Aftera clean install, can I back to vista w/ upgrade disc

[jacobcrogers]

Ok I bought a used computer and it came with a "Vista upgrade" disc. If I do a clean install of Mint 10, no dual booting or multi partitioning, could I theoretically use the vista upgrade disc to do a clean install of Vista on it later?

I don't use windows, at all, but I am just curious if I ever absolutely needed to use Windows if I could go from Mint to Vista using the upgrade disc. Or should I just throw the disc away after I install Mint on this computer?

[MaddogF16]

If it's factory recovery disc, then yes. Does the computer have the Windows key tag on it that matches the version of Windows on the recovery disc? It needs to match exactly (32 or 64bit and home premium..etc.). If it doesn't then yes it's useless.

[jacobcrogers]

No it is not a factory recover disc. It is an upgrade disc for Vista. I already used it to do a clean install of Vista on the machine. But I think that the upgrade disc check to make sure you're installing it on a computer that already had a previous version of windows installed on it. That's why I'm slightly paranoid about not being able to go back to vista after installing mint.

But another part of me doesn't care because I really like Mint. I've been using Mint ever since 7 and this will be my first time upgrading to a newer version.

[MaddogF16]

I'm not sure to be honest, I have factory recovery cd's and I can install Windows back on again as long as the key is valid. Guess I'd suggest burning a cd of the latest iso you want and run it live cd for awhile just to make sure, wish I had experience with the update cd's to inform you better.