Hi, Paul.
OK, there should be no roadblocks to upgrade from WinXP Pro to Vista x86.
But you might want to clean install anyhow.
Next question is HOW to do the upgrade. You can boot from the Vista DVD, or
you can boot into WinXP, then insert the Vista DVD and run Setup from there.
In either case, Setup should find the existing WinXP to satisfy the
licensing requirement.
I've never been able to successfully UPGRADE to Vista. Usually it was
because of the 32-to-64-bit issue, but sometimes Upgrade was disabled
because there wasn't enough space on my boot volume, even if there was
plenty in other drives - and Microsoft's inconsistent use of the terms
"system drive" and "boot drive" didn't help.
Your first post said, "I would prefer to upgrade rather than a clean
install - my XP works perfectly with all my programs etc, and I have many
documents." Your documents should survive the move to Vista, no matter
which method you use. Of course, you must back them up if you will be
reformatting the volume where they are, but they should work just as well
after a clean install as after an upgrade. Your programs may or may not
migrate successfully; we've had reports of both successes and failures.
My advice is to make sure you have installation media for all your
applications, then backup your data and do a clean install, either as a
dual-boot into a new volume (just to keep WinXP as a safety net until you
have Vista tweaked to your satisfaction), or by reformatting and using your
WinXP volume. Then reinstall your apps and restore your data. You will
invest a day in reinstalling, rather than weeks of tweaking and fighting
unexpected incompatibilities. My impression from having read thousands of
posts in these newsgroups is that most users who successfully upgrade end up
reinstalling, anyhow.
RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64)
