Most probably coz he only has a COA for Basic and doesn't want the hassle of pirating a next one. Although if the laptop came with Vista preinstalled from factory then doing a OEM activation will be so simlple.Sorry but bare with me,I've just come back and they don't even sell Vista Basic,they only sold 7, but I don't wanna spend all that money I worked hard for,it cost about £100 for 7 - and some get there's free with a new comp or laptop.Swiftie, you were saying if it came preinstalled (Vista Basic) which mine didall I have to do is download an illegal copy of Vista Basic,then use my OEM activation, to make it work and possibly legal???I just don't want to downgrade to XP or upgrade to 7, too much of a hassel.my computer (not laptop) was made for Vista Basic, if I upgrade I probably have to buya new hardrive with lots of gig just so it can handle version 7.looking at this website, downgrading is even more tricky.