Considering upgrade to XP from ME

  • Thread starter Thread starter Martin Thompson
  • Start date Start date
M

Martin Thompson

I am considering upgrading to some version of XP (home or pro, I don't
know the difference) as my Win ME is running out of system resources all
the time and I am getting fed up with it crashing.

However, I have a couple of concerns that have stopped me, so far.

1) how much of a pain is it to get an authorization number? I upgrade my
PC fairly often, typically at weekends when MS is presumably closed, and
I don't want to be hanging around for days trying to get a number out of
them, or worse, being refused one.

2) If I upgrade, then, say, change my hard drive and need to transfer XP
to it, can it be moved? I moved ME successfully by turning off file
sharing and locking semantics. Can I do similar with XP? And if I
"upgrade" rather than install fresh (so I can keep all my existing
programs in place), will I have to install ME first then upgrade again
if I can't move XP? (and 98 and 95 and Win 3.1 before them in theory -
I've always just deleted win.com and installed a full version?)

Thanks for any advice you can offer.
--
Martin Thompson (e-mail address removed) (use "martin" not "bin")
London, UK Home Page: http://www.tucana.demon.co.uk
Web Shop: http://buy.at/tucana
Mobile Phone Ring Tones: http://www.ringamoby.com

"Everything I do and say with anyone makes a difference." Gita Bellin
 
Martin Thompson said:
I am considering upgrading to some version of XP (home or pro, I don't
know the difference) as my Win ME is running out of system resources all
the time and I am getting fed up with it crashing.

However, I have a couple of concerns that have stopped me, so far.

1) how much of a pain is it to get an authorization number? I upgrade my
PC fairly often, typically at weekends when MS is presumably closed, and
I don't want to be hanging around for days trying to get a number out of
them, or worse, being refused one.
Click to expand...

As long as the PC is reasonably similar it will be fine. If it isn't you get
three days to phone MS until it locks you out. When you reformat you get 30
days to activate. I don't think they shut on weekends but even if they do
the three days will allow plenty of time.
2) If I upgrade, then, say, change my hard drive and need to transfer XP
to it, can it be moved? I moved ME successfully by turning off file
sharing and locking semantics. Can I do similar with XP? And if I
"upgrade" rather than install fresh (so I can keep all my existing
programs in place), will I have to install ME first then upgrade again
if I can't move XP? (and 98 and 95 and Win 3.1 before them in theory -
I've always just deleted win.com and installed a full version?)
Click to expand...

As long as your software is all compatible with XP you can upgrade. But it
is not recommended (especially from Windows Me). If you do a fresh install
you usually just need to insert a Windows 98 or above CD to prove you are
allowed to upgrade.

I think XP will move ok.
 
20:19:14 Fri, 6 Feb 2004microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment
David Williams at David Williams
As long as the PC is reasonably similar it will be fine. If it isn't you get
three days to phone MS until it locks you out. When you reformat you get 30
days to activate. I don't think they shut on weekends but even if they do
the three days will allow plenty of time.


As long as your software is all compatible with XP you can upgrade. But it
is not recommended (especially from Windows Me). If you do a fresh install
you usually just need to insert a Windows 98 or above CD to prove you are
allowed to upgrade.

I think XP will move ok.
Click to expand...

OK, thanks.
--
Martin Thompson (e-mail address removed) (use "martin" not "bin")
London, UK Home Page: http://www.tucana.demon.co.uk
Web Shop: http://buy.at/tucana
Mobile Phone Ring Tones: http://www.ringamoby.com

"Everything I do and say with anyone makes a difference." Gita Bellin
 
Back
Top