can just use upgrade to remove illegal copy?

[jn]

Hi. I have xp pro and found out when I tried to dowload
sp1 that it is not a legal copy! Can I buy and upgrade of
an authentic version and just install it or do I need to
uninstall etc., etc? What if I want to use xp HOME
instead (it is cheaper than xp pro)? thanks
..

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

The upgrade should work, you just need to do a repair install with the valid
Product Key, see:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

If you go with XP Home, you will need to format and start clean, as you
can't install it over the Pro version.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Richard Urban]

You can't upgrade with a downgrade. Going from XP Professional to XP home is
a downgrade. You have to purchase Professional. If you don't have the media
from an earlier operating system that was on your computer, you will have to
purchase the "full install".

Look at it this way. It's money you should have spent some time ago!

--
Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

 

[*Vanguard*]

jn said in news:[email protected]:

Hi. I have xp pro and found out when I tried to dowload
sp1 that it is not a legal copy! Can I buy and upgrade of
an authentic version and just install it or do I need to
uninstall etc., etc? What if I want to use xp HOME
instead (it is cheaper than xp pro)? thanks
.

So what are you upgrading FROM? You cannot upgrade from a PIRATED copy. Do you have Windows 98, ME, NT4, 2000, or XP Home for a *legal* UPGRADE to XP Pro?

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have xp pro and found out when I tried to dowload
sp1 that it is not a legal copy! Can I buy and upgrade of
an authentic version and just install it or do I need to
uninstall etc., etc? What if I want to use xp HOME
instead (it is cheaper than xp pro)?

If you have a qualifying CD (of Win98 or ME - and a 'proper' one, not
some OEM restore one) you can use it as evidence for an Upgrade XP Pro
CD. You would with that try a Repair reinstall - Set the BIOS to boot
CD before Hard disk, then boot the XP CD, start Setup (do not take
'Repair' at this stage), then after the license agreement take 'Repair
Installation'. This will retain your existing software installations
and most settings. But I am not sure that it would work over this, and
you might have to use New install instead, hit ESC when it asks where,
and then delete the current partition and make a new one. When it asks
where Windows is, show it that qualifying product.

To do an install of XP Home you would need to do a clean New Install
like that, though again could use an Upgrade CD if you have the
qualifying one to show it. If you only have a restore CD of the
Win98/ME you would need to restore with that and then Upgrade from it.
That is the cheapest approach - but does mean backing up data first (you
should do that anyway, just in case) and reinstalling all programs after