it in the sense of the quote above. I just meant that it was not so easy to just roll back to XP. But it can be done. The average user could probably perform an upgrade install to Vista if they did not want to start fresh (I do not really recommend this though), but it is not so easy to downgrade back to XP and maintain one's files. There are ways around this, such as having a cloned image or Rescue and Recovery backup. But AFAIK, only the cloned image is a straightforward solution to go back to XP.

[kf_man]

I probably should not have used the term "one-way street". I certainly did not mean it in the sense of the quote above. I just meant that it was not so easy to just roll back to XP. But it can be done. The average user could probably perform an upgrade install to Vista if they did not want to start fresh (I do not really recommend this though), but it is not so easy to downgrade back to XP and maintain one's files. There are ways around this, such as having a cloned image or Rescue and Recovery backup. But AFAIK, only the cloned image is a straightforward solution to go back to XP.

GomJabbar, sorry about the misunderstanding, I thought you were talking about the license agreement and key, not the actual install process. In that case you are correct as I have read there is no way to roll back to XP once the upgrade has been performed.

[Ianski]

Thanks - this is great information. I used to be an IS technical officer a few years ago, but things have changed a great deal since the days of imaging workstations (manually) with corporate Windows NT and 2000. I'm still much more comfortable using CD's and serial keys than I am with these recovery partitions. I found instructions elsewhere on this site on how to make the recovery CD's and have now done so - I was pleasantly surprised at how simple the process was.

Given what you said about Vista I'll get my order in immediately - I do qualify for the 'business' version of Vista, so it is a relief to hear it will only be $10 or so rather than the $100 I'd heard about.

I hear you about the licensing - I wouldn't expect the XP Pro to be transferrable to another computer except possibly an identical make and model. And Vista, I understand, is an "upgrade" copy. Hopefully when the time comes I can somehow do a "clean" install of it rather than updating existing settings. I know past update scenarios allowed one to wipe the hard drive and then at some point during the install, insert CD media (i.e. Windows 98) to prove I had the original O/S. Vista should have a similar mechanism to allow for a fresh start, at least I hope so. Upgrading over an existing OS (especially after the OS has been on the computer for a few years with lots of applications installed/removed) is generally a poor choice in my experience.

[kf_man]

It's unclear how the process of installing will work, but we won't be able to find out about that until the upgrade disks ship. Because we don't have an actual Windows XP CD, a request by the installer for a media check would be impossible to fulfill. Either the upgrade won't bother trying to prove that an other version existed, the upgrade will be BIOS locked like the original XP install, or the upgrade will require that Windows XP was previously installed to verify.

In any case you should be able to do a clean install (it would just wipe the old data away after verification), but I surely hope that you don't need a working XP install in order to run the Vista installer. Once I'm switched over completely it would be stupid to have to install XP just to install Vista over it.

Someone else my have more insight into this, but with what little I have heard about this and the fact that disks won't show up until probably mid-March, these are my best predictions.[/list]

[Ianski]

It sounds like my experience ordering Vista is similar to everyone elses - I went through the automated site process on ModusLink and after going through the whole thing the cost is just over $30 - $27 for shipping and handling and $3 or so for taxes. (Canadian dollars). I live in Canada which presumably makes a difference.

Then it says I have to fill in an "Upgrade Redemption Form" (isn't that what I just did??) and snail mail or fax it to some place in the U.S., and not toll-free, either. However, the order check on the website says 'confirmed'. What's the deal? I can't find the form on Moduslink's site, so what do they really want? A copy of my Lenovo invoice with their order number hand-written on it?

They have my $30 now so I have to go through whatever b.s. they're going to put me through. Sheesh.

Update: I read some of the fine print on the Moduslink site and under Terms and Conditions, point 7, it says:
ModusLink will not fill your order until it has received an original valid proof of purchase from you to verify the date of purchase and the retailer from whom you purchased a qualifying product. ModusLink will endeavor to deliver all Windows Vista products within sixty days of the later of (a) release of the product and verification, (b) order placement and confirmation, and (c) verification of the order.

Also on their e-mail it says they'll accept "mail, fax or scan" of the receipt for qualifying PC along with the online confirmation number. I would assume that I can scan and e-mail the receipt, in that case. I hope so. Time to hook up my antique scanner and get a picture...

[kf_man]

Honestly that price sounds a little bit high, I didn't think the US/Can exchange rates were that far off these days. For the question on the site about a "Serialized Redemption Form," did you answer "No?" There shouldn't be any sort of form to send in, just a proof of purchase. You can scan your receipt and e-mail it or just do what I did and print the invoice from the website using a PDF printer. If you have any problems, I wouldn't bother e-mailing them and just call the number I provided. I never waited on hold for more than a minute the few times I called and the staff were actually helpful and courteous.

As far as the order status on that website, I'm not really sure what that means. My status has been "Order confirmed" since day one and when I called they told me that was the final state before shipment. I'm not sure if that's true, but I guess I'll find out soon enough.

[Ianski]

Honestly that price sounds a little bit high, I didn't think the US/Can exchange rates were that far off these days.

There's a reason they call us Canadians "hosers" - we get hosed on stuff like this.

[bill bolton]

It's unclear how the process of installing will work, but we won't be able to find out about that until the upgrade disks ship. Because we don't have an actual Windows XP CD, a request by the installer for a media check would be impossible to fulfill.

The official M$ party line seems to be that upgrades can only be started from a working W2K or XP system. That is you can't "boot" from the upgrade installtion CD and have it no just check for the presence of W2K or XP installation, or for the existance of a W2K or XP product disk.

