need friendly answer to my question please

[Strigae]

hi
i just bought a old computer with windows 98 on and also have the product
key for it and disc.
i dont intend to make the computer go online as it will be only a backup for
all my work and free my main computer, but i would love to be able to put on
windows xp onto my windows 98 comp as i like how windows xp runs and looks.
i have a cd with windows xp and also my own windows xp product key which i
purchased for my main computer.
what i'd like to know is can i use my main product key when i install
windows xp onto the old windows 98 and if so would there be any problems or
things i should do before hand.
Many thank you's in advance and i hope i have made clear my question

 

[db ´¯`·.. >]

fundementally speaking
you are contemplating
piracy.

------------------

if the xp was activated
on a different computer,
it won't be allowed to
activate again on a
different computer.

there is more fyi on
microsoft.com regarding
what is "hardware hash"
and "activations".

the alternative might be to
buy another license or perhaps
another xp on the cheap.


----------------

perhaps, if you no longer
have a real need for w98,
you might install linux or
something on it, as a
project

or as you indicated a need
for a storage locations for
backups,

you may want to dedicate
that disk for backups by,

taking that drive, formatting
it and install it as a slave or
external drive to your
xp machine.

----------

another project you can
do is to install virtual pc
on your winxp then

install win98 in virtual
pc, since you have that
setup cd.


--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- @hotmail.com
"share the nirvana" - dbZen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[JS]

Product key is only for your main computer.
Need to purchase another copy of XP.

But on thing you should check is does that old Win98
PC meet the minimum requirements for XP.

Windows XP Professional System Requirements:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/sysreqs.mspx

For XP Home PC requirements see:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/systemrequirements.mspx

For info on the differences between XP Home and Pro see:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457127.aspx

Just keep in mind that these are minimum requirements and in reality XP
really likes 348 to 512MB of memory.

 

[Ron Badour]

With a single XP license (it appears this is what you have), you can only
install the system on a single computer.

It is unlikely that a PC from the W98 era has enough horsepower to run XP.
I have an old Dell work machine with an 866 MHz processor and 512 mb of ram
that does OK. Any less hardware would probably not provide satisfactory
performance.

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

 

[Patrick Keenan]

hi
i just bought a old computer with windows 98 on and also have the product
key for it and disc.
i dont intend to make the computer go online as it will be only a backup
for
all my work and free my main computer, but i would love to be able to put
on
windows xp onto my windows 98 comp as i like how windows xp runs and
looks.
i have a cd with windows xp and also my own windows xp product key which i
purchased for my main computer.
what i'd like to know is can i use my main product key when i install
windows xp onto the old windows 98 and if so would there be any problems
or
things i should do before hand.
Many thank you's in advance and i hope i have made clear my question

If the XP key is in use on another machine, as soon as you activate the w98
system, the real XP system will start to fail WGA during updates, giving
you one system that doesn't run XP well and one that no longer has a legal
copy on it and can't be updated.

Non-VL install keys work for one system at a time. You cannot use the same
key on more than one system, and the issue is more than legal.

Systems that came with Win9x generally are not really capable of running XP
well; they lack the hardware to do so, and updating is either impossible or
unreasonably expensive. Instead, get a used XP Pro system - I see many
name-brand 3gHz P4 systems, with 1-2 gig RAM, for under $200 *with a valid
XP license*.

HTH
-pk

 

[John Wunderlich]

hi
i just bought a old computer with windows 98 on and also have the
product key for it and disc.
i dont intend to make the computer go online as it will be only a
backup for all my work and free my main computer, but i would love
to be able to put on windows xp onto my windows 98 comp as i like
how windows xp runs and looks. i have a cd with windows xp and
also my own windows xp product key which i purchased for my main
computer. what i'd like to know is can i use my main product key
when i install windows xp onto the old windows 98 and if so would
there be any problems or things i should do before hand.
Many thank you's in advance and i hope i have made clear my
question

You have lots of answers to your post in
microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Consider Crossposting rather than Multi-posting if you need to post to
more than one group.
-- John

 

[Strigae]

Product key is only for your main computer.
Need to purchase another copy of XP.

