Qualifying Product - WIN 98 SE to WIN XP Home

[Derek]

I need to replace my hard drive and would prefer to do a fresh install on
the same computer rather than "clone" the existing hard drive. I have the
(genuine) original WIN XP Home CD, but it is an upgrade and I have lost the
original WIN 98 SE CD. But I have this WIN 98 SE installed on another old
computer. Can I somehow use the files on the old computer to provide a
qualifying product e.g. by USB link or burning some of them on to a CD-ROM?

Derek

 

[Pennywise]

|>
|>I need to replace my hard drive and would prefer to do a fresh install on
|>the same computer rather than "clone" the existing hard drive. I have the
|>(genuine) original WIN XP Home CD, but it is an upgrade and I have lost the
|>original WIN 98 SE CD. But I have this WIN 98 SE installed on another old
|>computer. Can I somehow use the files on the old computer to provide a
|>qualifying product e.g. by USB link or burning some of them on to a CD-ROM?

It's been a long while but I think the upgrade looks for the file
Win.com (or that was 95 to 98)

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I need to replace my hard drive and would prefer to do a fresh
install on the same computer rather than "clone" the existing hard
drive. I have the (genuine) original WIN XP Home CD, but it is an
upgrade and I have lost the original WIN 98 SE CD. But I have this
WIN 98 SE installed on another old computer. Can I somehow use the
files on the old computer to provide a qualifying product e.g. by USB
link or burning some of them on to a CD-ROM?

No. If I were in your shoes I would just buy an inexpensive used copy of
Windows 98.

 

[Chris May]

| Derek wrote:
|
| > I need to replace my hard drive and would prefer to do a fresh
| > install on the same computer rather than "clone" the existing hard
| > drive. I have the (genuine) original WIN XP Home CD, but it is an
| > upgrade and I have lost the original WIN 98 SE CD. But I have this
| > WIN 98 SE installed on another old computer. Can I somehow use the
| > files on the old computer to provide a qualifying product e.g. by USB
| > link or burning some of them on to a CD-ROM?
|
|
| No. If I were in your shoes I would just buy an inexpensive used copy of
| Windows 98.

Or borrow one.

ChrisM

 

[Gary]

I just threw away about 75 copies of Win98 at work..Should have kept a few

Gary

 

[Barry Watzman]

Should have kept them all. They are still in reasonable demand. $20 to
$40 each or so on E-Bay, I believe.

 

[Barry Watzman]

Should have kept them all. They are still in reasonable demand. $20 to
$40 each or so on E-Bay, I believe.

 

[Barry Watzman]

Should have kept them all. They are still in reasonable demand. $20 to
$40 each or so on E-Bay, I believe.

 

[Rock]

I need to replace my hard drive and would prefer to do a fresh install on
the same computer rather than "clone" the existing hard drive. I have the
(genuine) original WIN XP Home CD, but it is an upgrade and I have lost the
original WIN 98 SE CD. But I have this WIN 98 SE installed on another old
computer. Can I somehow use the files on the old computer to provide a
qualifying product e.g. by USB link or burning some of them on to a CD-ROM?

Derek

You need to insert a CD of a qualifying product when asked.

 

[Bob Knowlden]

I doubt that would be easy, although it may be possible.

It would be simpler to borrow an install CD, or a CD-R copy of one. (You
won't need the install key for the older OS, just for XP.) That may violate
the license agreement for an XP upgrade, as I believe that "qualifying
media" is only supposed to be used with a single upgrade license. However,
that much of what Microsoft calls "casual piracy" is still possible for
non-experts.

(I have a single XP installation at home, and at least two qualifying OS
CDs, so I've not had occasion to break any rules. I use a CD-R copy of my
Win98 CD to avoid handling the original. The XP Home CD is a copy with SP2
slipstreamed onto it, as the original predates SP1.)


Address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

 

[Ron Martell]

I need to replace my hard drive and would prefer to do a fresh install on
the same computer rather than "clone" the existing hard drive. I have the
(genuine) original WIN XP Home CD, but it is an upgrade and I have lost the
original WIN 98 SE CD. But I have this WIN 98 SE installed on another old
computer. Can I somehow use the files on the old computer to provide a
qualifying product e.g. by USB link or burning some of them on to a CD-ROM?

Derek

Partition and format the new drive (so as to keep the drive letters
straight after the install).

Install the drive from the old computer as secondary master drive and
put the CDROM as slave on either the primary or secondary IDE.

Boot from the XP Home Upgrade CD and select the new hard drive for the
install. When it asks for a qualifying product direct it to the
second hard drive.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Derek]

Thanks for all these bright ideas. There is a dearth of Win 98 SE CDs on UK
E-bay - mostly US products, at a price. I like the idea below best.

Derek

 

[Plato]

I need to replace my hard drive and would prefer to do a fresh install on
the same computer rather than "clone" the existing hard drive. I have the
(genuine) original WIN XP Home CD, but it is an upgrade and I have lost the
original WIN 98 SE CD. But I have this WIN 98 SE installed on another old

Pick up a win98se cd.

 

[Barry Watzman]

You don't need Windows 98SE (emphasis on ***SE***). The only thing that
the CD is used for is to validate that you are entitled to perform the
update. ***NO*** files are actually used from the CD as part of the new
install. So Windows 98 (1st Edition) is as good as 98SE. So, also,
would be an ME CD.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

You don't need Windows 98SE (emphasis on ***SE***). The only thing
that the CD is used for is to validate that you are entitled to
perform the update. ***NO*** files are actually used from the CD as
part of the new install. So Windows 98 (1st Edition) is as good as
98SE. So, also, would be an ME CD.

Actually, you can even use Windows 95, which is likely to be cheaper still.
You can't upgrade over the top of Windows 95, but you can use it as proof of
ownership of a previous qualifyng version when doing a clean installation.