There has been discussion locally with M$ about this and the local M$ reps can see the problems that this will cause, however there seems to be no clarification available as yet!

Cheers,

Bill

[Jedacite]

Also on their e-mail it says they'll accept "mail, fax or scan" of the receipt for qualifying PC along with the online confirmation number. I would assume that I can scan and e-mail the receipt, in that case. I hope so. Time to hook up my antique scanner and get a picture...

Although, I haven't received my copy yet, I live in Canada and have been through a lot of these issues. I've been told 3 times that its been confirmed to get a follow up email saying they need more information. However, this has been the longest period without a request for more information so I hope it is all taken care of. Through all of this their website has said that my order was confirmed.

Each time they said that I needed to give them a piece of information, either the COD, a Scan of the Receipt, etc... There seemed to be no way to either check up against the order number, or even read the text of the email from their reply (often the info that they requested was in the email quote text from their own reply.

I ended up solving the problem by in one reply re-stating all information in one block instead of just sending them what they asked for.

As for the price, I wonder which customs broker they are sending the goods through, as I can't think of any other reason for such a high shipping price. Buying textbooks from amazon over the border costs less in shipping and duties than this upgrade. But thats life north of the border.

[Ianski]

Also on their e-mail it says they'll accept "mail, fax or scan" of the receipt for qualifying PC along with the online confirmation number. I would assume that I can scan and e-mail the receipt, in that case. I hope so. Time to hook up my antique scanner and get a picture...

I managed to scan my Lenovo invoice - my circa-1997 UMAX scanner still performs flawlessly - and e-mail it to them on the weekend. I got a reply yesterday indicating that they have received the e-mail and attachment, and that they will contact me if more information is required.

[stephanpark]

I'll chime in for record.

1/12/2007: I filled out the online form with a successful confirmation here https://upgradeweb.moduslink.com/vista/.
Same Day: I received an email confirmation with order number from oemtupvistana@moduslink.com
Same Day: I emailed the Americas contact email MSTUPVISTANA@moduslink.com with a forward of Lenovo Order Confirmation for my system with note of the Moduslink confirmation number as I didn't get a paper receipt in my package save for the shipping manifest.

1/24/2007: 12 days post, there is no response. Direct reply to original confirmation attempted with forward of order confirmation from Lenovo. Status on moduslink site reads as follows.
> Order Status : Order confirmed
> Shipping Date :
> Carrier : Standard
> AWB# :

1/25/2007: MSTUPVISTANA responds. Requests "POP" (proof of purchase) in the form of a scanned image file of the paper receipt provided by your reseller. Again, my T60 didn't come with one in box so I send Moduslink the same PDF "print" of Lenovo.com's sales receipt page but with corrections to subject header as requested by Moduslink representative to read "Upgrade Redemption Center POP".
Same Day: MSTUPVISTANA responds POP has been received. Waiting for confirmation process. Status on moduslink site reads as follows.
> Order Status : POP validated
> Shipping Date :
> Carrier : Standard
> AWB# :

2/05/2007: MSTUPVISTANA responds. "Your validation is now complete and we will be processing your order. You should receive an email confirmation when your order is shipped." Status on moduslink site reads as follows.
> Order Status : POP/COA validated
> Shipping Date :
> Carrier : Standard
> AWB# :

3/22/2007 Received padded envelope. Lenovo branded Vista Pro upgrade in sleeve only.
Status on moduslink site read.
> Order Status : Order is approved
> Shipping Date :
> Carrier : Standard
> AWB# :
Shipping packing list indicates...
> ORDER DATE: 2007-03-10 06:26:00
> PART NUMBER: 42Y7111 WIN VISTA BUS 32-BIT EN CD/DVD
from...
UPGRADE REDEMPTION PROGRAM
501 INNOVATION AVE.
MORRISVILLE, NC 27560
UNITED STATES
1-800-817-5602

So there you go folks. 1/25/2007-3/22/2007
56 Days from send of valid POP to delivery.

Sidenotes:
* A second attempt to fill out the web form failed. Apparently, once the order for the "POP" ID is filed, it is locked out. This is logical.
* Some responses to forum members may follow but relevant info will be consolidated here.

[Jedacite]

I'll chime in for record.

1/12/2007: I filled out the online form with a successful confirmation here https://upgradeweb.moduslink.com/vista/.
Same Day: I received an email confirmation with order number from oemtupvistana@moduslink.com
Same Day: I emailed the Americas contact email MSTUPVISTANA@moduslink.com with a forward of Lenovo Order Confirmation for my system with note of the Moduslink confirmation number as I didn't get a paper receipt in my package save for the shipping manifest.
1/24/2007: 12 days post, there is no response. Direct reply to original confirmation attempted with forward of order confirmation from Lenovo.

Any ideas? I'll update if anything changes.

Sidenote: A second attempt to fill out he web form failed.

What does it say on the moduslink website (you can check the status there). Although its not the most reliable it will at least tell you if they've received your request. Also, with only 6 days to Vista's shipping date they may be quite busy.

Additionally, I found that there is normally a break of about 6 days between emails.

Here is the last email that I have received from them (20 days ago). I'm just hoping that since they didn't say they needed anything that it will all go through since I haven't heard from them since.

Dear Customer,

Thank you for submitting your order to upgrade your Microsoft® Product.

We have received a copy of your proof of purchase. We will email you a confirmation when the validation process is complete.

Regards,

Upgrade Redemption Center

[stephanpark]

Jedacite,

Here is what the site states.

Order Status : Order confirmed
Shipping Date :
Carrier : Standard
AWB# :

I guess this means I'm good? I didn't get a nice email like you gots. What does your order status say...

(updating original post)