Install Windows Vista Ultimate from a Vista Basic Installation Disk

This article will tell you how to temporarily install Windows Vista Ultimate and use all of its advanced features from a Vista Home Basic boot disk.

Steps

Purchase a Windows Vista Home Basic installation disk (or any other version, but Home Basic is the cheapest).
Insert the disk into your computer's main CD drive and load it up. (If you're using a laptop, make sure you're running from outlet power, because you can lose data if you run out of battery power while Vista is installing.)
When the installation window first pops up, click on "Install Windows Vista" You'll have to go through various configuration options afterwards.
When you are prompted to type in your product/CD key, skip it and click "Next"
You can then choose which version of Windows Vista you would like to install. (Ultimate would be the best choice.)
Vista should now start to install. This will be very time-consuming, and your computer will restart itself several times, so be prepared to wait.
When Vista starts up for the first time, you will be prompted to choose a user name, computer name, user picture, and desktop background.
After you've done all that, you'll be asked to wait a bit longer for Vista to check your computer's performance (or something like that). Wait for it to finish.
You can now run all of the features of Windows Ultimate. Have fun!

You can use this version of Windows for a maximum of 120 days without activation. (You have to type "slmgr -rearm" into a command prompt to reset the counter back to 30 days, but you can only do this 3 times.) To activate Windows, you have to purchase a valid product key or hack the activation counter to stop permanently, which is illegal.

After 120 days, when your computer goes into Reduced Functionality Mode, you'll either have to install Windows again, or activate Windows with a valid product key (for the SAME version you installed) to keep using your computer.

A computer capable of running Windows Vista
A CD/DVD Drive
A Windows Vista Installation Disk
Lots of time
Adequate Memory, RAM and Processor Requirements see the Microsoft website for details