uninstall XP trial

[Joe]

This is a friggin' nightmare! Microsoft demonstrates what
an evil greedy company they are by making uninstallation
of this trial insanely difficult - so far impossible. I
am now offically joining the long list of Microsoft haters!

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Why blame Microsoft for _your_ complete lack of fundamental
computer knowledge?

The normal way to "uninstall" _any_ operating system is to format
the hard drive and install a new OS of your choice.

However, if you performed an upgrade from Win98/Me, elected to
backup the old system files, and didn't convert the partition to NTFS,
then all you need do is boot into Safe Mode and Start > Control Panel

Add/Remove Programs. All of these conditions _must_ be met for the

uninstall option to be available.

Otherwise:

How to Manually Remove Win XP and Restore Win9x
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q314052


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:




You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Joe]

I don't blame you for your complete lack of fundamental
people skills, genius.
My "fundamental" computer knowledge includes the fixes you
deigned to share. The program refuses to uninstall and
won't let me reinstall 98 either. I just keep getting an
error message saying I have to buy XP. Please don't
reply. I doubt I'm smart enough to understand your
brilliant solutions.

 

[Will Denny]

A 'trial' version? Did you read all the info. before installing?

--

Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User


| I don't blame you for your complete lack of fundamental
| people skills, genius.
| My "fundamental" computer knowledge includes the fixes you
| deigned to share. The program refuses to uninstall and
| won't let me reinstall 98 either. I just keep getting an
| error message saying I have to buy XP. Please don't
| reply. I doubt I'm smart enough to understand your
| brilliant solutions.
|
| >-----Original Message-----
| >Greetings --
| >
| > Why blame Microsoft for _your_ complete lack of
| fundamental
| >computer knowledge?
| >
| > The normal way to "uninstall" _any_ operating system
| is to format
| >the hard drive and install a new OS of your choice.
| >
| > However, if you performed an upgrade from Win98/Me,
| elected to
| >backup the old system files, and didn't convert the
| partition to NTFS,
| >then all you need do is boot into Safe Mode and Start >
| Control Panel
| > > Add/Remove Programs. All of these conditions _must_
| be met for the
| >uninstall option to be available.
| >
| > Otherwise:
| >
| >How to Manually Remove Win XP and Restore Win9x
| >http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-
| US;q314052
| >
| >
| >Bruce Chambers
| >
| >--
| >Help us help you:
| >
| >
| >
| >
| >You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever
| count on
| >having both at once. -- RAH
| >
| >
| message
| >| >> This is a friggin' nightmare! Microsoft demonstrates
| what
| >> an evil greedy company they are by making uninstallation
| >> of this trial insanely difficult - so far impossible. I
| >> am now offically joining the long list of Microsoft
| haters!
| >
| >
| >.
| >

 

[Michael Stevens]

This is a friggin' nightmare! Microsoft demonstrates what
an evil greedy company they are by making uninstallation
of this trial insanely difficult - so far impossible. I
am now offically joining the long list of Microsoft haters!

The documentation included with the trial version explains the limitations
of installing the trial version. At the risk of being admonished for my
people skills, did you read the documentation before upgrading over your
current system?
The documentation does explain that evaluation software should not be
installed on production systems.
As a rule of thumb, you should never upgrade any system that is important to
your daily personal or business livelihood without having a valid backup or
current image to restore. This would include doing a reinstall of the
current system, upgrading the system with a upgrade CD, etc., etc. Accusing
Microsoft of being an evil greedy company because you were negligent is not
a very convincing argument.
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Cerridwen]

The documentation included with the trial version explains the
limitations of installing the trial version. At the risk of being
admonished for my people skills, did you read the documentation
before upgrading over your current system?

Of course he didn't!

The documentation does explain that evaluation software should not be
installed on production systems.
As a rule of thumb, you should never upgrade any system that is
important to your daily personal or business livelihood without
having a valid backup or current image to restore. This would
include doing a reinstall of the current system, upgrading the system
with a upgrade CD, etc., etc. Accusing Microsoft of being an evil
greedy company because you were negligent is not a very convincing
argument.

Not very convincing?! It's no argument at all! The guy is a complete moron!

 

[Cerridwen]

I don't blame you for your complete lack of fundamental
people skills, genius.
My "fundamental" computer knowledge includes the fixes you
deigned to share. The program refuses to uninstall and
won't let me reinstall 98 either. I just keep getting an
error message saying I have to buy XP. Please don't
reply. I doubt I'm smart enough to understand your
brilliant solutions.

If you're not smart enough to know that trial versions shouldn't be
installed on production systems then, no, you're not.

You will now need to format. But that's *YOUR* fault for not RTFM before
installation. So you deserve all you get.

 

[Guest]

It would help to know what "trial software" are you trying
to get rid of. According to this post, it appears you are
trying to reinstall 98 and are incorrectly referring to
Windows XP as a trial version. If you really had the
extensive computer knowledge that you are aimlessly
spouting off about, you would know that there is no
uninstall for Windows. You have to completely reformat
your drive to go backwards to 98. PLain and simple, get a
clue.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

There are trial versions of Windows XP.
Also an upgrade from certain OSs such as Windows 98 is possible as
long as the proper installation procedures were followed:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=303661

 

[Guest]

Jupiter,
I would agree with you that there are 180 day trial
versions of most if not all M$ software. I have several
obtained through M$ MOC's and that is honestly the only
way I know of to get rue trial versions. The OP, as I
stated in my reply, appears to have installed a commercial
version of XP and is incorrectly referring to the 30 days
prior to activation as a trial version. After reading my
reply, I see that I should have worded it differently.

However, when it comes to the OS rollback procedure, it
has been my experience that this procedure is spotty at
best. In fifteen years, I think I have gotten it to work
successfully maybe twice and I am talking literally
thousands of machines over the years. I find it quicker
and much more efficient to to have a good backup of all
data and just reinstall or reimage the box depending on
the complexity of the machine. For my general users, they
get the box reimaged, for my developers who have their own
self written programs as well as the "standard" apps, get
a custom machine rebuilt from scratch. The uninstall
feature is good in theory, but to me has not been good in
practice. General users are not going to know that when
they install a newer OS, they have an option to backup
their old OS. Most of the time, a typical user is not
going to even attempt to install a new OS, they will
either take it to a shop to have it done or buy a
completely new system.