I'm getting tomorrow a new dell laptop with vista home premium 64. as far as I know, I have to put the registration info in. which version of vista gets installed is determined by the registration number - so theoretically, my thought, if I'd put in a dell oem slp key, I should be able to end up with vista ultimate, right?
Wrong... Your system will be preinstalled with a OEM:SLP key for Home Premium with no opportunity to enter or change it. The sticker on the machine is just for legalities and is *NOT* the key the OS is installed with. You are never asked for a key when installing from the manufacturer supplied media, it is embedded. You *could* upgrade after initial use by using a standard retail or OEM Vista x64 media (not the Dell recovery media for Home Premium) then add the Dell certificate file which you *can* find on the Dell media, and an ultimate OEM:SLP key.