Success !
I was able to perform the clean install after entering my Upgrade key and was able to activate my installation of Vista.
Here's a recap:
- I wanted to dual-boot my XP Media Center 2005 system with Vista Home Premium on my single disk
- I purchased the Upgrade version of Vista Home Premium DVD
1. Ensured XP is installed
2. Resized XP partition and create unallocated partition using GParted (the 2 partitions were approx. 100GB each)
3. Booted system from Upgrade version of Vista Home Premium DVD
4. Did not enter key
5. Declined activation when Windows Vista goes online
6. Selected 'Vista HOMEPREMIUM' from available flavours of Vista
7. Completed Vista installation
8. Booted into Vista
9. Launched Vista installation utility from Upgrade version of Vista Home Premium DVD
10. Entered Upgrade key
11. Attempted to perform 'in-place' upgrade
12. Upgrade failed due to undetermined compatibility issue
(Attempted 'in-place' upgrade 3 additional times, and it failed each time at the same place)
13. System rolled back to evaluation version of Vista Home Premium
14. Launched Vista installation utility from Upgrade version of Vista Home Premium DVD
15. Entered Upgrade key
16. Selected Custom Installation for clean installation
17. Clean installation completed successfully
18. Booted into Vista
19. Successfully activated Vista installation
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