You can use it when you want!

Also, can I use the upgrade DVD to reinstall the operating system or will i first have to reinstall XP and then upgrade is Vista again.

So let me just check i understand. Once the upgrade disk has arrived at my front door, there is no licensing restrictions that mean I have to upgrade to Vista straight away and I can carry on using XP as normal. (By normal i Mean I can still download updates/re install XP using the product key i got with the computer/and still pass all genuine validation checks from microsoft)

 

When I want to upgrade i use the DVD supplied by Dell, and then when i want to do a clean reinstall of vista i can use the workaround.

 

No of this is affected by the fact i am a UK user right??

 

Many thanks for all the help.  

You mean can u do a format reinstall with the upgrade dvd? Your not supposed to but there is a work around, check here -

 

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5932

No, none of it is affected by being a UK user, you can use XP for as long as you like and install Vista when and if you like!

Like has been said before, you can upgrade to Vista whenever you like. There is no time-limit as to when you need to upgrade. Whenever you decide to upgrade, Vista should still activate.

I understand that if you do an upgrade, you are replacing XP with Vista, right?  Isn't it better to do a clean install with a full version of Vista on a separate partition of your hard drive so you can keep both operating systems until Vista is fully implemented?

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sublime11 wrote:

I understand that if you do an upgrade, you are replacing XP with Vista, right?  Isn't it better to do a clean install with a full version of Vista on a separate partition of your hard drive so you can keep both operating systems until Vista is fully implemented?

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