Reinstalling Windows XP

[Guest]

When I got my PC, it had windows ME installed on it, and it came with a
reboot disk to take it back to its "out of box state". I bought windows XP
Home Upgrade edition and installed it, it works fine, but my PC is running
really slow and has loads of stuff on, so I am wanting to use the reboot disk
to take me back to ME and then reinstall XP (I dont want to format my drive
because its only XP Upgrade, and I dont have any OS versions before that)

So, my question is:

After I have rebooted to windows ME, then install XP again, do I just need
to enter the same serial AND validation key again? or do I need to buy XP
again, or just request a new validation key???

If I need new keys, please let mo know how to get them...

 

[Malke]

When I got my PC, it had windows ME installed on it, and it came with
a
reboot disk to take it back to its "out of box state". I bought
windows XP Home Upgrade edition and installed it, it works fine, but
my PC is running really slow and has loads of stuff on, so I am
wanting to use the reboot disk to take me back to ME and then
reinstall XP (I dont want to format my drive because its only XP
Upgrade, and I dont have any OS versions before that)

So, my question is:

After I have rebooted to windows ME, then install XP again, do I just
need to enter the same serial AND validation key again? or do I need
to buy XP again, or just request a new validation key???

If I need new keys, please let mo know how to get them...

You don't need to buy XP again. First, back up your data. Since you only
have the restore disk and not a real ME operating system disk, as you
mentioned you'll need to restore ME and then install the XP upgrade.
The alternative would be to borrow a friend's Win9x/ME installation
disk and do the clean-install with XP and use the borrowed disk as
qualifying media when the installation routine asks for it.

You only need to enter the Product Key when installing the XP upgrade.

Malke

 

[Guest]

So, if I back up my files, then restore to ME, and then upgrade to XP again,
I just enter the same serial key and activation key??? or do i need to get a
new activation key???

also, if I do this, and I backup my "Drivers" folder, then copy it to the
same place after I have reinstalled, does this mean I wont have to fuss about
with installing all the drivers again? because drivers for my pc can be very
hard to find

 

[Rock]

So, if I back up my files, then restore to ME, and then upgrade to XP again,
I just enter the same serial key and activation key??? or do i need to get a
new activation key???

also, if I do this, and I backup my "Drivers" folder, then copy it to the
same place after I have reinstalled, does this mean I wont have to fuss about
with installing all the drivers again? because drivers for my pc can be very
hard to find

Malke already answered your first question - the same key works. As to
the second, no you cannot migrate driver files like that. They have to
be installed.