But on thing you should check is does that old Win98
PC meet the minimum requirements for XP.

Windows XP Professional System Requirements:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/sysreqs.mspx

For XP Home PC requirements see:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/systemrequirements.mspx

For info on the differences between XP Home and Pro see:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457127.aspx

Just keep in mind that these are minimum requirements and in reality XP
really likes 348 to 512MB of memory.

thanks for answer, i had a quick look at mirosoft site requirements the old
comp has 64mb of ram but i can add more if wanted but i have no clue as to
how much hard drive it has etc just wanted to know if i could put windows xp
onto it.. i'll just be using my windows 98 comp for backup and storage and my
main for work etc , considering on this comp, my main im using windows xp
which is 512mb i think and hard drive of 521.7GB i have alot more freedom to
move on.

 

[Strigae]

i apologize for posting in 2 forums, i wasn't sure which to post, i will
mark this one as sorted and dealt with or try to delete it... somehow.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

thanks for answer, i had a quick look at mirosoft site requirements the
old
comp has 64mb of ram but i can add more if wanted but i have no clue as to
how much hard drive it has etc just wanted to know if i could put windows
xp
onto it.. i'll just be using my windows 98 comp for backup and storage and
my
main for work etc , considering on this comp, my main im using windows xp
which is 512mb i think and hard drive of 521.7GB i have alot more freedom
to
move on.

64mb is not enough, regardless of the claimed minimum requirements.. leave
Win 98 on the old one..

 

[Daave]

There is absolutely nothing wrong in posting to both newsgroups (they're
not called forums). However, if you choose to do this, it is important
to crosspost rather than multipost. That way when something shows as
read in one group, it automatically shows as read in the other (so it
doesn't waste anyone's time). This makes for a much better experience
for everyone and helps ensure you get better quality help.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

It is unlikely that a PC from the W98 era has enough horsepower to run XP.
I have an old Dell work machine with an 866 MHz processor and 512 mb of ram
that does OK. Any less hardware would probably not provide satisfactory
performance.

Although for most people I don't disagree with the above paragraph,
let me just add that it really depends on the person and what
applications the person runs. As an example, my wife used to run
Windows XP on a 400MHZ PII processor with 256MB of RAM. Her needs were
very slight (e-mail, an occasional web site, rarely a word processing
document, and often solitaire). She was completely happy with the
performance she got and refused all my attempts to provide any
hardware upgrades to what she had.

 

[Bill in Co.]

Although for most people I don't disagree with the above paragraph,
let me just add that it really depends on the person and what
applications the person runs. As an example, my wife used to run
Windows XP on a 400MHZ PII processor with 256MB of RAM. Her needs
were very slight (e-mail, an occasional web site, rarely a word processing
document, and often solitaire). She was completely happy with the
performance she got and refused all my attempts to provide any
hardware upgrades to what she had.

I can't even imagine being content with that!! Heck, I noticed a
difference in a somewhat comparable (but slightly less spec) machine when
going from Win95 to Win98SE! You could tell the loss in the speed of
responsiveness, even with doing simple things, like using Windows Explorer.
With WinXP on that weak a machine, I'd throw in the towel, and stay with
Win9x. I mean, when I click on Windows Explorer, I expect to see the
directory listings right now, not 10 or 15 seconds from now!

 

[Zoraster]

Many thank you's in advance and i hope i have made clear my question

Put your thinking cap on for a moment.
if you just want to back up data, pick up an
external hard drive, a 250gig or higher hard drive is
less than $100.00

you can pull a nice size hard drive out of a
computer someone is throwing away and get
an external case for $20.00 if you are really on the cheap.

I have several 20gig hard drives I pick up for nothing and use
an adapter I bought for $10.00 to back up junk when needed.
each hard drive is for specific files, pictures, pdf, docs
work, etc.

why use an whole other computer?