Vista Upgrades
The Vista DVD contains the installation source for all editions of Vista. The product key you enter determines which is installed. By using the cool new file based imaging format to store the installation images (WIM). This means the DVD itself is a single instance store (SiS) which contains all the files for each, but only one time each. This means that you don’t “need” a new DVD to perform an upgrade; your current edition DVD and a new key will do the trick.
If you don’t have a disc, you can either buy an upgrade disc at a retail store or use Windows Anytime Upgrade to buy the upgrade online, and then use your Windows Anytime Upgrade disc or the Windows installation disc to complete the process.
To purchase and apply an upgrade from within Windows Vista, go to the Control Panel and click “Windows Anytime Upgrade” under “Systems and Maintenance”. You can then choose which edition you to which you want to upgrade. Then, press the “Begin upgrade process” button.
Already have a key to enter and just want to unlock the features of the next level? If you look around the Internet, you’ll find plenty of sites telling you to simply open the System applet in the control panel and click the “Change Product key” link at the bottom of the page under Windows activation. However, this does not work. If you enter a product key for a different edition of Vista you are presented with the message “The product key you have entered will not work with this edition of Windows Vista. You must either run Windows Vista Setup or enter a Windows Vista
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